King's College London

King's College London

Age: 183

History: Founded in 1829, King's College London is England's fourth-oldest university institution.

Address: King's occupies four historic Thames-side campuses on the King's Reach in the heart of London, together with the King's Denmark Hill campus in south London. The Strand campus directly overlooks the Thames, mid-way between the Houses of Parliament and St Paul's Cathedral. The Waterloo campus is just across the river, next to the South Bank Centre. The Guy's Campus is in the heart if the historic area of London Bridge, while the St Thomas' campus is next door to the London Eye and directly faces the House of Parliament. The Denmark Hill Campus is adjacent to King's College Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital.

Ambience: A £500m transformation of the college estate is near completion. So far, it has produced two well-equipped sites, with some biomedical and health science students occupying the largest university building in London, near Waterloo Station, while the faculties of biomedical and health sciences, medicine, and dentistry have acquired purpose-built facilities on the Guy's Campus. The landscape of the city surrounding Guy’s Campus has also radically changed in recent years, most notably with the opening of The Shard in July 2012, Western Europe’s tallest building. There is to be further development of the St Thomas' site for medical education and hospital use following the opening of the new and ground-breaking Evelina Children's Hospital. The South Range of KCL's King’s Grade One listed King's building at the Strand was reopened after a two year £40m redevelopment in May 2006, providing new teaching facilities and wireless internet access. The 19th century Maughan library on Chancery Lane, the largest new university library in Britain since World War II, is a Grade Two listed building and a beautiful Gothic masterpiece.

Vital statistics: King's has more than 23,000 students (of whom more than 10,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, nine schools of study, with more than 200 courses on offer.

Added value: King's offers a number of additional study options, to enhance your experience on your chosen programme of study. You could study abroad for a semester or a year as part of an organised exchange, enrol on a language course, gain work experience, get help with your English language level, or reqister for their unique Associateship of King's College qualification. Much of the teaching is done in small groups and every student is allocated a personal tutor.

Easy to get into? No, most courses are very competitive and many ask for A* grades at A-level.

Glittering alumni: Desmond Tutu, former Archbishop of Cape Town; Dr George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury; authors Susan Hill and Arthur C Clarke; comedian Rory Bremner; and Bloc Party frontman, musician Kele Okereke.

Transport links: Near mainline and Tube stations, bus and coach routes and airports. Waterloo, Strand and St Thomas' campuses are right next to Waterloo for Eurostar trips. You'll be right in the middle of London, remember?

Who's the boss? The principal is Prof. Rick Trainor, a social historian. Joining from the University of Greenwich in 2004, he is the first person to be the head of both an 'old' and 'new' university.

Teaching: Came 51st out of 116 in the Complete University Guide in 2011.

Research: Came 20th out of 115 in the Research Assessment Exercise.

Overall ranking: Came 18th out of 116 in the Complete University Guide.

Nightlife: There are two bars: The Waterfront at the Strand and the Guy's Bar at the Guy's campus. They are competitively priced and provide a friendly atmosphere in which to meet new people and enjoy events such as music quizzes and live music. There is also clubs: Tutu's at the Strand campus which not only offers a fantastic view of the London skyline but also attracts big-name bands.

How green is it? Getting better - it came joint 45th out of 145 universities graded by People and Planet for their 'Green League 2012', after coming 113th in the 2010 awards.

Any accommodation? Full-time undergraduates entering for the first time on a programme of two or more years are guaranteed the offer of one year (not necessarily their first) in either halls of residence, self-catering apartments, the student house, intercollegiate halls or nominated, private halls. KCL rents range between around £78 to £151 per week depending on whether you're sharing, and what standard of room you have.

Cheap to live there? No, this is London - rent started at £120 per week in 2012.

Sports Ranking: 49th in the BUCS league.

Fees: £9,000 for all undergraduate programmes - for the first year, increasing in line with inflation in subsequent years.

Bursaries: King's Living Bursary is a means-tested grant for every student in receipt of a government maintenance allowance. Several other King’s scholarships are available for 2012 entrants, including the Desmond Tutu Scholarship, Liberal Arts Scholarship and Women in Science Scholarship as well as scholarships for law students made possible through a £20m gift by Mr Dickson Poon. CBE King’s will also be offering 30 STEM Enterprise Scholarships worth £30,000 each for new students starting in 2012-13. As of 2012, King's will be participating in the National Scholarship Programme, matching awards given by the government, which lead to fee waivers of £2,000 and cash bursary of £1,000 for some students. For more information see the website.

Prospectus: 020 7836 5454 / www.kcl.ac.uk

UCAS code: K60