The University of London is a federal publicresearch university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The universitywas established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree-awarding examination boardfor students holding certificates from University College London and King'sCollege London and "other such other Institutions, corporate or unincorporated,as shall be established for the purpose of Education, whether within theMetropolis or elsewhere within our United Kingdom”. This fact allows it to beone of three institutions to claim the title of the third-oldest university inEngland, and moved to a federal structure in 1900. It is now incorporated byits fourth (1863) royal charter and governed by the University of London Act2018.

It was the first university in the UnitedKingdom to introduce examinations for women, in 1869 and, a decade later, thefirst to admit women to degrees.

The university consists of 17 memberinstitutions, including Goldsmiths, Birkbeck, BPP, London Business School, and three central academic bodies.  The university has around 48,000distance learning external students and around 219,410 campus-based internalstudents, making it the largest university by number of students in the UnitedKingdom. For most practical purposes, ranging from admissions to funding, themember institutions operate on an independent basis, with many awarding theirown degrees whilst remaining in the federal university.

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