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For the Irish college of the same name, see Royal College of Science (Ireland). For its famous building, see Irish Government Buildings.

The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS (Associate of the Royal College of Science) after their name. Organisations linked with the college include the Royal College of Science Union and the Royal College of Science Association.

The Royal College of Science originated in classes run by the Science and Art Department. Like the South Kensington Museum, the Science and Art Department benefited from land acquired for "educational purposes" by the commissioners of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The South Kensington classes became increasingly well-regarded under the influence of T.H. Huxley.

In 1881 the Normal School of Science was established, its name based on that of the École Normale in Paris. The Normal School combined the classes run by the Science and Art Department with some of the non-geological courses taught at the neighbouring Royal School of Mines (founded in 1851). The Normal School can hence claim to be the successor to the Royal College of Chemistry (founded in 1845 and merged into the School of Mines in 1853).

In 1890 the name Royal College of Science was granted by Royal Consent. In 1907, the College merged with the Royal School of Mines and the City and Guilds Central Technical College to form the Imperial College of Science and Technology, becoming a Constituent College of Imperial, which then joined the University of London.

In the early 1990s, the suffix "and Medicine" was added to Imperial's name, following its merger with a number of medical schools, forming a fourth constituent college. Later in 2002 the college changed its public name to Imperial College London.

In 2000, Imperial merged with Wye College, of which roughly one-fifth was designated as part of the Royal College of Science.

In 2002, Imperial abolished all the constituent colleges, including the Royal College of Science, in favour of a new faculty structure. The RCS was split into the Faculties of Physical and Life Sciences.

In 2005 it was announced that the Faculties of Physical and Life Sciences would be re-merged to form the Faculty of Natural Sciences. This re-forms the original RCS structure, encompassing all the science departments of Imperial College. Overall, it has amounted to no more than a name change from RCS to Faculty of Natural Sciences. [1] The new faculty students' union will be resurrecting the name "Royal College of Science Union".