UCL celebrates 200 years since its foundation in 2026. The Bicentenary year is a major landmark for our university and an opportunity to reflect on the past, and look forward to the future.
We’re putting students at the heart of the celebrations and making the Bicentenary year a celebration of the enormous achievements students at UCL have made since 1826.
We're looking for inspirational student stories to feature as part of the UCL200 Faces of UCL
1. Enabling a diverse student-led response to UCL200
Our incredible student groups will be supported to run new activities – exhibitions, events, workshops, conferences, charity fundraising drives, and anything else you can think of – to mark the Bicentenary year.
2. Celebrating student communities through new major events
Campus will be transformed ready for the Bicentenary year, and we’ll bring it to life with huge new events, festivals and celebrations.
3. Showcasing the full breadth of education at UCL
There are countless opportunities to extend your learning beyond your area of study. We’re launching new experiential learning initiatives, helping you make the most of your time at UCL.
4. Giving back to the London community
London is our home, and students make impact on local London communities every day through volunteering. 2026 is set to be our biggest year for social impact.
5. Setting a student-led vision for the future
What does the next 200 years hold for students at UCL, how will education be transformed by technology, how will our community experience student life in the future? Help us set a path to UCL400.
Want to get involved?
We'll share upcoming opportunities here.
News, updates and insight from the Generation UCL project
In 2023 we celebrated 130 years of Students' Union UCL - this milestone gave us an opportunity to look back on our history and think about the exciting future ahead.
It was on the third of June 1893 that UCL's Council approved the formation of the Men's Union Society for ‘the promotion of social intercourse and of the means of recreation, physical and mental, of the students of the University College, and the financial success of students’ clubs’.
This was the first version of a Students' Union at UCL and in September 1893 the first students joined the society, starting a 130-year journey to the students' union you know today. Read more about our early years.
Students' Union UCL - A Short History
Available now in the Hanger, this new short history covers our founding years, post-war reconstruction, the social change of the 1960s and 70s, and our future at the centre of student life at UCL.
The book was researched and written by Dr Sam Blaxland, a Lecturer in Education at UCL.
‘Generation UCL’ explores 200 years of student life in London, turning institutional history upside down to suggest that the first students of 1828 should be seen as the real ‘founders’ of UCL. Generation UCL is establishing the first major collection of oral history interviews with UCL alumni and has supported the deposit of students’ union archive material with UCL Special Collections.
The project is a partnership between Education, Practice and Society at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, Students’ Union UCL, and the Office of the Vice-President (Advancement). The project works closely with the UCL200 Bicentennial team and UCL Special Collections.
Generation UCL is led by Professor Georgina Brewis (IOE) and John Dubber (Students’ Union UCL). Dr Sam Blaxland, Lecturer in Education (IOE), leads on the oral history element of the project. We also work with a number of student researchers and interns.
Planned project outputs include an open access book with UCL Press, an Octagon exhibition and a programme of impact and engagement activities to involve the whole UCL community. In 2023, we were awarded a Student Success grant to revise and update UCL’s walking tour, working with Race Equality Steering Group Co-Chair Mike Sulu, external consultant Subhadra Das and project coordinator Julia Chaffers.