IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON, LONDON ENGLAND
Imperial was placed 5th overall in the world in the 2009 Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings of universities worldwide, and 7th in 2010 and was placed 26th in the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities. Imperial College London is a member of the Russell Group of Universities, a part of the Golden Triangle, the IDEA League, the European University Association, AMBA, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Imperial’s main campus is located in South Kensington in Central London, on the boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster (the Knightsbridge part), with its front entrance on Exhibition Road. Including Imperial’s other campuses, there is a total of 525,233 square metres (5,653,560 sq ft) of property which is the largest operational estate of any higher education institution in the UK.
mperial College’s activity is centred on its South Kensington campus, situated in an area with a high concentration of cultural and academic institutions known as the Albertopolis; the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Albert Hall are all nearby. Imperial College has two other major campuses — at Silwood Park (near Ascot in Berkshire) and at Wye (near Ashford in Kent).
Extensive renovation continues throughout the College estate. Recent major projects include the Imperial College Business School, the Ethos sports centre, the Southside hall of residence and the Eastside hall of residence. Current major projects include the reconstruction of the south-eastern quadrant of the campus.
Imperial College London is among the most selective universities in the UK. From 1999 to 2007 (dates of all the online available records), the overall acceptance rate of Imperial College programmes has been consistently below 20%, and in 2007, the acceptance rate of the college for undergraduates was 15.3%. The acceptance rate for postgraduate courses was 19.5%. To apply to an Imperial undergraduate course, as with all other universities in the United Kingdom, one must apply through the UCAS system.
