Types of universities in the UK
Most universities in the United Kingdom can be classified into 6 main categories:
· Ancient universities.
· London universities.
· Red Brick universities.
· Plate Glass Universities.
· The Open University.
· New Universities.
· Private University (University of Buckingham)
Ancient universities
The ancient universities in United Kingdom are, in order of formation:
· University of Oxford – founded before 1167.
· University of Cambridge – founded in 1209.
· University of St Andrews – founded in 1413 (incorporating the University of Dundee from 1897 to 1967).
· University of Glasgow – founded in 1451.
· University of Aberdeen – founded in 1495 (as King’s College, Aberdeen).
· University of Edinburgh – founded in 1582.
Following the creation of the ancient universities, no more universities were created in the region until the late 18th century.
The University of Oxford (or simply Oxford), located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is also regarded as one of the world’s leading academic institutions. The most distinctive features of this university are its tutorial and college systems.
The colleges* are completely autonomous: each college has its own tutors, administrators, grounds, residence halls and traditions. Students apply to a college, rather than to Oxford University, and most Oxford students readily identify themselves as students at their particular college, rather than the University itself. While each college monitors students’ academic progress and personal welfare, Oxford University conducts degree examinations, confers degrees, organizes lectures and maintains museums, libraries, laboratories and lecture halls. The faculties of the university are responsible for teaching and scholarship within their disciplines and provide tutors to students within their disciplines in the colleges.
The hallmark of Oxford University academics is the tutorial system. The tutorial is typically a one-hour meeting between one or two students and the tutor. Tutorials usually meet once a week or every other week, and at the center of the tutorial is an essay on a topic the tutor previously assigned. The tutor will lead a discussion about the essay topic in an effort to provide new insights. At the end of the tutorial, the tutor will assign a new topic and may offer recommended reading. Tutorials are individually arranged, taking into account the subject to be studied and the tutor’s area of expertise. They are similar to independent study courses, but Oxford students bear even more responsibility for conducting independent research and maintaining good academic progress. Oxford University organizes weekly lectures on myriad academic subjects, and all students at the University, regardless of college, are welcome to attend. Lectures are not usually mandatory except for some science subjects, but tutors often recommend them as good supplements to tutorials and research.
The University of Cambridge** is one of the world’s oldest universities and leading academic centres, and a self-governed community of scholars. Cambridge comprises 31 Colleges and over 150 departments, faculties, schools and other institutions.
Each college is an independent institution with its own property and income. The colleges appoint their own staff and are responsible for selecting students, in accordance with University regulations. The teaching of students is shared between the Colleges and University departments. Degrees are awarded by the University.
London Universities
London has one of the largest concentrations of universities in the world. It has 40 Higher Education institutions (not counting foreign Universities with London branches) and has a student population of more than 400,000. Among the institutions in London are some of the old and world-famous colleges that today make up the federal University of London, modern universities, as well as a number of smaller and often highly specialised universities and colleges. Additionally, over 34 000 students in over 180 countries follow the University of London External System, established in 1858. The System offers undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas and degrees to students worldwide. A designated constituent institution of the University of London called the “lead college” (e.g. Royal Holloway) creates materials to allow students to study at their own pace. Examinations take place at testing centers around the world on specified dates.
In the heart of London is University College London (UCL). Just 180 years ago, the benefits of a university education in England were restricted to men who were members of the Church of England; UCL was founded to challenge that discrimination. UCL was the first university to be established in England after Oxford and Cambridge, providing a progressive alternative to those institutions’ social exclusivity, religious restrictions and academic constraints.
UCL was the first university in England to admit students of any race, class or religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. A teaching programme was established in which religious beliefs would not constrain the dissemination of knowledge and exploration of ideas. It was the first English university to offer the systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
Red Brick Universities
Red brick (or “redbrick”) is a term used to refer to the six civic British universities founded in the major industrial cities of England in the Victorian era which achieved university status before World War II.
The term “red brick” was first coined by a professor of Spanish (Edgar Allison Peers) at the University of Liverpool to describe these civic universities. His reference was inspired by the fact that The Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool is built from a distinctive red pressed brick, with terracotta decorative dressings.
The six civic* universities were:
· University of Birmingham; Royal Charter granted in 1900.
· University of Bristol; Royal Charter granted in 1909.
· University of Leeds; Royal Charter granted in 1904.
· University of Liverpool; Royal Charter granted in 1903.
· University of Manchester; formed in 2004 by the dissolution of Victoria University and UMIST.
· University of Sheffield; Royal charter granted in 1905.
These universities were distinguished by being non-collegiate institutions that admitted men without reference to religion or background and concentrated on imparting to their students “real-world” skills, often linked to engineering. This focus on the practical also distinguished the red brick universities from the ancient English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, collegiate institutions which concentrated on divinity, the liberal arts and imposed religious tests.
Plate Glass Universities
The term plate glass university (or plateglass university) has come into use by some to refer to one of the several universities founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s in the era of the Robbins Report* on higher education. The term “plateglass” reflects their modern architectural design, which often contains wide expanses of plate glass in steel or concrete frames. This contrasts with the (largely Victorian) Red Brick universities and the older Ancient universities.
The phrase New University formerly appeared as a synonym for the Plateglass institutions, however since 1992 this term has tended to be applied to the post-1992 universities (consisting mostly of former polytechnics) instead.
The name “Plateglass Universities” was apparently first used by Michael Beloff in his 1968 book The Plateglass Universities. Beloff invents the term “Plateglass Universities” to describe the 1960s universities – specifically Sussex, York, East Anglia, Essex, Lancaster, Kent at Canterbury and Warwick – and describes his reasons for using the term:
I had at the start to decide upon a generic term for the new universities — they will not be new for ever. None of the various caps so far tried have fitted. “Greenfields” describes only a transient phase. “Whitebrick”, “Whitestone”, and “Pinktile” hardly conjure up the grey or biscuit concrete massiveness of most of their buildings, and certainly not the black towers of Essex. “Newbridge” is fine as far as the novelty goes, but where on earth are the bridges? Sir Edward Boyle more felicitously suggested “Shakespeare”. But I have chosen to call them the Plateglass Universities. It is architecturally evocative; but more important, it is metaphorically accurate.
Beloff has many things to say about the new universities, some critical, but much positive:
The role of Plateglass in reviving a belief in the need for and virtues of higher education is especially important. Plateglass universities give the lie to the view that universities are conservative, unchanging institutions. In syllabuses, examinations, teaching methods, administration, discipline, they have taken new initiatives.
The Open University
The Open University is the UK’s distance learninggovernment-supporteduniversity notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students’ previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses. It was established in 1969 and the first students enrolled in January 1971. The majority of students are based in the UK, but its courses can be studied anywhere in the world. The administration is based at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, but has regional centres in each of its thirteen regions around the UK. It also has offices in other European countries. The University awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or continuing education units.
With more than 180,000 students enrolled, including more than 25,000 students studying overseas, it is the largest academic institution in the UK by student number, and qualifies as one of the world’s largest universities. Since it was founded, more than 3 million students have studied its courses.
New Universities
The term has recently been used to describe any of the former polytechnics, Central Institutions, or colleges of higher education that were given the status of universities by John Major’s government in 1992, or colleges that have been granted university status since then, also called post-1992 universities or modern universities.