UCL

Enrolment

HESA’s statistical bulletin SB273, Figure 7, academic year 2024/25, lists University College London (UKPRN 10007784) with a published total of 51,315 HE student enrolments.

The same row publishes Total UK 24,705 (England 23,850, Wales 450, Scotland 275, Northern Ireland 90, Other UK 40) and Total non-UK 26,610 (EU 2,735, non-EU 23,880), plus Not known 0. The published Total UK, Total non-UK and Not known add up to that total. Inner components are also rounded and need not add up to those subtotals.

Source: HESA, Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2024/25, Where students come from and go to study, Figure 7. Published 27 January 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.

University halls, as UCL states them

UCL’s cost-of-study page says 2026/27 rents for the most common room types average £320 a week, which is £12,480 over a 39-week academic year, for an undergraduate in self-catered halls. The same paragraph says rents vary by hall and that UCL has a range from £153.86 a week to over £455.71 a week. The word “over” means £455.71 is not a ceiling. We have not turned that sentence into a highest room.

The same page gives postgraduate halls as £153–£529 a week, and £7,956–£27,508 on its “per 52 week academic year” row. It also says postgraduate accommodation is usually a 51-week contract. We have not reconciled 51 weeks with the 52-week row.

A room-by-room 2026/27 fee table exists on UCL’s accommodation site. We are not copying it here, because this guide uses the ranges the cost-of-study page itself prints.

Source: How much does it cost to study at UCL?. Accessed 6 November 2026.

Private rent, in UCL’s own estimates

On that cost-of-study page, a shared privately rented house is given as £150–£300 a week, £650–£1,300 a month, and £7,800–£15,600 over a 52-week contract, excluding household bills. UCL also says that in the Save the Student 2026 Accommodation Survey, London students reported an average of £793 a month on accommodation, across various types including sharing. That survey figure is UCL’s citation, not a Student Sterling survey.

Student Sterling has not run its own rent survey.

Same source: How much does it cost to study at UCL?. Accessed 6 November 2026.

Other costs UCL prints

The same page sets out other essential costs. It says the starred rows are based on the Save the Student survey for 2025, uprated by 10%, and that the amounts are indicative. The travel row is UCL’s figure for an 18+ Student monthly Oyster photocard, zones 1–2. We did not re-check that fare on the Transport for London site on this run, so it is cited as UCL’s figure only.

Source: How much does it cost to study at UCL?. Accessed 6 November 2026. Rent is not in this table.

Transport

The only travel fare on this page is the one in UCL’s table above: £119.90 a month (£31.20 a week) for a zones 1–2 18+ Student Oyster photocard, as UCL prints it. A 16–25 Railcard is a separate National Rail product for trips out of London. The price is on the Railcard site. We are not restating it here.

UCL’s halls are not on one suburban campus. The cost page is about money, not a map, and we have not measured journey times ourselves.

Sources: UCL cost of study and 16–25 Railcard. Accessed 6 November 2026.

Campus and city

City. UCL’s own cost page prices London halls and a London travelcard, and its accommodation is spread across London rather than one out-of-town residential campus. That is a description, not a rating.

Why we use this living-cost band

Editorial label, not a university score and not a prediction of your room. We use “high” because UCL’s own 2026/27 cost page puts self-catered undergraduate halls at an average of £320 a week, with a stated range from £153.86 a week to over £455.71 a week. That sits above the non-London halls floors in this set of 12.

Money support

The hardship scheme is the UCL Financial Assistance Fund. UCL’s fund page says 2026–27 applications are open to currently enrolled students. Support is for living costs only and cannot pay tuition fees. Awards are not guaranteed. The page says UCL can award up to £2,500 for a full-time student without dependants, £3,000 with dependants, £1,250 for a part-time student without dependants, and £1,500 with dependants. Deadlines on that page for 2026–27 are 11 June 2027 for undergraduates and 30 July 2027 for postgraduate taught and PGCE students. Postgraduate research has no deadline printed there.

Apply and read the criteria on the Financial Assistance Fund page. Accessed 6 November 2026.

The UCL Undergraduate Bursary page says it is assessed automatically from the regional student-finance application, for home-fee students domiciled in the UK, with household income of £42,875 or less. For 2026/27 starters the page prints: £3,000 at £16,000 or under; £2,000 above £16,000 up to £25,000; £1,500 above £25,000 up to £37,000; £1,000 above £37,000 up to £42,875. It is not payable on a year in industry or a sandwich year. Other awards sit on the undergraduate funding pages. We are not copying every scheme. Accessed 6 November 2026.

Students’ Union UCL has an advice service. Its financial-support pages are linked from studentsunionucl.org/advice. Accessed 6 November 2026.

Which student-finance body you use depends on where you normally live, not simply where you study. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own route. See student loans.

Banking

The student accounts in our banking guide are UK-wide products. We have not counted branches near this university, so we do not name a best branch. Each account we list can be managed in an app or online. Check the provider for what you can do without a branch. We are not repeating overdraft limits here.

Local links that matter

• UCL cost of study — the halls, private-rent and travel figures above.
• Financial Assistance Fund — hardship, not a discount code.
• 16–25 Railcard — trips out of London. Price on the Railcard site.

Direct links only. No affiliate parameters.

Student life

For clubs and societies, start with Students’ Union UCL. We are not scoring nightlife, and UCL’s cost page does not print a nightlife spend as its own row. Going-out costs are inside the discretionary spending it tells you to budget for yourself.

Similar universities

Links below are other guides in this set of 12. They are not a ranking.

• King’s College London — the other London university in this set.

Sources

Every cost and enrolment figure above is tied to one of these. Accessed 6 November 2026 unless the row says otherwise.

1. HESA, Figure 7, SB273, 2024/25. Where students come from and go to study. Published 27 January 2026. UKPRN 10007784.
2. UCL, How much does it cost to study at UCL?.
3. UCL, Financial Assistance Fund.
4. UCL, Undergraduate Bursary.
5. UCL, Funding for undergraduate courses.
6. Students’ Union UCL, Advice.
7. Rail Delivery Group, 16–25 Railcard.