I have noticed that KCL is consistantly one of the most popular pograms on this website according to user views, see http://www.llm-guide.com/most-popular-llm-programs

However, there is only rare mention of KCL in the discussion board. LSE, UCL (and Oxbridge..) are much more discussed. Now, that the intercollegiate LLM has come to an end, LLM students will focus even more on the reputation of the colleges within the University of London, when making a choice. The colleges are obviously concentrating on their traditional strengths, offering only a limited number LLM specialisations compared to the intercollegiate programme.

I would be interested in knowing how KCL is perceived internationally in terms of reputation and academic quality compared to LSE, UCL, and Queen Mary.

In Continental Europe (not in USA, Asia or India), KCL is more known than UCL.

For example, I had a talk with a French student who told me that he had chosen KCL instead of UCL because KCL was more known in France than UCL.

For people who don't really know the Time or Guardian rankings, King's College London sounds better than University College London because the brand name is better.

In addition, KCL sounds familiar for some people because they confuse King's College London with King's College which is one of the constituent colleges of the prestigious University of Cambridge http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/

So that's why I think that KCL is one of the most popular programs according to the user views. On the other hand, when people post here, they are already aware of the English rankings, so they discuss more of LSE, Oxbridge and UCL.

Thanks Johnson, that sounds plausible. I have to add that I am a King's alumnus and I consider King's a very good college. As far as I remember It used to be ranked higher than UCL in the Times ranking a couple of years ago and it is not much behind UCL and LSE in the current rankings. I agree that in continental Europe (I am from Germany) King's does have a better brand name than UCL, which is quite unknown over here.

I was rather wondering why there are only few posts by prospective King's students in this board despite the size of the LLM programme and its popularity on this site.

Well this is the first post relating to KCL!
I am a trainee lawyer and will be a "real" one next year. I saw that KCL offers postgraduate diplomas which can lead to a grad of Master in two years by distance learning. It is aimed at people with some professional experience. Next year I will have 18 month of exp (only internships).

My questions are: does anyone has heard about these diplomas (specialisation are in competition law & european law) ? Do you know if it is suitable for a young lawyer?

Does anyone know KCLs rank now?

Not too bad:
http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=&FirstRow=0&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=&Subject=Law&Institution=&Tariff=6
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Law&sub=21&x=37&y=7

Hey - I'm from Australia. All my lecturers said KCL is the most prestigious law school in London. It was founded by King George etc so it has that "namebrand". My professor, who is from Europe, made a good point in saying that LSE has "economics" in its name and UCL lacks that "royal factor" so King's College is probably the best choice simply because of the "namebrand".

Surprisingly, if people see you have graduated from London, most do not know the difference between KCL, UCL, LSE or even Queen Mary and SOAS. However, most lawyers are familiar with the golden triangle so if you go to either KCL, LSE or UCL, its all good! I'd prefer KCL for the namebrand, prestige and the quality of the school - which I consider to be the best in London.

The Times rankings above are good, but, seriously, Aberdeen over Oxford??? I think the Guardian rankings are spot on - "golden triangle", Oxford is clearly the best with Cambridge a very close second, and, UCL, KCL amd LSE equal.

1) Oxford 100.00
2) Cambridge 94.00
3) London School of Economics 86.50
4) King's College London 86.40
5) UCL 86.00
===============================================

I hate to say it - but from my experience KCL, LSE, QM, SOAS and UCL are pretty much the same in terms of quality of teaching etc. I don't find employers to view one to be more prestigious than another as they all belong to the UoL. It's rather your speciality and grades that will be more important. If these colleges start pulling out of the UoL umbrella this may change.

That said...
LSE seems to be recognised as the best in the US;
KCL in Europe;
and, UCL in the UK.

At the moment, UCL and KCL appear to have the best academics. While LSE is known as the greedy rebel who wants to charge more fees.

I wouldn't take much notice of ranking, but rather RAE scores and Russell Group members. Out of all of them, I'd recommend KCL as the best all-rounder.

Not too bad:
http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=&FirstRow=0&SortOrderDirection=&SortOrderColumn=&Subject=Law&Institution=&Tariff=6
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Law&sub=21&x=37&y=7