Queen Mary University of London

HISTORY

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It dates back to the foundation of London Hospital Medical College in 1785. Queen Mary College, named after Mary of Teck, was admitted to the University of London in 1915 and in 1989 merged with Westfield College to form Queen Mary and Westfield College. In 1995 Queen Mary and Westfield College merged with St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College to form the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Its main campus is in the Mile End area of Tower Hamlets, with other campuses in Holborn, Smithfield and Whitechapel. It is the only college of the University of London to have an integrated teaching, research and residential campus.

Queen Mary is a member of the Russell Group of leading British research universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Universities UK. Queen Mary is a major centre for medical teaching and research and is part of UCL Partners, the world’s largest academic health science centre. It has a strategic partnership with the University of Warwick, including research collaboration and joint teaching of English, history and computer science undergraduates. Queen Mary also collaborates with Royal Holloway, University of London, to run programmes at the University of London Institute in Paris.

Queen Mary is ranked among the top universities in London. According to The Guardian, it has been ranked ahead of other London institutions in the fields of law, dentistry, media and film studies, and second in medicine and history. There are seven Nobel Laureates amongst Queen Mary’s alumni and current and former staff.

In 2000 the college changed its name for general public use to Queen Mary, University of London; in 2013, the college legally changed its name to Queen Mary University of London.

Queen Mary became one of the few university-level institutions to implement a requirement of the A* grade at A-Level after its introduction in 2010 on some of their most popular courses, such as Engineering, Law, and Medicine.

From 2014, Queen Mary began awarding its own degrees, rather than those of the University of London.

COURSES

Queen Mary is organised into three faculties – the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science and Engineering and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry within which there are 21 academic departments and institutes. It is one of the largest colleges of the University of London.

The three faculties are split further into independent schools, institutes, and research centres:

• Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • School of Business and Management
  • School of Economics and Finance
  • School of English and Drama
    • Department of English
    • Department of Drama
  • School of Languages, Linguistics and Film
    • Comparative Literature
    • Film Studies
    • French
    • German
    • Iberian and Latin American Studies
    • Language Centre
    • Linguistics
    • Russian
  • School of Geography
  • School of History
  • School of Law
    • Centre for Commercial Law Studies
    • Department of Law
  • School of Politics and International Relations
• Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
  • Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
    • Barts Cancer Institute
    • The Blizard Institute
    • Institute of Dentistry
    • Institute of Health Sciences Education
    • William Harvey Research Institute
    • Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine
    • The Centre of the Cell
  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
    • School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
    • School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
      • Computer Science
      • Electronic Engineering
    • School of Engineering and Materials Science
    • Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials
    • School of Mathematical Sciences
    • School of Physics and Astronomy
    • Research Centre in Psychology

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Every application to QMUL is considered on its individual merits. Their admissions selectors are normally happy to consider a wide range of academic, vocational and professional qualifications, as well as work and other appropriate experiences and skills.

Entry requirements vary between programmes. The latest information can be found on their website by searching the course finder. Applicants to Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry are required to achieve three A levels at grade A taken at the same time during a period of not more than two years’ study. This is to include chemistry or biology, another science (chemistry, biology, physics or maths); plus any other A level except critical thinking, general studies or further maths (if maths is also offered). Different requirements apply to students whose A levels were taken before summer 2017.

For admission to all other degree programmes they require three A level passes and may specify grades in particular subjects.

Queen Mary is committed to recruiting students of the highest intrinsic talent and potential, and has a long-standing commitment to widening participation and fair access. Every application to Queen Mary is considered on its individual merits.

Depending on the programme, QMUL may specify a minimum grade in GCSE English and/or mathematics. They also expect the student to have achieved grades A*–C in at least five subjects, normally including English.

ACADEMIC STRENGTHS

The Medical School includes specialist centres researching cancer, cardiology, clinical pharmacology, inflammation, infectious diseases, stem cells, dermatology, diabetes, neuroscience, surgery and dentistry. The School of Law’s Legal Advice Centre won the prestigious Attorney General’s Pro Bono Award. They offer more than 240 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate degree programmes across their three faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences; Medicine and Dentistry; and Science and Engineering. The School of Dentistry moved into brand new state-of-the-art premises at the Royal London Dental Hospital in spring 2014. The new Dental School and Hospital houses the most modern and technologically advanced equipment in the UK. Queen Mary has been awarded the maximum allocation of £5m of new funding by the government in order to create new laboratories and expand teaching facilities for science and engineering on our Mile End campus. QMUL’s academics’ research is often found leading the news agenda. Subjects frequently featured include medical breakthroughs, cancer research, bioengineering, environmental issues, public health, historical and political analysis, culture and society, technology, engineering, cybercrime, law, business and more. Their researchers also act as advisers to organisations both at home and overseas.

TEACHING STANDARDS

Queen Mary has nine National Teaching Fellows; recognition of dedicated staff who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience

Queen Mary was ranked joint first in London for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2015. The survey results show that 88% of QMUL students are satisfied with the quality of their course compared with an average of 86%. QMUL’s School of Economics and Finance offers several programmes with opportunities for full or part exemption towards certain professional accreditations including: the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI Diploma), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Level 1 for postgraduates; Investment Management Certificate for undergraduates), and the Chartered Banking Institute (CBI – two exemptions from Part A and Part B). QMUL’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science offers industrial placement versions of all of its masters programmes. All of their engineering programmes are accredited by either the IMechE or the RAeS, so their modules are relevant to industry. All of their BEng and MEng programmes are also accredited by the IOM3. Their Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry programmes are accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry. A large number of QMUL’s subjects also feature in the top three in London and above 90% for overall satisfaction, including: dentistry, economics, film, finance, French, geography, history, law, physics, politics and medicine.

There are 55 academy and society fellows among QMUL staff. There is a personal adviser support system in place for every student.

CAREERS GUIDANCE

The Queen Mary Careers and Enterprise Centre provides support on CV and application-writing, interview technique and other employer recruitment methods, to help students apply for internships, part-time work or a graduate role.

Students also have the opportunity to meet employers on campus with around 200 employers and training organisations visiting the campus each year. Queen Mary alumni also return to the campus to share their experiences of the workplace with current students.

The Careers and Enterprise team at Queen Mary supports students in all aspects of career development – from finding work experience and graduate jobs to starting a business, or pursuing further study. The team run a variety of programmes and career fairs so students have access to many work experience and networking opportunities throughout the year. The team also provides invaluable training on CV writing, interviews and tackling Assessment Centres. In addition to the careers advice their students receive support from their academic tutors, many of whom will have links with employers themselves.

Each year hundreds of start-ups are launched at Queen Mary. Their Enterprise Programme can offer the student support and advice including funding schemes, one-to-one advice and business mentors. Since the QMUL Enterprise Programme began in 2012 it has gone on to support hundreds of students launching their business. In the last year alone, with support from Santander and UnLtd, they have awarded £27,500 worth of funding to their students. Start-ups have ranged from disability consultancy at the 2016 Olympics to live music and events production.