King's College London

Overview

King’s College London was founded in 1829 and now has over 33,000 students from more than 150 countries enrolled. It aims to deliver world-leading research, as well as educate its students. For example, research at King’s has led to the discovery of the structure of DNA, the notion of informing air pollution awareness and the development of life-changing therapies.

King’s has a reputation for being especially strong in the humanities, law, science, psychiatry, medicine, dentistry, nursing and the social sciences. It’s part of the University of London and has strong links with St Thomas’ and Guy’s hospitals.

Studying at King’s, you’ll be living in London, in the heart of one of the busiest and most exciting cities in the world and you’ll have an abundance and variety of restaurants, bars, pubs and nightclubs on hand to create a nightlife like nowhere else. Comedy clubs, music venues, the West End theatre district, festivals and museums also contribute to making London one of the most cultural places on the planet.

Having all this on your doorstep does come at a price, however, as London is one of the most expensive places to be a student in the UK. To help combat this, various student nights at local bars and clubs are organised to help you control your spending.

London is probably the most well-connected city in the UK with access to several international airports, the Eurostar and multiple national railway stations.

The uni is split across five campuses, four of which sit beside the Thames in central London and one at Denmark Hill.

King’s offers a wide range of courses to undergraduate students, spanning the arts, humanities, business, law, natural sciences, social sciences and health sciences (e.g., psychology and medicine).

There are three types of undergraduate degree you can choose from at King’s.  Single honours degrees are made up of modules from one subject area only, while joint honours degrees consist of modules from two subjects of roughly equal weighting. For example, it’s fairly common to study a humanities course, like history, alongside a language, such as French or Spanish.

The third type is the major/minor honours degree, which involves most modules coming from the major subject and the rest coming from a secondary subject.

Typically, undergraduate bachelor’s degrees at King’s take three years to study. However, a number of courses include placement years, study abroad options or an integrated master’s year. This increases the course length to four years. Medical courses usually take five years to study and some courses, like architecture, take longer.

Most degrees include optional modules, as well as core modules, meaning you can study the degree topics you’re most interested in.

Currently, all undergraduate degrees at King’s have to be studied on a full-time basis and none are available via distance learning.

Several qualifications are accepted by King’s as part of an application, for example, A-levels, BTECs, Cambridge Pre-Us and the International Baccalaureate. Mixed qualifications can sometimes be accepted, e.g., a combination of two A-levels and one BTEC Level 3. Combinations are assessed on a case-by-case basis and the same subject cannot be used for two separate qualifications.

A-levels are the most common qualification used on applications and King’s makes offers based on three A-level grades. It should be noted that general studies, critical thinking, thinking skills and global perspectives are not accepted by the university as one of your three subjects.

You can find each degree course’s specific entry requirements within the uni’s online prospectus or on the online entry requirements pages. We’ve also identified the range of grades needed to study degrees in certain subject areas here.

For instance, to study a degree in business, finance or accounting, you’ll likely be asked for A-levels ranging from A*AA–AAB (or equivalent qualification). To study a degree in the sciences or maths, you’ll also be asked for A-level grades ranging from A*AA–AAB (or equivalent qualification) and for a degree in the humanities you’ll similarly need A*AA–AAB (or equivalent qualification).

It should be noted that entry requirements can change so you should always confirm these with the university before applying. 

There’s a wide variety of uni residences throughout central London to choose from, with all budgets and lifestyles catered for. All of the halls are within reach of the uni’s campuses and new undergraduate students are guaranteed accommodation, as long as the guarantee deadline is met.

The residences are well managed, with daily security and cleaning services, as well as an in-house welfare team, and each halls offers a range of events, workshops and activities. The BeActive Halls programme gives all King’s halls residents unlimited access to a weekly activity programme, including five-a-side football, crazy golf, salsa classes and much more.

You can choose between en suite and shared bathroom options, as well as catered and self-catered residences. Facilities usually include a common room, study area, laundry room and bike stores.

Halls prices range from around £160 to £245 a week and contents insurance is included in your rates.

If you’d prefer not to live in university accommodation then private accommodation options are also available.

King’s has a dedicated careers team that’s on hand to help you improve your job prospects and build your career. It’s there to help you work out who or what you might become after you’ve finished uni, partly by helping you understand your strengths and partly by helping show you what’s out there.

If you already have an idea of what you want to do once you’ve graduated, then the careers service will help you narrow this down before helping prepare you to take the next course of action, for example, by identifying potential employers or preparing you for an interview.

You’ll find plenty of help and resources on the careers service’s online platform and be able to book one-to-one appointments with careers professionals to talk about specific elements of your employability.

You’ll also be able to attend various careers events that are designed to help you build success on your career journey, improve your employability and increase your professional network. ‘Focused Festivals’, careers fairs and conferences will give you a good idea of possible industry sectors, as well as introduce potential employers.

There are several scholarships and bursaries available at King’s. These are ways of providing extra funding for students who meet certain criteria. This funding doesn’t need to be repaid. Scholarships are usually awarded based on academic and extra-curricular achievement, while bursaries are normally given out based on personal circumstances.

Some funding will be provided by certain subject departments and will only be available for students who are studying that subject. The Norman Spink scholarship, for example, is worth £10,000 and is for students who need financial help and are taking the one-year LLM Law programme.

Additionally, the Women in STEM scholarship is funded by the faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences and is available for female students in that faculty who come from a household with a total annual income of £42,875 or less.

There are also various hardship funds available. These are funding opportunities for students who are facing financial pressures and concerns while studying.

You can check the funding pages on the King’s College website for more information about the available funding and the specific eligibility criteria.