Around UCL (2024)

FAQs

Can you walk around UCL? ›

The majority of the UCL campus and the entirety of the campus tour is fully accessible, but if you have any special requirements, please get in touch before you visit on campustours@ucl.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.

UCL and the surrounding area of Bloomsbury is generally a safe place to live, work, and study.

The closest Tube stations to UCL's Gower Street site are Euston Square (Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan and Circle lines), Warren Street (Northern and Victoria lines), Euston (Northern and Victoria lines) and Russell Square (Piccadilly line).

University College London (UCL) was founded on 11 February 1826, under the name London University, as a secular alternative to the strictly religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It was founded with the intention from the beginning of it being a university, not a college or institute.

Plain dark trousers/ dress/skirt (skirts or dresses much be only just above knee length or longer) Shirt & tie for gentlemen/blouses or shirts for ladies. Jumper/cardigan. Leather boots below knee length (navy, black or brown)

UCL has a history of academic excellence and is consistently ranked among the world's top universities, with many of our faculties leading their fields. We're renowned for our world-class research, global influence and impact across a broad range of subjects.

The UK is home to five of the world's top twenty universities, with four of those (Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL) ranked in the top ten. UCL has held a top 10 position since 2013, among global peers including MIT, Stanford and Harvard.

UCL has been ranked ninth best university in the world for the second year in a row, marking UCL's 13th year among the top 10 universities worldwide, in the 2025 QS World University Rankings.

If you are driving to UCLH please be aware that most of our hospitals are within the congestion charge and the ultra low emissions zones. Find out more on the TFL website: congestion charge.

How far is Kings Cross from UCL? ›

No matter where you are travelling from you will find that UCL is very well connected. The Bloomsbury campus is within walking distance of Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross mainline stations (all within 15 minutes).

UCL's historic campus is in Bloomsbury, central London, with the main Quad on Gower Street.

We are becoming increasingly concerned about overcrowding on the Bloomsbury campus particularly by reports of over crowding in Lecture theatres and teaching rooms. In centrally bookable rooms the maximum occupancy number of the room is the safe number for room occupancy.

UCL is amongst the best universities in the world. Academic excellence and disruptive thinking have been the status quo since 1826. UCL students are directly involved in research, equipping them for the future and inspiring a lifelong curiosity. We teach our students how to think, not what to think.

Its formal name became University of London, University College, although for most informal and external purposes the name "University College, London" (or the initialism UCL) was still used.

We strongly recommend pre-booking as sessions fill up very quickly. If spaces are available on the day these will be allocated on a first come first serve basis for prospective students only (no guests).

People can indeed just walk onto most college campuses and use many of the facilities.

You should normally have completed, or expect to complete, two years of study at university level prior to entry to UCL. The typical minimum entry requirement is a cumulative GPA of 3.3 / 4.0 (or equivalent), but some subject areas require at least a 3.7 and may have additional prerequisites.

Undergraduate students are only permitted to work (paid or unpaid) up to 20 hours during term time. You are permitted to work full-time during University vacations only; students should refer to the vacation periods as stated on the UCL term dates website.