The University of London is a federal university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes. As such, the University of London is the largest university in the UK by number of full-time students, with 135,090 campus-based students and over 45,000 in the University of London International Programmes.
The university was first established by a Royal Charter in 1836, which brought together in federation London University (now University College London) and King's College (now King's College London), to establish today's federally-structured University of London.
Graduates of the University of London often use the post-nominal letters 'Lond.' or, more rarely, 'Londin.' (both from Londiniensis) after their degree abbreviations (see post-nominal abbreviations).



Founded in 1836, the University at first comprised just two colleges: University College London, which previously had no official chartered status and did not apply religious tests to its students, and King's College, which had been chartered since 1829 and which admitted only members of the Church of England. Both King's (founded 1829) and University College London (founded 1826) pre-date the University of London, which initially served solely as an examining body for the constituent colleges.
In 2002, Imperial College and UCL mooted the possibility of a merger. This raised a question mark over the future of the University of London and the autonomy of smaller colleges within it. Subsequently considerable opposition from academic staff of both UCL and Imperial led to a rejection of the merger.
On 9 December 2005, Imperial College became the first college to make a formal decision to leave the university. Its council announced that it was beginning negotiations to withdraw from the university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees. On 5 October 2006, the University of London accepted Imperial's formal request to withdraw from the federation. Imperial became fully independent on 9 July 2007, as part of the celebrations of the college's centenary.




The Times Higher Education Supplement announced in February 2007 that the London School of Economics, University College London and King's College London all plan to start awarding their own degrees, rather than degrees from the federal University of London as they have done previously, from the start of the new academic year (starting in Autumn 2007). Although this plan to award their own degrees does not amount to a decision to formally leave the University of London, the THES suggests that this 'rais[es] new doubts about the future of the federal University of London'. However, the University continues to grow and, in 2005, admitted the Central School of Speech and Drama.
As of April 1, 2010, London Business School has formally ceased awarding University of London affiliated degrees. It was decided on 13th May 2011, after a consultation and development process, that the School of Pharmacy, University of London would merge with University College London (UCL).
The University of London owns a considerable central London estate of 180 buildings in Bloomsbury, near
The constituent colleges of the University of London are currently divided as follows, in alphabetical order:

  • Birkbeck, University of London (BBK) [entered in 1920]
  • The Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) [entered in 2005]
  • Courtauld Institute of Art [created and admitted in 1932]
  • Goldsmiths, University of London (GUL) [entered in 1904]
  • Heythrop College (HEY) [entered in 1971]
  • Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) [entered in 2003]
  • Institute of Education (IoE) [entered in 1909]
  • King's College London (KCL) [founding college]
  • London Business School (LBS) [created and admitted in 1964]
  • The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) [entered in 1900]
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) [entered in 1924]
  • Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) [entered in 1915]
  • Royal Academy of Music (RAM) [entered in 2003]
  • Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) [entered in 1900]
  • Royal Veterinary College (RVC) [entered in 1915]
  • School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) [created and entered in 1916]
  • St George's, University of London, formerly St George's Hospital Medical School (SGUL) [affiliated in the 19th Century]
  • The School of Pharmacy, University of London [entered in 1949]
  • University College London (UCL) [founding college]
  • University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP) [entered in 1969]

Some of the University's colleges have their main buildings on the estate. The Bloomsbury Campus also contains eight Halls of Residence and Senate House, which houses the Senate House Library, the chancellor's official residence and previously housed the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, now part of University College London (UCL) and housed in its own new building. Almost all of the School of Advanced Study is housed in Senate House and neighbouring Stewart House.
The University also owns many of the squares which formed part of the Bedford Estate, including
The nine largest institutions of the federal university, usually termed the colleges, are Birkbeck, Goldsmiths, King's College London, the London Business School, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, the School of Oriental and African Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science and University College London (UCL). Formerly a constituent college, the Imperial College London left the University of London in 2007.
Most decisions affecting the constituent colleges and institutions of the University of London are made at the level of the colleges or institutions themselves. The University of London does retain its own decision-making structure, however, with the Collegiate Council and Board of Trustees, responsible for matters of academic policy. The Collegiate Council is made up of the Heads of Colleges of the University.