Universities in the United Kingdom
Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Degree awarding powers and the 'university' title are protected by law, although the precise arrangements for gaining these vary between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
Institutions that hold degree awarding powers are termed recognised bodies, this list includes all universities, university colleges and colleges of the University of London, some higher education colleges, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Degree courses may also be provided at listed bodies, leading to degrees validated by a recognised body. Undergraduate applications to almost all UK universities are managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
While legally, 'university' refers to an institution that has been granted the right to use the title, in common usage it now normally includes colleges of the University of London, including in official documents such as the Dearing Report.
The representative bodies for higher education providers in the United Kingdom are Universities UK, GuildHE and Independent Higher Education. The responsible minister within the Department for Education is the Minister of State for Skills, currently Jacqui Smith.
UK universities have a wide range of clubs and societies catering to various interests, from sports and music to politics and culture.
History
Ancient universities
Universities in Britain date back to the dawn of mediaeval studium generale, with Oxford and Cambridge taking their place among the world's oldest universities. No other universities were successfully founded in England during this period; opposition from Oxford and Cambridge blocked attempts to establish universities in Northampton and Stamford. Medical schools in London, though not universities in their own right, were among the first to provide medical teaching in England.In Scotland, St Andrew's, Glasgow and King's College, Aberdeen were founded by papal bull. Post-Reformation, these were joined by Edinburgh, Marischal College, Aberdeen, and the short-lived Fraserburgh University. In England, meanwhile, Henry VIII's plan to found a university in Durham came to nothing and a later attempt to found a university at Durham during the Commonwealth was successfully opposed by Oxford and Cambridge. Gresham College was, however, established in London in the late 16th century, despite concerns expressed by Cambridge. In Ireland, Trinity College Dublin was founded as "the mother of a University" by a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth.
The 18th century saw the establishment of medical schools at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities and at hospitals in London. A number of dissenting academies were also established. But the next attempt to found a university did not come until the Andersonian Institute was established in Glasgow in 1798.
19th-century expansion
The French Revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars led to over 40% of universities in Europe closing. From 153 universities in 1789, numbers fell to only 83 in 1815. The next quarter century saw a rebound, with 15 new universities founded, bringing numbers back to 98 by 1840.In England, the late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the arrival of Catholic seminaries driven from the continent by the French Revolution and the establishment of the St Bees Theological College to train Anglican priests in 1816. The first Anglican college to move beyond specialist training to provide a more general university education in Arts was in Wales: St David's College, Lampeter was founded in 1822, opened in 1827, and gained a royal charter in 1828.
By then, the higher education revolution was well under way. Between 1824 and 1834 ten medical schools were established in provincial cities; many of these went on to form the nuclei of the redbrick universities, and in 1825 there was serious talk of founding a third English university in York. This would, however, have required government support. The opinion of Robert Peel – cabinet minister and MP for Oxford University – was sought, and he advised against proceeding.
This period also saw the establishment of Mechanics Institutes in a number of cities. The first of these, established in Edinburgh in 1821, would eventually become Heriot-Watt University, while the London Mechanics Institute, established in 1823, developed into Birkbeck, University of London. Many others would eventually become polytechnics and then, in 1992, universities. The Polytechnic Institution opened at 309 Regent Street, London, in August 1838, to provide "practical knowledge of the various arts and branches of science connected with manufacturers, mining operations and rural economy".
Very soon after news of the York scheme broke, Thomas Campbell wrote to The Times proposing a university be founded in London. This would become UCL, founded in 1826 as a joint stock company under the name of London University. Due to its lack of theology teaching, its willingness to grant degrees to non-Anglicans, and its unauthorised assumption of the title of "university", this inspired calls in 1827 for the foundation of a 'true and genuine "London University"' by royal charter, to be known as "The College of King George IV in London". This became King's College London, granted a royal charter in 1829 – but as a college rather than a university.
UCL was revolutionary not just in admitting non-Anglicans ; it also pioneered the study of modern languages and of geography, as well as appointing the first Professor of English Language and Literature, although the study of English Literature as a distinct subject was pioneered by King's College London. Neither of the colleges was residential – a break from the two ancient English universities, although non-residential universities were the norm in Scotland.
In 1830, a Whig government was elected with Earl Grey as Prime Minister, and in early 1831 news broke that a charter was to be granted to the London University, officially recognising it as a university and thus enabling it to award degrees. Cambridge voted to petition the King not to allow the awarding of degrees with the same name as theirs or Oxford's. The charter was blocked.
Then, later in 1831, a plan was announced to found a university in Durham. Grey's government supported the bill to establish the university, despite it limiting its degrees to Anglicans. Thus the University of Durham was established by Act of Parliament in 1832, and opened in 1833. In 1836 it pioneered the system of external examiners for its final degree examinations, bringing in Oxford academics to ensure the same standards. It was incorporated by royal charter in 1837 and awarded its first degrees the same year. In 1838 it opened Britain's first course in engineering, and in 1846 pioneered "halls" accommodation, where students let rooms ready-furnished and serviced by shared staff, and took all their meals together. This was in contrast to the system at Oxford and Cambridge where students had to furnish their own rooms, supply their own servants, and provide their own food.
In 1834, the House of Commons backed the granting of a charter to the London University. In 1835, the government responded by announcing its intention to establish the University of London as an examining board that would grant degrees to affiliated colleges and medical schools. This was done in 1836, with the old London University accepting a charter as a college under the name of University College, London.
The new University of London achieved one of the principal goals of the founders of UCL: it would award degrees without any religious test, the first university in England to do so. The first degrees were conferred in 1839 to students from UCL and King's College London. But from 1840 it affiliated other colleges and schools, opening up the possibility of degrees for many students who would not previously have attended a university. Another big step came in 1858 when the system of affiliated colleges was abandoned and London degrees were opened to any man who passed the examination. From 1878, University of London degrees were opened to women – the first in the United Kingdom.
In 1845, Queen's Colleges were established across Ireland: in Belfast, Cork and Galway, followed by the establishment of the Queen's University of Ireland in 1850 as a federal university encompassing the three colleges. In response, the Catholic University of Ireland was established in Dublin by the Catholic Church. This eventually led to the dissolution of the Queen's University in 1879 and its replacement by the Royal University of Ireland, an examining board after the pattern of the University of London.
The first women's college was Bedford College in London, which opened in 1849. It was followed by Royal Holloway and the London School of Medicine for Women in London and colleges in Oxford and Cambridge. After London opened its degrees to women in 1878, UCL opened its courses in Arts, Law and Science to women, although it took the First World War to open up the London medical schools. By the end of the 19th century, the only British universities not granting degrees to women were Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin.
Non-Anglicans were admitted to degrees at Oxford in 1854, Cambridge in 1856 and Durham in 1865. The remaining tests were removed by the Universities Tests Act 1871, allowing non-Anglicans to become full members of the university and to hold teaching positions.
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1858 that modernised the constitutions of all of the Scottish universities. Under this Act, the two universities in Aberdeen were united into the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh was made independent from the town corporation.
The first of the civic university colleges was the Anglican Queen's College, Birmingham, built on the nucleus of the Birmingham Medical School, which gained its royal charter in 1843 but did not ultimately prove a success. This was followed in 1851 by Owens College, Manchester. Further university colleges followed in Newcastle, notable for admitting women to its courses from the start, Aberystwyth, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, Mason College, Birmingham, Dundee, Liverpool, Nottingham, Cardiff, and Bangor. With the exceptions of Newcastle and Dundee, all of the university colleges prepared their students for London degrees.
In the late 1870s, Owens College applied for university status. After objections by other civic colleges, it was decided instead to erect the Victoria University as a federal body, with Owens College as, initially, its only college. It was joined by Liverpool in 1884 and Leeds in 1887.
In 1889, government funding was provided to the English provincial university colleges, along with Dundee in Scotland, and UCL and King's College in London. Government funding was already being provided to the ancient Scottish universities, the University of London, and to the Welsh and Irish colleges. Bedford College in London, Reading and Southampton were later added to the grant to university colleges.
In 1893, the University of Wales was established as another federal body, uniting the colleges in Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Bangor, but not St David's College, Lampeter.
The late 19th century saw UCL and King's College London campaigning for a say in how the University of London was run, alongside a campaign for a "teaching university" for London. Royal commissions were held and a charter was drawn up for the "Albert University" that would have seen the two colleges leave the University of London and form a federal body, like the colleges of the Victoria University. In the end it was decided to reform the University of London itself, this was put into effect by an Act of Parliament in 1898, leading to completely new statutes establishing the federal University of London in 1900.