History, Affiliations and Rankings
King's College London (informally referred to as King’s or KCL) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was established by the royal charter in 1829 and in 1839 became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. It is also one of the oldest university-level institutions in England. In the late 20th century, King’s grew through a series of mergers, including mergers with the Chelsea College of Science and Technology and Queen Elizabeth Colleges among many others. Today, the University shares an unparalleled reputation for academic excellence, quality education and cutting-edge research that trains students in a global problem-solving mindset. Academically, King’s College is a member of multiple organizations including the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the European University Association (EUA) and the Russell Group. The University ranks at #35 globally according to both, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 and QS Top Global Universities 2022. Furthermore, the university also ranks #21 in the Complete University Guide University League Tables 2022 and #23 in the Guardian's the best UK universities 2022 – rankings.
Infrastructure, Campuses and Courses
King’s has five campuses - its historic campus in Central London, three Thames-side campuses, and one in Denmark Hill in South London. The University’s strategic location in one of the most dynamic cities in the UK enriches the student experience by offering the best that the city has to offer. The Waterloo campus is situated right next to London's South Bank Center which has the National Film Theater; British Film Institute; Royal Festival Hall; Hayward Gallery; National Theater. King’s College London offers over 400+ courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels across its 9 Faculties and is remarkably renowned for its Humanities, Law, Sciences and Social Sciences programs.
Accomplishments and Alumni
Twelve people who have worked or studied at King's and its constituent institutions have been awarded the Nobel Prize including the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Professor Peter Higgs, Mario Vargas Llosa and Sir James Black. As part of King’s commitment to advancing gender equality, they have held a bronze Athena SWAN award since 2016, and hold 20 silver and bronze awards across their nine faculties. King's has also retained the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award at the four-year stage. The award is made in recognition of a demonstrated commitment to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. 84% of the University’s research is labelled “world-leading” or “internationally excellent.” King’s College London’s notable alumni include the likes of Dina Asher-Smith (Athlete), Sir Arthur C. Clarke (Science Fiction Author), Alain de Botton (Philosopher), Rosalind Franklin (Biophysicist) and Hanif Kureshi (Writer).
Student Diversity and Visiting Companies
King’s College has held the Bronze Athena SWAN Award since 2016, a result of its efforts towards the advancement of gender equality. King’s College London has over 1300 international students, including enrollments from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. Overall, it has students from all over the globe, be it from Russia, Turkey and CIS, or North America and the Middle East. The alumni from King’s College London are prominently hired at Google, Deloitte, NHS England, Amazon and J.P. Morgan.
