The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a social science university.

A specialist university with an international intake, LSE's reach extends from its central London campus to around the world.

• The School has a cosmopolitan student body, with around 9,300 full time students from 145 countries
• It has a staff of just under 3,000, with about 45 per cent drawn from countries outside the UK
• Over 100 languages are spoken on LSE's campus
• An influential network of over 100,000 LSE alumni spans the world, covering over 190 countries with more than 70 active alumni groups.

The School has one of the largest concentrations of applied economic, financial and social science research of any university in the world. It has 16 research centres, including the Centre for Economic Performance and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in social sciences are taught across 23 academic departments and interdisciplinary institutes and centres.

LSE has established a global network with a small number of high quality universities across the world. There are multi-faceted institutional academic partnerships with Columbia University (New York), Sciences Po (Paris), Peking University (Beijing), the National University of Singapore and the University of Cape Town.

Research

There are currently 16 research centres and numerous smaller units at the School, ranging from large multidisciplinary centres with substantial financial support to small units with more modest resources. Most of LSE's research centres and units are financed by research councils, charitable foundations, industry or commerce. There are three centres funded mainly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Others are funded through public or private partnerships.

LSE's Research Lab is the base for more than 260 staff - one of the largest concentrations of applied economic, financial and social researchers anywhere in the world. The Lab includes the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, the Centre for Economic Performance, the Financial Markets Group and the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines.

Teaching

LSE offers a very wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the social sciences. Teaching is carried out through academic departments and interdisciplinary institutes and in partnership with internationally-known higher education institutions. Language teaching is provided through the Language Centre, both as a degree option, and to learn or improve a language.

Following a review by a Teaching Task Force, LSE is set to spend an extra £3 million per year to ensure that its teaching continues to be of the highest quality.

• Undergraduate: Undergraduate courses range from subjects considered to fall within the 'arts', such as history, to subjects such as mathematics. Some have a direct vocational or professional link, like law or actuarial science. All are a useful intellectual training in different approaches to social questions.
• The General Course: Since 1910 there have been arrangements at LSE for visiting students to pursue a fully integrated study year abroad at undergraduate level. This facility is known as the General Course. Students register for the entire academic year, October through to late June, and have a choice of over 300 courses available to them. The course enables students to study in the heart of a multicultural city alongside others from across the world.
• Postgraduate: At postgraduate level, the School offers a wide range of taught master's programmes (MA, MSc and LLM) normally of one academic or calendar year full-time study, or two years' part-time. Research programmes for MPhil or PhD degrees are offered by all departments and institutes. Programmes for LSE's diploma qualification are also available either as conversion courses or to extend the depth or range of undergraduate studies.