List of Notable UCL Alumni

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Mrunmayai Bobade
Updated on Feb 23, 2022 08:42 PM IST

University College London is the third oldest university in England. From Mahatma Gandhi to Robert Browning, many other great personalities were a part of the UCL alumni. So let us know more about them and their student experience at UCL. 

List of Notable UCL Alumni

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The University College London (UCL) has been tagged as one of the third-largest universities by the annual number of student enrolment in the campus. Established in 1826, it is one of a kind prestigious university that enrols students irrespective of their religion. Not only this, the university is also the first one in London to admit women.

Why is UCL Famous?

UCL has been regarded as the most prestigious university in the United Kingdom in the 2021 World Reputation Rankings. In total, the university has four campuses. The main campus is in Bloomsbury, London and the other campuses are in Doha, Qatar, and East London. UCL has 11 faculties, among which top ones are:

  • Brain Sciences

  • Engineering Sciences

  • Arts and Humanities

  • Institute of Law

  • Institute of Population Health Sciences

  • Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

  • Institute of Medical Sciences

  • Institute of Social and Historical Sciences

The aforementioned faculties comprise at least 100 institutes, research departments, and centres. Along with this, UCL offers 440 undergraduate programmes and 675 postgraduate programmes. As per statistics, in 2020, over 44,000 students from more than 150 countries got admission. UCL is also the first university in the United Kingdom that uses A-grade level for admissions in its popular courses - Economics, Law, Mathematics, European Social and Political Studies, Medicine, Psychology, and Theoretical Physics.

The university's union, also known as UCL Union, was founded in 1893. It represents the voices of UCL students and also provides various services. Over 200 societies and clubs are operated by the union which also covers a wide range of artistic, cultural and sporting interests.

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Why Choose UCL?

University College London has a pioneering history with a distinguished present and an aim to provide an exciting future to its students. It is a great place for students who are career-oriented.

Some of the reasons why one should enrol in this university are:

  • One of the leading universities worldwide

  • Provide over 400 programmes

  • Student enrolment from over 150 countries

  • Award-winning sustainable institute

  • 300+ clubs and societies for students

List of Notable UCL Alumni

Take a look at some of the notable UCL alumni which is loosely sorted by their popularity, different profession and domain such as singer, poet, writer, director, etc.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi was a political ethicist, Lawyer and anti-colonial rationalist. He was and still is one of the important figures of the 20th century. He led a successful campaign for India's independence from British rule and also inspired freedom all over the world.

In the year 1888, Mahatma Gandhi was encouraged to relocate to London where he studied law in the University College London (UCL). While focusing on his law course, he also passed the UCL matriculation examination in the year 1890.

Christopher Nolan

Christopher Edward Nolan - popular director, producer and screenplay writer. Nolan has got at least 11 Academy awards.

In the year 1993, he graduated from UCL in English Literature and stepped ahead to become one of the top directors in the world. Once in an interview, Nolan described his journey in the university and said that he learnt to look at things in a better way and got a vision to advance things in every field.

It was the extracurricular activities in the university that helped him to become what he is today.

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Rabindranath Tagore

An Indian polymath, writer, philosopher, poet, composer - Rabindranath Tagore had reshaped Bengali literature and Indian art with contextual modernism. In the year 1913, Tagore became the first non-European to be honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Nobel laureate joined UCL in the year 1878 to study law. He went to England with a thought of becoming a barrister - one his father's wishes. However, later on switched from the field and studied various works of Shakespeare.

Chris Martin

Popular singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Christopher Anthony John Martin is the co-founder of Coldplay, a rock band, with which he has been awarded with many titles including seven Grammy and nine Brits.

He went to UCL, where he studied Ancient World Studies and graduated with flying colours in Greek and Latin.

Robert Browning

Remember The Last Ride Together poem? One of the poem lovers' favourite poems. Rober Browning needs no such introduction, but still for the unversed, he is famous for his poems and dramatic monologues, dark humour, challenging vocabulary and much more.

Browning joined UCL just two years after its foundation in 1928 to study Greek at the age of 16. Even today, his poems are still cherished in Literature books and loved by many students.

The list of famous people who studied at UCL does not end here. There is a plethora of notable UCL alumni who have graduated with flying colours in different fields apart from the ones aforementioned. These include Alexander Graham Bell, David Attenborough, Jagdish Chandra Bose, MR Anand, Romesh Chunder Dutt, and many more.

Want to Pursue Higher Education in UK?

If you are encouraged by the alumni list and want to get listed among them, write to us at abroad@collegedekho.com and get expert advice for a bright future.

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