UCL (University College London), a leading public research university, was founded in 1826 as London University, inspired by Jeremy Bentham's radical ideas. It was revolutionary for its time, becoming England's first entirely secular university institution to admit students regardless of their religion, and notably, one of the first to admit women alongside men in 1878. Today, UCL is the UK's second-largest university by total enrolment, boasting a main campus in central London's Bloomsbury and a second at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Though initially established as a college, it achieved formal university status in 2023 and has grown into a major economic contributor, generating around £10 billion annually for the UK. With 33 Nobel Prize laureates affiliated and pioneering discoveries ranging from noble gases to hormones, UCL maintains a powerful legacy of academic excellence and global impact.