News archive 2002

Statement on proposed merger of Imperial College and University College

22 Oct 2002, PR 46/02

Speaking about the proposed merger of Imperial College and UCL, King’s College Principal, Professor Arthur Lucas, commented,

“My senior officers and I are naturally looking closely at the implications of any merger, and the implications of a failure to merge given their announcement of the intent.

We will be discussing the proposed IC-UCL merger at College Council, Academic Board and other committees of the College in due course. As a result of these discussions, it is likely that the College will seek the power to award its own degrees, although it would be a separate decision at an appropriate time to use that power.

We at King’s are not actively seeking further mergers - I believe strongly that there is a place for a Cambridge or Harvard-sized university in London, and that King’s is in a prime position to flourish in this regard.

Finally, if the merger is to take place, it will take some time to implement. By then, King’s will have emerged as a stronger organisation through having completed the staff re-structuring programme which is a major component of our strategic plan.”



Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.



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