King's College London

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King's College London
Image:Kcl-logo.png
Motto Sancte et sapienter
"With holiness and with wisdom"
Established 1829
UK ranking 6th (Guardian [1] 2005)
UK Graduate employability 3rd (ST [2] 2005)
UK Graduate starting salary 3rd (ST [3] 2005)
Principal Professor Rick Trainor
Location London, United Kingdom
Students 13,800 undergraduates, 5,700 postgraduates
Faculty 5,000
Member of University of London, Russell Group
Homepage http://www.kcl.ac.uk

King's College London, founded in 1829, is one of the oldest UK university institutions. In 1836 it became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London; today, it is the University's largest member college, with nearly 25,000 students and staff. Consistently ranked as one of the top 10 UK Higher Education Institutions and within the European top 25, King's has an 'international reputation' [4] and is a member of the Russell Group. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to four Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university. So named to indicate the patronage of George IV, King's occupies five campuses in central London.

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History

King's was founded in 1829 as a more accessible alternative to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which only educated the sons of the wealthy classes. King's founding was also assisted by the Crown, the Church of England and the government, amid popular opposition to the humanist institution now known as University College London [5]. Indeed a duel was fought [6] over the College's honour between the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, and the Earl of Winchilsea who questioned the Prime Minister's support for Catholic and Anglican institutions; nobody was injured. Friendly rivalry between the two colleges continues today (See Trivia). The two colleges were federated into the University of London when it was established by charter in 1836. Image:2005-06-19 - United Kingdom - England - London - King's College London - Cornwall House.jpg

The first qualification issued by King's was the Associate of King's College, or AKC. The course, which concerns questions of ethics and theology, is still awarded today to students (and staff) who take an optional three year course alongside their standard degree. Successful completion entitles the graduate to bear the letters AKC after their name.

The College today is the product of King's mergers with a number of other institutions over the years, including Queen Elizabeth College, Chelsea College, the Institute of Psychiatry, and the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals. Florence Nightingale's original training school for nurses is now incorporated as the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery. Perhaps the most famous scholarly research performed at King's was the work by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins that was essential to the discovery by James D. Watson and Francis Crick of the structure of DNA.

There are now nine schools of study: in addition to the Institute of Psychiatry, the Institute of Dentistry and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, there are Schools of Law, Medicine, Social Science & Public Policy, Humanities, Biomedical & Health Sciences and Physical Sciences & Engineering.

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Campuses

The five campuses of King's are:

Image:N60501586 30036506 5020.jpg

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Refurbishment

King's is coming to the end of a decade of restorative and refurbishment projects, with investment of over £400 million. These include the Franklin-Wilkins building in the Waterloo campus, the largest university building in the UK; the Maughan library in Chancery Lane, the most elaborate university library project ever undertaken in the UK; and the renovation of the chapel in the Strand campus at a cost of £750,000. Work on the Strand will be completed in time for the 2006 intake of students, who will benefit from the state-of-the-art teaching facilities and improved access [7].

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Students' Union

Main article: King's College London Students' Union

King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) is the oldest in London, founded just before University College London Union, and provides a good range of activities and services: over 50 sports clubs - including the Boat Club, that rows on the River Thames, and the Rifle Club that uses the college's shooting range on the Main Strand Campus-, 60 societies, a wide range of volunteering opportunities, 2 bars, 2 nightclubs, shops, eating places and a gym. Recently, a third site was opened at the Waterloo campus which finally completes development of services across the three key King's sites. Image:Kings2.jpg A former President of KCLSU, Sir Ivison Macadam (after whom the Students' Union building on the Strand Campus has since been named) went on to be elected as the first President of the NUS and the Union has played an active role there and in the University of London Union ever since. Competition and rivalries within the University of London between King's and University College London are still fierce but unlike the riots between respective College students in central London that still occurred until the 1950s, things are now limited to the rugby pitch and skullduggery over mascots.

Tensions were re-ignited on 2 December 2005 when students from LSE (across the road from the Strand campus) diverted off from the annual "barrel run" and caused an estimated £30,000 of damage to the English department [8][9]. Principal Rick Trainor and the then KCLSU President called for no retaliation and LSE Students' Union were forced to issue an apology as well as foot the bill for the damage repair. While LSE officially condemned the action, a photograph was published in The Times that showed LSE Director Howard Davies drinking with members of the LSE Students Union shortly before the barrel run - and the "rampage" - began.

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Famous alumni

See also Category:Academics of King's College London, Category:Alumni of King's College London and Category:People associated with King's College London

King's has educated many significant figures since its foundation. Its strong tradition in the sciences might be represented by some recipients of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine: Sir James Black, Maurice Wilkins, Sir Charles Scott Sherrington or Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins; or pioneering nurse Florence Nightingale. John Keats, Sir William Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan, Thomas Hardy and Michael Nyman are some celebrated examples from the arts; more recently, Rory Bremner, the journalists Martin Bashir and Benjamin Cohen, and another Nobel Laureate, Desmond Tutu, all attended King's.

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Accommodation

King’s halls of residence offer a range of accommodation to suit the varied needs of students. These include:

Four of these halls let their rooms to visitors during the summer months when the students leave King's Conference & Vacation Bureau.

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Intercollegiate Halls

King's also has the largest number of bedspaces in the University of London Intercollegiate Halls, which provide accommodation for those studying at most of the of the University. These are also open to the public over the summer:

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Statistics

  • The Guardian newspaper ranks King's as the sixth best university in the country; the THES ranks King's as 23rd in Europe [10].
  • King's is 3rd in the UK both for graduate starting salary and graduate employability and 5th for Student:Staff ratio [11].
  • Entry to King's is competitive: the Sunday Times rates it as the 6th most difficult UK university to get into [12].
  • Many departments are at the top of their field; most notably, the English and Dentistry departments are ranked as the best in the country.
  • King's is a member of the Russell Group of research universities and, in addition to the two departments listed above, is highly distinguished in Law, Medicine, Music, Dentistry, and War Studies. This latter department attracts students with both a civilian and military background across the world. It is supported by world-class facilities such as the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives and the King's Centre for Military Health.
  • The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency. It is in the top group (of six universities) for research earnings.
  • In February 2006, UCAS revealed that, offset by a fall in applications for the vast majority of UK universities, King's received 4.0% more than the previous year [13].
  • In August 2005 the Guardian newspaper stated that LSE, Imperial College, King's and UCL each 'have international reputations that in this country only Oxbridge can beat' [14].
  • It has the fifth largest endowment of UK universities at £100m (2002), the fourth largest endowment per student, and has credit ratings of AA-/Stable/A-1 (Standard & Poor's).
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Trivia

  • King's College School was created as King's Junior Department at the time of the College's founding. Originally situated in the basement of the Strand campus, the School relocated Wimbledon in 1897. King's College School is no longer associated with King's College London.
  • Aldwych tube station, a well-preserved but disused London Underground station, is part of the King's Strand campus. Its constant use as a filming location makes it supposedly the most profitable station on the tube network.
  • The School of Medicine, which admits 360 undergraduates every year, is the largest in the UK.
  • The College mascot, "Reggie", was lost for many years in the 1990s. It was recovered after being found dumped in a field, restored at the cost of around £15,000 and placed on display in the Students' Union. Protected in a glass case, it is filled with concrete to prevent theft, particularly by UCL students who once castrated it. (King's students had also stolen one UCL mascot, Phineas, and played football with the head of another, Jeremy Bentham). There are two further "Reggies" in existence: a papier-mâché Reggie outside the Great Hall at the Strand Campus, and a small incarnation displayed during Graduation ceremonies.
  • King's is featured in the novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; the Reading Room of the Maughan Library is described as an 'octagonal chamber'. The Library, however, was not used in filming for the novel's screen adaptation.
  • In September 2005 an innovative e-learning MA/Diploma was launched - War in the Modern World. This postgraduate course will be delivered purely online for students around the world.
  • King's runs the London Air Quality Network [15].
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References

  • F.J.C. Hearnshaw (1929). The Centenary History of King's College London. George G. Harrap & Co.
  • Gordon Huelin (1978), King's College London, 1828-1978.
  • Christine Kenyon Jones (2004), King's College London: In the service of society.
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See also

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External links

Template:King's College DNA

Recognised bodies of the University of London

Birkbeck | Goldsmiths | Heythrop | Imperial | Institute of Cancer Research | Institute of Education | King's | London Business School | LSE | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | Queen Mary | Royal Academy of Music | Royal Holloway | Royal Veterinary College | St George's | SOAS | School of Pharmacy | UCL

Listed bodies

University of London Institute in Paris | Courtauld Institute of Art | School of Advanced Study | University Marine Biological Station, Millport

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