Welcome to UCL
Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 18,000 staff and 51,000 students from over 150 different countries.
Since 1826, we have challenged orthodoxy and applied ourselves to making the world better, seeking to serve society through the generation and application of ‘useful’ knowledge, with a particular focus on leading interdisciplinary discussion and debate.
UCL is now one of the world’s top universities, with broad disciplinary excellence in research, innovation, education and impact. We operate on a large scale and nevertheless deliver exceptional academic performance: an achievement that has few parallels internationally.
We are also a significant contributor to London and to the UK, generating close to £10bn of economic impact each year.
In all this, we strive to exemplify the strong entrepreneurial spirit and desire for equity and justice that inspired our founding.
(Extracted from Foreword by Dr Michael Spence, President & Provost, UCL Strategic Plan 2022-27)
Navigate to Our culture and values
Our culture and values
Find out about the culture and values guiding our decisions, interactions and our work at UCL.
