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About London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree-awarding examination board for students holding certificates from University College London, King's College London, and "other such institutions, corporate or unincorporated, as shall be established for the purpose of Education, whether within the Metropolis or elsewhere within our United Kingdom". It is one of three institutions to have claimed the title of the third-oldest university in England. It moved to a federal structure with constituent colleges in 1900. It is now incorporated by its fourth (1863) royal charter and governed by the University of London Act 2018. The university consists of 17 member institutions and three central academic bodies. It has around 48,000 distance learning external students and around 205,400 campus-based internal students, making it the largest university by number of students in the United Kingdom. For most practical purposes, ranging from admissions to funding, the member institutions operate on an independent basis, with many conferring their own degrees whilst remaining in the federal university. Under the 2018 act, member institutions ceased to be termed colleges and gained the right to seek university status without having to leave the federal university: Birkbeck, City, Goldsmiths, King's College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, St George's, and University College London have all indicated that they intend to do so. As of 2015, there are around 2 million University of London alumni across the world, including at least 14 monarchs or royalty, more than 60 presidents or prime ministers (including five prime ministers of the United Kingdom), two Cabinet Secretaries of the UK, 98 Nobel laureates, five Fields Medallists, four Turing Award winners, six Grammy winners, two Oscar winners, three Olympic gold medalists and the "Father of the Nation" of several countries. The university owns the University of London Press.