University College London

UCL is in Bloomsbury, London, next to the British Museum and University College Hospital. Founded in 1826, it was among the earlier institutions in England to open higher education to a broader range of students. The campus is set in the city, with no walled college town. Medicine and life sciences, engineering, architecture, education and social science can all be found here: the scale is large and so is the choice.

Nutrition and Medical Sciences is a three-year undergraduate degree in the medical sciences division, covering everything from cells and the human body to public nutrition. It is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN), and graduates can apply to register as associate nutritionists. The telecommunications master's sits in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, one year long, with courses leaning towards network architecture and communication systems, and the undergraduate background must match. Data-science-related master's degrees are spread across statistics, computer science and other departments, with entirely different prerequisites. Architecture is also a separate faculty, and its portfolio and mathematics-and-science requirements are unrelated to an engineering application.

For families, UCL is often the London option where the subject is decided first and the university second. Under the same name, UCL departments differ greatly in timetable and entry requirements. For those who have settled on harder science, engineering and medicine, and want fewer choices, Imperial is more decisive.