Imperial College London

Fifteen minutes on the circle line from Paddington Station (1 hour south-east from Oxford), or five from Victoria Station (1 hour north from Brighton), brings you to South Kensington, the stop for Imperial College, London. Sitting beside the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, the university is well placed for everything science, which is just as well, as they don’t offer any arts degrees.

The campus itself is compact and generally all in one place (although medics work both the South Kensington campus as well as at a number of local hospitals around London), and contains some superb new architecture. There is a real feeling of busyness about the campus, with students taking their studies quite seriously. When work is finished, however, Imperial students are well situated for London’s extra-curricular offerings.

Unsurprisingly many notable alumni include famous scientists such as Alexander Fleming and Abdus Salam, but there are also those more linked with the arts, such as Indian politician Rajiv Gandhi, author H G Wells, and Queen guitarist Brian May.