Third-oldest university in England debate

There is much debate over which university in England is the third oldest after Oxford (established c. 1096) and Cambridge (established c. 1209). Several English higher education institutions either explicitly claim the distinction or assert a foundation date that predates the conventional date for another claimant.

University of Northampton

Although it has no connection to the modern University of Northampton, the third officially established English university was the thirteenth-century University of Northampton which was founded with royal consent in 1261. However, this university only existed for four years before being abolished in 1265, officially to protect the interests of the University of Oxford, but also motivated by the Northampton scholars' military support for the Barons against the King. Because of its brief existence, and the fact that the university no longer survives in any directly related form, the University of Northampton is usually excluded when considering the third-oldest English university.

University status

Part of the debate is complicated by the fact that many present day universities existed either in total or in part for many years, sometimes centuries, before becoming a university. The question thus hinges on whether the origin of a university is when its educational activities are first documented, or the more legal definition of when it gained the capability to award its own degrees, either by Royal Charter or Act of Parliament. Note, however, that Oxford and Cambridge, widely recognised to be the oldest British universities, were founded neither by charter nor by Parliament.

The St Bartholomew's And The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry at University of London subsumes the first medical school in England (the London Hospital Medical College, founded 1785), and can even claim an origin in the apprenticeship style teaching at St Bartholomew's Hospital, founded 1123 and antedating the oldest college within Cambridge University. However, neither medical schools were universities in their own right (they taught for examinations at the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons, and/or the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London). Moreover, Queen Mary itself is a college within the federally-organised University of London.

A more common pattern in the provinces would be that, for example, at the University of Nottingham. This university began as an adult education school opened in 1798, became a university college in 1881, but only received its Royal Charter, with the title of "university" and the ability to confer degrees, in 1948. Within the last three decades many former polytechnics have followed the same path.

Definitions of "university" formation

Much of the debate revolves around disagreements over what precisely constitutes the "birth" of a university. Several different moments have been proposed but they often result in different institutions emerging as the "third oldest". Amongst these are:

Act of Parliament

The legal conferment of the title "university" by Act of Parliament or the Privy Council.

1. Durham University (1832)
2. University of London (1836)
3. University of Nottingham (1881)

Earliest point teaching can be traced

The earliest point at which teaching can be traced. This is generally not cited and many of the institutions that can trace centuries old roots do not regularly feature in debate about the title.

1. University of London (St Bartholomew's Hospital - but did not become part of the university until 1995) (1123)
2. Durham University (Ushaw College - but did not move to England until 1808 and did not become part of the university until 1968) (1568)
3. University of Nottingham (1798)

Institution opening its doors

The point at which the institution opened its doors. In addition to the above, this does not always coincide with its legal incorporation as a university.

1. University of London (St Bartholomew's Hospital - but did not become part of the university until 1995) (1123)
2. Durham University (Ushaw College) (1568- but did not move to England until 1808 and did not become part of the university until 1968)
3. University of Nottingham (1798)
4. Durham University (excluding Ushaw College) 1832
5. University of Westminster (1838) as the Royal Polytechnic Institution

Date Royal Charter granted

A fourth definition, occasionally used, is the date of the granting of a Royal Charter. However not all universities, including the two which claim to be the oldest - the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, were founded by Royal Charter (although Charters were bestowed on Oxford and Cambridge in 1248 and 1231, respectively). In addition a Charter can be granted to other organizations, such as colleges and societies.

Colleges of the University of London

The University of London was established in 1836 as an examination and degree conferring authority, and later constituted in 1900 as a fully federal university, with most teaching and research throughout its history being carried out by its constituent colleges. The colleges are heavily independent in many of their functions and are usually listed separately in rankings of universities, but none had been officially accorded the title of "university" until the independence of Imperial College London, which has awarded its own degrees since 2007.

Claimants

Amongst the most prominent claimants of the title are the following:

University College London

University College London (UCL) was established in 1826 as "London University", but was unsuccessful in obtaining a Royal Charter. Part of the opposition was due to its avowedly secular nature but also because it was claiming the title "university". Until 1836 the institution had no legal recognition as an educational institution and was unable to confer degrees. In 1836 it was awarded a Royal Charter, but as a college of a collegiate university, the new University of London, with degrees being conferred by the university.

As well as being a college of the University of London and not a university in its own right, UCL's lack of formal legally recognised status before 1836 is often cited as a reason why it does not qualify as the oldest institution.

King's College London

King's College London was established in 1829 (although its medical school has a much longer history, which would later lead to opposition to using "Est 1829" in the college logo), as a reaction to UCL, with the aim to provide Anglican education. It received its Royal Charter that year; however this was in part because it was not seeking to become a university, unlike its rival. The term "university" does not appear in the charter. The college opened its doors to students in 1831. Students at King's either sat exams for degrees of Oxford and Cambridge, for professional qualifications or (from 1834) for the Associate of King's College; the college did not award degrees of its own. Following the establishment of the University of London in 1836, King's became a college of the university.

Like UCL, King's lacks de jure status as a university. Although its claim is based on the Royal Charter of 1829 it does not appear to have been created as a university.

Officially, King's College has claimed to be only "the fourth oldest [university] in England" in 2009 press releases and elsewhere on the King's College website, accepting the prior claim of University College London, which is described as "the third oldest university institution [in England]" in an official King's College podcast by Arthur Burns, Professor of Modern History, on the King's College website.

Durham University

Several attempts to found a university at Durham took place, notably under the reigns of Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell. However, The University of Durham (now sometimes called Durham University) was established by Act of Parliament in 1832 specifically with the title 'University'. Students were admitted onto degree programmes on that basis. However its Royal Charter was not conferred until June 1, 1837 and the first students graduated a few days later. Before the granting of the Charter there was some internal debate over whether or not the Act of Parliament gave the University the power to award degrees, though at that stage no students had completed their studies. As a precaution, explicit degree conferring powers were sought when the Charter was conferred.

For Durham the point of the debate is about whether it achieved University status in 1832 by Act of Parliament, or did not until 1837, when it received its Royal Charter. Not all universities in the United Kingdom possess charters, with the "post-92" institutions deriving their university status from the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

University of London

The University of London was established and chartered in 1836 as a degree awarding body.

Of all the main claimants, the University of London's birth is the least ambiguous, being clearly datable to 1836. However this postdates dates claimed by the other three institutions.

Other institutions claiming an earlier foundation

Although most debate revolves around UCL, King's, Durham and the University of London, several other institutions claim earlier foundation dates. However not all claim to have had university status from that date. Amongst them are:

Current universities

• Wye College was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is now part of Imperial College London.
• In 1595 the Merchant Venturers' School was founded in Bristol, which subsequently became the Merchant Venturers' Technical College and was a precursor of the University of Bristol, the University of the West of England and City of Bristol College.
• The University of Nottingham's roots go back to an adult education school founded in 1798 but it did not become a university college until 1881 and only achieved university status in 1948.
• University College Plymouth St Mark & St John was formed from two Colleges (St John's (1840) and St Mark's (1841)) and (according to its wikipedia page) these colleges were established by National Society (now National Society for Promoting Religious Education) an organisation founded in 1811
• The University of Cumbria's history goes back to the establishment in Carlisle of a ‘Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts’ in October 1822
• The present University of Manchester uses "Est 1824" in its current logo. This is the date of the foundation of the Mechanics' Institute in Manchester (later the "University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology") but it did not have university status at this time. The institution historically known as the "University of Manchester" was founded in 1851 as a college, becoming the first institution of the federal Victoria University in 1880. Following the withdrawal of the other institutions, it became a single institution in 1904. In 2004 the two universities were formally dissolved and a single merged institution formed.
• Leeds Metropolitan University can trace its roots back to 1824, the year in which the Leeds Mechanics Institute was founded. In 1868 the Mechanics Institute became the Leeds Institute of Science, Art and Literature and Leeds College of Technology in 1927. A second element, Leeds College of Art, was founded in 1846 with a third constituent part, Leeds College of Commerce, in 1845. Finally, the Yorkshire Training School of Cookery was founded in 1874. By 1966, it had been renamed the Yorkshire College of Education and Home Economics. It then joined with other colleges to become Leeds Metropolitan University, which was founded as a University in 1992.
• The University of Huddersfield was established in 1825 as the Huddersfield Scientific and Mechanic Institute.
• The University of Plymouth website claims descent from Mechanic Institutes founded in 1825
• Liverpool John Moores University similarly traces its roots back to a Mechanics Institute founded in 1823.
• The University of Bolton's origins include a mechanical society founded in 1824
• The University of Sheffield's origins lie in the Sheffield School of Medicine, founded in 1827.
• The University of Central Lancashire traces its roots to 1828 when the Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded. However it was not awarded university status until 1992.
• The University of Leeds's School of Medicine was founded in 1831, but did not become part of a university until it joined the Victoria University in 1887. It became a separate institution in 1904.
• The University of Bristol medical school was founded as the Bristol Medical School in 1833 (within the Bristol Infirmary which was established in 1737)
• The University of Gloucestershire stems from a Mechanics Institute founded in 1834. However, the University was only given university status in 2001.

Colleges of the University of London

None of the constituent colleges of the University of London is a university in its own right, but several have long roots:

• Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, the medical school for Queen Mary has long roots. Teaching at St Bartholomew's Hospital is believed to date back to the hospital's foundation in 1123, though the hospital's Medical College was not founded until 1843. The London Hospital Medical College was founded in 1785. The two medical schools merged together and became part of Queen Mary in 1995. Queen Mary itself was founded in 1885, whilst Westfield College was founded in 1882. The two merged in 1989, taking the official title "Queen Mary and Westfield College", though this is no longer used for day to day purposes.
• St George's was founded in 1733.
• The Royal Veterinary College was founded in 1791 but did not become a part of the University until 1949.
• Birkbeck was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics Institute, but did not become a part of the University until 1920 or receive a Royal Charter until 1926.
• The Royal Academy of Music was founded in 1822 and received a Royal Charter in 1830.
• Heythrop College was founded in 1614 in Belgium, though did not move to London (after several other locations) until 1970 and became part of the University in 1971.
• Regent's Park College has its origins in the days when those who were not Anglicans were not able to become members of Oxford and Cambridge, the only universities that then existed in England. The London Baptist Education Society was founded in 1752. In 1810, the Society became a collegiate institution, opening a Baptist College in Stepney, and in 1856 it moved to The Regent's Park in London, whence the name derives. As early as 1841 Regent's Park College was affiliated to the University of London and its students were able to read for university degrees in the Arts and Law, as well as training for Christian ministry. In 1901 the college became an official Divinity School of the University of London. However, in 1927, the college moved to Oxford and in 1957 became a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford
• Richmond University started off as a theological college in the 18th C before joining the University of London. It became independent in 1977.

Colleges of the University of Durham

As with the University of London, Colleges of the University of Durham do in some cases pre-date the University itself.

• Ushaw College was founded in 1568, and became a Licensed Hall (and a college) of the University of Durham in 1968.

Inns of Court

In earlier centuries, the four Inns of Court, together with the associated Inns of Chancery, were sometimes described as constituting a "third university". A barrister is formally "Called to the Degree of the Utter (or outer) bar"; but this has not popularly been regarded as a degree, and so an Inn is not generally regarded as a university in the currently accepted sense.

Other Institutions

• Gresham College was founded in 1597 and is unrelated to the UoL. Described as the Third University of England by Chief Justice Coke in 1612.
• The Institute of Zoology was founded in the 1960s but is part of the Zoological Society of London which was founded in 1826.

Other early degree-awarding bodies

• The Archbishop of Canterbury has awarded "Lambeth degrees" since 1533.
• The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries founded 1617 is permitted to award degrees.
• Sion College, a theological college in London, was founded in 1630.

Definition of "England"

The term "England" has not always been used with rigid precision and various different past definitions produce alternative answers. Using it to mean "England and Wales" (as the Wales and Berwick Act 1746, which was in force until 1967, stated) the third oldest degree granting institution is St David's College, Lampeter (founded 1822, chartered 1828). However, as with the colleges of the University of London, Lampeter has never been awarded de jure status as a university being first an independent college with degree-awarding powers and later a constituent institution of the University of Wales. Also, the University of Caen in Lower Normandy was founded under Henry VI of England in 1432, when the territory was still part of the crown of England. There are several other universities founded by Englishmen which are not part of England today, such as Harvard in New England.