The Student Room Group

KCL or UCL

Kings for business or UCL for social science with data science. Any students who attend these courses feel free to share your general experience.

Reply 1

Which subject/course actually interests you more? Look at the courses in detail , what optional units are available in each year of each course, and think about what you would choose if you went there?

Does either course include any extras like study abroad or work placements - these add enormously to your graduate CV and your immediate employability.

Reply 2

Original post
by londonstudentt
Kings for business or UCL for social science with data science. Any students who attend these courses feel free to share your general experience.

look at the career you want to go into if u have one in mind, then work backwards from that. e.g. which one is more beneficial. if theyre equally beneficial id say UCL.
look at the course structure, which one youll enjoy more. UCL has more prestige so employers tend to like that more, but not necessarily. also depends on how far you want to be from ur home.

Reply 3

Original post
by 7394
look at the career you want to go into if u have one in mind, then work backwards from that. e.g. which one is more beneficial. if theyre equally beneficial id say UCL.
look at the course structure, which one youll enjoy more. UCL has more prestige so employers tend to like that more, but not necessarily. also depends on how far you want to be from ur home.

What exactly do you think 'prestige' is, and how do you intend to measure it?

Reply 4

Original post
by McGinger
What exactly do you think 'prestige' is, and how do you intend to measure it?

Prestige is the widespread respect that the university earns, through its high social standing, academic standards, research programmes, admissions selection and the recognition that comes with attending said university. I measure it in terms of overall and dept rank, UCL is 9th in the UK, whereas KCL is 24th. It varies when looking at dept rankings, but on the whole they seem to be level. I'd also measure prestige with graduate prospects versus the number of people that go onto further education, and the links that each university has to the major corporate firms (if that is applicable to your intended career).

Reply 5

Original post
by 7394
Prestige is the widespread respect that the university earns, through its high social standing, academic standards, research programmes, admissions selection and the recognition that comes with attending said university. I measure it in terms of overall and dept rank, UCL is 9th in the UK, whereas KCL is 24th. It varies when looking at dept rankings, but on the whole they seem to be level. I'd also measure prestige with graduate prospects versus the number of people that go onto further education, and the links that each university has to the major corporate firms (if that is applicable to your intended career).

Do you realise that 'rankings' are just commercial marketing fluff?
They change every year, different league tables put courses and Unis in a different order - and they actually mean nothing meaningful in the real world. Whatever your school tells you, employers don't use this as a way of sifting graduate applications, and no-one curtsies to you in the street because you went X Uni. Its only school-leavers that get obsessed with this nonsense, even academics find the whole thing laughable.

Reply 6

Original post
by McGinger
Do you realise that 'rankings' are just commercial marketing fluff?
They change every year, different league tables put courses and Unis in a different order - and they actually mean nothing meaningful in the real world. Whatever your school tells you, employers don't use this as a way of sifting graduate applications, and no-one curtsies to you in the street because you went X Uni. Its only school-leavers that get obsessed with this nonsense, even academics find the whole thing laughable.


I've spoken to many graduates that currently work in the career field that I want to work in. The majority have said that graduating from a higher ranked university will result in a higher chance of being employed by top firms across the globe. Especially if the university is internationally recognised as a top university. Yes I know no one is going to "curtsy to me in the street" for attending a presigious university, but the career progression that I will achieve is significantly more rewarding than a bow!
Rankings are a way to gauge how employers may begin to separate likely candidates from those they are going to reject, and attending a university with a high ranking in a specific department often indicates how well the course is taught and the level of skill gained by the students.
I'm aware this isn't applicable to every career, but in the fintech and business areas (where I have been looking), more often than not this is the case. :smile:
Original post
by 7394
I've spoken to many graduates that currently work in the career field that I want to work in. The majority have said that graduating from a higher ranked university will result in a higher chance of being employed by top firms across the globe. Especially if the university is internationally recognised as a top university. Yes I know no one is going to "curtsy to me in the street" for attending a presigious university, but the career progression that I will achieve is significantly more rewarding than a bow!
Rankings are a way to gauge how employers may begin to separate likely candidates from those they are going to reject, and attending a university with a high ranking in a specific department often indicates how well the course is taught and the level of skill gained by the students.
I'm aware this isn't applicable to every career, but in the fintech and business areas (where I have been looking), more often than not this is the case. :smile:

Rankings really don't matter: :smile:

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Source: https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/7020/12684_tess_-survey_2021.pdf

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