Close
Our academic specialisms cover most subjects, from the arts to the sciences, and our innovative focus on interdisciplinary study to examine global issues sets us apart.
Based in the heart of London, UCL is a world-leading university. Our academic excellence, and location in one of the world’s most dynamic capital cities, give you unrivalled personal, social and academic benefits which will enhance any CV or résumé.
The summer programme was an amazing experience. I made the right choice coming to UCL.
Adrinne De Guzman, Philippines - Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
A lot of our teachers have done their own research at UCL; for example, today’s lecturer has done studies into crime and social media and she’s just published her findings so it was cool to learn about that directly from the source. We’ve had guest lecturers too so we get exposed to a lot of different peoples’ viewpoints … The highlight for me however was taking a trip to the Old Bailey where we sat in on two murder cases. That was just crazy and such a unique experience.
Alani Frace, USA - Understanding and Preventing Crime
The class is quite diverse; we come from all over the world so there is a nice range of opinions and experiences. The teaching is a bit different to home - my favourite thing is that it’s not so dense where you end up having trouble with it or not enjoying it but you still gain a lot of useful information. We've had two field trips; one to the King’s Cross redevelopment area and another one to the Eastern Cluster - a group of skyscrapers in the city of London and one of the city's most important ‘opportunity areas’. When we were there we talked about the buildings and their surroundings. We talked about policy and thought about how the buildings affect the area around them.
Carlos Rico, Spain - London's Urban Development: Politics, Policy and Design
I’m really interested in stories and how we tell them, why we tell them, how they make us feel; so I was interested in taking a module that would give me some context on some of the most commonly told stories of all time. For example, you take stories like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White – stories that Disney in the US has largely popularised and made commercial and look at where these stories actually come from and why we are still telling them in 2018 when they were written in the 1800’s. Then look at how we’ve developed them and how we’ve turned them into different kinds of art.
Abby Doermann, USA - Fairy Tales and their Retellings
I was interested in the module because it’s linked to what I’m studying at home and I can transfer the credit. I also wanted to study it here in the UK with Brexit and everything going on, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about that. We learn a lot about trade theory and I think that’ll be very useful for when I return to study in Brazil: I’m probably going to be a little bit ahead of the other students on my International Relations course! The module also included an excursion to the Bank of England because it’s an important institution for trade. Afterwards we even got to do some sightseeing with our lecturer which was very nice!
Ana Ralston, Brazil - International Trade and Migration
In Italy all of my exams are focussed on law so I wanted to broaden my studies through an international perspective. We have students from Italy, Hong Kong, France, Taiwan and India so it's great to get together and discuss things with people from different backgrounds. The best thing on the module has been the opportunity to conjugate theoretical lessons with practical experiences through excursions, for example to Amnesty International and the FSO. So, it's been interesting to see, in practice, how these rights work.
Giovanni Libutti, Italy - International Politics of Human Rights
It's applying mathematics to pricing things like options and shares; it's been really interesting! I study engineering at home so it's really different and I'm enjoying it so far ... My favourite thing is the people you meet; the chance to meet people from all around the world - it's such a good opportunity that's hard to come by.
Cassie Ma, Australia - Quantitative Finance: Maths in Investment Banking
I chose the module because I’m thinking of starting a business so I need a few ideas regarding start-ups which I knew I would get on this module. Plus I read about the module tutor and could tell she is very knowledgeable. We get to learn a lot; we have to work in a group with students from different countries and create a business to present to the rest of the class in the last week. We have four groups of students from different countries and it's really fun!
Manhar Kataria, India - Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
I see a lot of value in law and social justice and having an understanding of it, but that's something I haven’t been able to learn at university so far due to my two majors being Medical Sciences and French. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to develop an understanding of the legal system and how social justice works. It’s definitely lived up to my expectations; taught in detail and in the three weeks we’ve learned so much. I’ve learnt about things like pro bono and the pros and cons of different concepts and the role of lawyers in society.
Celeste Kalnenas, Australia - Law, Lawyers and Social Justice
I chose this module because I’m studying a finance degree with business and economics back at home so I thought I could reinforce my macroeconomic knowledge by coming here. The teaching is similar to back home in Mexico: the teachers are open to questions and interact with the students. The module has definitely lived up to expectations – our teacher is really prepared in her subject and I’ve learned a lot whilst here. It’ll also benefit me in the sense that I have a more clear idea of what I want to do when I graduate and start my career.
Mike Fernandezcano, Mexico - Principles of Macroeconomics
The professors were wonderful and we had a lot of guest lecturers who came in and talked about their research and how they go about it. The most interesting was a talk we had on cancer and the prevalence of cancer in major cities, which ties to smoking … and I’ve done a lot of research back home on smoking and cancer so it was interesting to learn about it in this demographic.
Gifty Brisbane, USA - Population and Public Health
I chose this module because I have a particular interest in neurology and the brain but, as medical students, we don’t really see it in the same psychological perspective. So I was a bit curious about how they would tackle that stuff. They see it in a more human way, looking at the whole human experience. We started by looking at the general biology of the brain; the different areas and functions. Now we are looking at what can go wrong, e.g. ones that affect language and vision and now we will look at mood disorders and psychiatry ... There's so much to learn in such a short length of time!
Renata Nunes Velloso, Brazil - How the Brain Works and What Can Go Wrong
QS World University Rankings 2022
| Rank | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | US |
| 2 | University of Cambridge | UK |
| 3 | Stanford University | US |
| 4 | University of Oxford | UK |
| 5 | Harvard University | US |
| =6 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | US |
| =6 | Imperial College London | UK |
| 8 | University College London (UCL) | UK |
| 9 | ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology | Switzerland |
| 10 | University of Chicago | US |