 Established in 1826 as London University by founders inspired by the radical ideas of Jeremy Bentham, UCL was the first university institution to be established in London, and the first in England to be entirely secular and to admit students regardless of their religion.UCL also makes the contested claims of being the third-oldest university in England and the first to admit women.In 1836 UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London, which was granted a royal charter in the same year.