The University of London, founded on February 28, 1836, is one of the world's largest universities, with between 10 and 20 percent of all UK students attending its colleges.

The university at first comprised just two colleges, UCL (University College London) and King's College, but now has over 15, many of which are major institutions in their own right.

The University is a federal body made up of colleges and institutes. Under English law, some of these are Recognised Bodies that can grant University of London degrees (the same status as institutes that have their own degree-awarding powers), while others are Listed Bodies that provide courses leading to degrees of the University of London (the same status as the constitutent institutions of the University of Wales and the colleges of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham.

The colleges and institutes of the University are, as of October 2003:

  • Recognised Bodies:
  • Listed Bodies:
    • British Institute in Paris
    • Courtauld Institute of Art
    • School of Advanced Study comprising the following institutes:
      • Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
      • Institute of Classical Studies
      • Institute of Commonwealth Studies
      • Institute of English Studies (including the Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies),
      • Institute of Germanic Studies
      • Institute of Historical Research
      • Institute of Latin American Studies
      • Institute of Romance Studies
      • Institute of United States Studies
      • The Warburg Institute
    • University Marine Biological Station, Millport
    • Institute of Cancer Research (an Associated Institute, not an Institute of the University)

Notable persons who attended the University include: