Ranking
In the QS World and Subject Rankings 2021, LSE was ranked 1st in Europe and 2nd in the world for social science and management subjects.
People
LSE counts 18 Nobel Prize winners among our staff and former students. We have over 150,000 alumni across nearly 200 countries. 37 world leaders have studied or taught at LSE.
Student numbers
LSE received 12.4 applications per undergraduate place and 5.4 applications per taught postgraduate place for the academic year 2019/20.
During that year, LSE had 10,782 full time students: 5,331 undergraduates, 5,030 taught postgraduates and 421 postgraduate researchers. 45 per cent of students were classed as Home/EU and 55 per cent as Overseas.
Careers and employability
The most recent graduation data is for the academic year 2017/18. In that year, 93.9 per cent of graduates entered employment or study within 15 months. The median salary of an LSE graduate is £33,000.
The top ten fields of employment for LSE students are:
- Education
- Financial services
- Banking
- Law and legal services
- Consultancy
- Media and arts
- Central government
- Local government, public, social and welfare services
- Charities, voluntary sector and Trusts
- Health
Academic facilities
LSE is a specialist social science university with 28 academic departments and institutes, 20 research centres and many more research units and groups. We have seven academic partnerships across the world and are members of CIVICA.
LSE's Library is one of the largest social science libraries in Europe. It has designated status as the British Library of Political and Economic Science from Arts Council England.
Events, clubs and societies
In 2019/20 LSE's world-renowned public events programme, including an annual Festival, hosted over 200 lectures, exhibitions and concerts. Speakers included: Esther Duflo, Juan Manuel Santos, Amartya Sen, Michelle Bachelet and Ursula von der Leyen. The events programme moved online from Summer Term 2020.
LSE's Volunteer Centre works with over 300 organisations to provide nearly 800 volunteering opportunities to students. The Students' Union has over 200 societies and over 40 sports clubs.
Find out more
Please see LSE's financial statements for 2019/20.