Reviewed on Oct 16, 2025(Enrolled 2021)
What Students Say
Likes
- Location in the heart of central London, close to Hyde Park, good proximity to metro station, shops and restaurants, very posh and safe area
- Research focussed course with lots of reserach opportunity available for students
- Highly ranked (#2 in the world)
Dislikes
- STEM-only university so didn't get to interact with non-stem students
- My course was relatively new so could have some improvements
- My course only utilised one teaching room which became quite mundane after some time
Course Curriculum
10
- Difficulty was probably 8/10. It was decently theoretical but had a high level of practicals and research work, which made it stand out compared to other courses.
- Positive is that it was a well-planned and research-based course and that all teachers took feedback seriously and constantly improved classes.
- Negative is that it was quite new so not fully developed. There are 1 to 3 classes a day, 2 to 3 hours each. Timings are varied but between 9 am and 5 pm.
- There were 180 students in my batch and probably 2 Indian students who were actually from India (10-15 Indian students total including ex-pats and local Indians)
Admission Experience
- I applied to 3 colleges – Imperial College London (accepted), University College London (accepted) and King's College London (accepted). All of these colleges are in Central London. I was admitted to all of them. I was not rejected from any college so I cannot say.
- Imperial College London was the highest ranked among the colleges. It was STEM-only so I thought it would be a more focused university for what I wanted to study (Biomedicine). The BSc Medical Biosciences course was also structured very differently in ICL compared to other unis, allowing for more self-study and a more flexible schedule that I could plan for myself, which also gave me more time to do extracurriculars.
- For the UK there is only one intake. I applied in November and got decisions back from January to February. The application itself took about a month and a half. I started writing my personal statement in October and wrote many drafts and asked for feedback on each. The application was via UCAS and that itself did not take long, maybe just a few hours.
Faculty
8
- There are about 5 teachers to 180 students per class. However, faculty are very engaged and walk around and interact with all students so classes are very interactive and engaging.
- The teachers are also always available on email, etc., so it is easy to connect with them and clarify doubts. Teaching was good in the sense that everything was explained well and research techniques are well taught for a research career.
- No, faculty don't generally help with job searches but help with securing PhDs sometimes.
Campus Life
8
- One main campus. Medical students have different campuses in later years. Main campus is in South Kensington. Biomedical students have labs at the Hammersmith campus in White City. There is a library at each campus, a sports centre called Ethos in south kensington, and generally there are first aiders and nurses everywhere.
- Major indian society festival is East Meets West, which is a song/dance/drama show. There are lots of other events held by all societies throughout the year at a smaller scale. Imperial has around 400 societies so there's something for everyone – all kinds of sports and cultural societies – and if what you're interested in doesn't already exist, then you can always start your own society.
Part Time Jobs
- Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant roles are not generally available to undergrad students during the year. However, you can apply for the Recruitment and Outreach student ambassador role, where you speak to prospective students about uni life and imperial and help with campus events like open days and outreach programmes too. The pay is 14 gbp an hour. This is generally quite competitive, as lots of students apply but they want students from diverse backgrounds. There are cafes on campus and a bar where students also work part-time. International students can work 20 hours per week.
- The minimum wage is 7 gbp per hour so places like McDonald's pay that much. Campus jobs pay better at 14 gbp an hour on average. It can be quite difficult for international students to get part-time work if they don't have prior experience in the field. For part-time applications, students check LinkedIn or even just go up to shops and ask if they are hiring. Applications involve CVs and interviews.
Placement
6
- Recently the job market in the UK is at an all-time low so about 20% secure jobs soon after graduating. On average I think it takes international students about 6 months after graduating to secure a job. The average salary is 28000 to 38000 gbp annually after graduation. Students look at LinkedIn and other websites like indeed, jobs.ac.uk, forage etc.
- Campus recruitment is not common, but we have campus fairs for networking with industry professionals. Most common way to get a full-time position is a return offer from a previous internship in industry.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- In the first year I stayed at university housing. This was a great accommodation in North Acton, with common rooms, a games room, and very nice ensuite rooms well-equipped with a desk, chair, lamp, and fan. This was a super modern and well-maintained facility. The only con was that it was far from campus – about 40 mins by train. Monthly rent was 692 gbp, which included all bills.
- The room was also cleaned once a week, which was great. Since it was university-provided, it was very easy to get this accommodation. In years 2 and 3 I stayed at iQ, which is a private student accommodation. This rent was 1300 gbp per month with all bills included but no cleaning. The location for this was amazing, very accessible with lots of public transport options nearby and very lively with lots of shops, restaurants and bars.
- This accommodation was 20 mins away from campus. I would advise students to start looking early on for accommodation if you want a private student hall, as these rooms open for booking around november the year before you want to start living there. Rooms go very quick so look early and check public transport access in the area.
Exams
- Only school grades were required for Imperial admission, but for the UK Visa I had to do an English proficiency test. For this, DUolingo English test was accepted so I did that.
- The documents required are a statement of purpose and letter of recommendation and final year/predicted grade transcript. There was no CV requirement. I did not have an interview.
Fees
- The tuition was around 33,000 gbp per year. Rent costs around 8000 to 12000 gbp per year, including wifi, heating and water bills. Other living expenses were around 400 to 500 pounds per month and this included grocery bills, eating food in restaurants, shopping, etc.
- Travel costs around 150 pounds per month. Fees are payable all together at the start of the year or in two instalments 6 months apart.
Scholarship
- No, I did not receive a scholarship, as they are not available for international students mostly. My batchmates also did not receive scholarships if they were international, but local students got financial aid depending on household income.
- I don't know how many students get scholarships or how much money they get in scholarships because, in general, there are not many.
