1. University of Oxford
Oxford University has taught more than 30 leaders from around the world, 27 British prime ministers, 50 people who won Nobel Prizes, and 120 Olympic medal winners. Some famous people who went to Oxford include Stephen Hawking, Hugh Grant, Liaquat Ali Khan, Benazir Bhutto and Indira Gandhi.
Students, whether they’re just starting out (undergraduates) or doing more advanced studies (postgraduates), are part of one of Oxford University’s 44 colleges. Many times, they live in the college buildings or in places owned by the college.
The University of Oxford is one of the oldest and most special universities in the world. It’s a place that smart and talented students really want to go to. It’s not easy to get in because they only have a limited number of spots, and many students apply – about five for each available spot.
In Oxford, the college is like the center of a student’s social life and fun activities. Things like rowing, cultural events, and joining clubs all happen at the college. Undergraduates learn mostly from their tutors right there in the college, while postgraduate students get most of their academic help from a big group that helps everyone.
Oxford has over 100 libraries, and the most well-known one is called the Bodleian, built in 1602. The city also has many museums, like the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, where you can see the remains of a dodo bird. There’s also the Museum of the History of Science, where you can check out a blackboard that Albert Einstein used.
2. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge has a total of 117 people who have won Nobel Prizes, and 11 mathematicians from Cambridge have won special medals called Fields medals. Some famous people who went to Cambridge include actors, athletes, politicians, royals, and cultural figures. For example, there’s biologist Charles Darwin, broadcaster David Attenborough, conservationist Jane Goodall, and actress Olivia Colman.
Just like Oxford, the University of Cambridge is also really old and special. It’s a group of colleges, and it’s one of the best universities in the world. The town is just about an hour away from London.
The university is like a big family with over 19,000 students and 9,000 staff members. There are 31 colleges, and some of them have been around since the 13th century. Plus, there are more than 100 different departments where students learn different subjects.
Cambridge is really famous for being great at math and has taught many of the most well-known British scientists.
3. Imperial College London
Imperial’s main campus is close to Kensington Palace in a fancy part of London called the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. They also have other places around the city where students go to learn. The group of students comes from all over the world, with more than 125 different nationalities.
Imperial College London is always seen as one of the top universities in the world for science, technology, engineering, medicine, and business.
It started back in 1907 when three colleges in London joined together. Now, it has 17,000 students and 8,000 staff members.
Besides having really smart scientists, people who win special medals called Fields medals, and those who get Nobel Prizes, Imperial also helps make important government advisers and decision-makers. Lots of students who finish here come up with new and amazing ideas for companies, and big companies really want to hire them.
Imperial College has some really famous people who used to be students there, like the author H.G. Wells and Sir Alexander Fleming, who found penicillin.
4. UCL
UCL’s main campus is in a part of central London called Bloomsbury. Almost half of all the students at UCL come from places outside the UK, and many more come from Asia than from continental Europe.
UCL was the first university in England to let students join no matter what social class, race, or religion they belonged to. It was also the first to let women join and learn alongside men. This idea came from the thinking of Jeremy Bentham, who is like the university’s “spiritual founder.”
To get into UCL as an undergraduate student, you need to have done really well in your high school exams. The most popular degree is the BSc in philosophy, politics, and economics, and they get 30 students applying for every available spot.
Some really famous people who used to go to UCL include Mahatma Gandhi, who did great things for peace, Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, and Chris Martin from Coldplay. Chris Martin even met the other members of his band while he was at the university.
5. University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh started way back in 1583, making it the sixth-oldest university where people speak English. It’s also one of the seven really old universities in Britain and Ireland.
The University of Edinburgh has three groups of colleges: one for arts, humanities, and social sciences; another for science and engineering; and a third for medicine and veterinary medicine. Inside these colleges, there are 20 different schools where students learn different things.
There are lots of fun clubs and groups for students at the University of Edinburgh, like a music club, a theater group, and different sports teams for football, rowing, judo, and rugby.
The student newspaper, The Student, is really old and one of the first student newspapers in the UK. It was started by a famous author named Robert Louis Stevenson.
