Which is the third oldest UK University?
"oldest rather than Oxford (charter 1248) and moves St Andrews (charter 1532) down to third oldest in Scotland, behind Glasgow (charter 1453) and Aberdeen (charter 1495). Related to this is the fact that most British universities have been created under acts of parliament (particularly the Further and Higher Education Act 1992) rather than by royal charter, and so would be missing entirely from an ordering drawn up by royal charter. While this does not entirely invalidate London's claim, it means that the critical question (besides whether official status should be the deciding factor at all) is whether Durham gained official"
"Third-oldest university in England debate The title of third-oldest university in England is claimed by three institutions: Durham University as the third oldest officially recognised university (1832) and the third to confer degrees (1837); the University of London as the third university to be granted a Royal Charter (1836); and University College London as it was founded as ""London University"" (1826) and was the third oldest university institution to start teaching (1828). A fourth institution, King's College London, officially claims to be the fourth oldest university in England but is claimed by some students to be the third oldest as"
"Famous Cittie of London"", published in 1615 as an appendix to John Stow's ""Annales"". Gresham College, a higher education institute founded in London in 1597 was the first home of the Royal Society (who received their royal charter in 1662). The college was also mentioned in Buck's ""Third Universitie of England"" alongside the Inns of Court. Third-oldest university in England debate The title of third-oldest university in England is claimed by three institutions: Durham University as the third oldest officially recognised university (1832) and the third to confer degrees (1837); the University of London as the third university to be"
"university lists. An objection specific to King's College is that it only claims to be ""the fourth oldest [university] in England"" in its 2008 annual report and on its website, and states in some of its course brochures that ""The University of London is the third oldest university in England, being the first to be established after Oxford and Cambridge."" The title of third oldest university is, however, claimed for King's College by student papers and societies. In a podcast on the King's College website, Arthur Burns (Professor of Modern History at King's) describes UCL and King's College as the"
"the third university institution to receive a Royal Charter (1829). Others have also been named based on different criteria. Deciding which is truly the ""third oldest university"" depends largely on the definition of university status and how this is applied historically. Following the establishment of Oxford University (by 1167) and Cambridge University (1209), a third university was founded in Northampton in 1261, building on an earlier ""studium"". However, Henry III abolished it on 1 February 1265 following the siege of Northampton in 1264, and to protect the interests of Oxford. This was followed by an attempt by rebels from Brasenose"
"third and fourth oldest university institutions, rather than the third and fourth oldest universities. The critical questions for King's College London are whether it gained ""de facto"" university status from its foundation and has managed to keep this status since, despite the objections above, and whether, if it has, UCL attained ""de facto"" university status before King's College (see discussion above). If both of these are answered in King's College's favour, then it is the third oldest university in England. Durham University's claim is based on it being the third institution to gain official recognitions as a university, through the"
"taken for its foundation. The second critical question is whether either University College London or King's College London should be considered ""de facto"" universities prior to this, despite the objections given in their discussions. If neither of them qualifies, and if the first question established Durham as the third oldest ""de jure"" university, then Durham is the third oldest university in England. The University of London's claim is based on it being the third institute in England to receive a Royal Charter as a university and the claim that it was the third university in England to gain degree awarding"
"Durham as ""the third University to be established in England"" in 1937; a guide published by the Universities Bureau of the British Empire and the British Council in 1937 gave (for the non-ancient universities) the order Durham, London, Manchester, etc.; the press repeatedly named it as third oldest; it was named as ""the third oldest University in the country"" in Parliament in 1962; ""Dod's"", who had earlier given precedence to London, revised their listing in the 1960s in favour of Durham; and social anthropologist Joan Abbott recorded in 1971 that ""The fact that Durham is the third oldest university in"
"Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, North East England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was one of the first universities to commence tuition in England for more than 600 years, after Oxford and Cambridge, and is one of the institutions (along with University College London, King's College London, and the University of London) to be described as the third-oldest university in England. As a collegiate university its main functions are divided between the academic departments of the university"
"fourth oldest university institution"". The debate also spilled over into Scotland in 2007, when The Guardian mistakenly called Durham the ""third oldest university in the UK"" (rather than in England). In 2016, ""Durham Magazine"" published an article on the debate, concluding that ""Despite all the above arguments, most people consider Durham to be England’s third oldest university"". ""The Telegraph"" noted the debate in 2018, saying ""Durham University claims to be the third oldest university in England (a title also claimed by University College London)"". Judging a university's ""foundation"" as occurring at the earliest point to which teaching can be traced,"
"power to award degrees in its own right in 2005. From 2005, the Institute has branded itself as UCL (rather than University College London) and has used the strapline ""London's Global University"". UCL's foundation date of 1826 makes it the third oldest university institution in England, and it was certainly founded with the intention of it being England's third university, but whether or not UCL is actually the third oldest university in England is questionable: UCL makes this claim on its website, but so do the Universities of London (1836) and Durham (1832). Other higher education institutions in England have"
"University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge (formally The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge) is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a Royal Charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople. The two medieval universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as 'Oxbridge'. The history and influence of the University"
"Newcastle and Manchester in the 1830s. The debate over which is the oldest of the universities founded in the early 19th century has been going on (originally between London and Durham) since at least the mid 19th century. Durham was referred to as England's third university in 1841. In 1853, however, Lord Brougham secured London's precedence in the Charitable Trusts Act on the grounds of it having the earlier charter; but in the 1858 Medical Act Durham was given precedence. The topic also came up in the House of Commons during a speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at"
"to whether teaching alone is needed to be considered a university, or whether degree awarding powers and/or incorporation are also required. If it has been a ""de facto"" university since 1826 (or the start of operations in 1828), then it is the third oldest university in England, but if it only gained this status later, or lost it through its merger into the University of London from 1907 to 1977, then one of the other claimants will prevail. The claim of King's College London (KCL) is based on it holding the third oldest royal charter and the third oldest incorporation"
"article for the Journal of Education in 1888, Edith Wilson states: ""There are five, and only five, universities in England. (I begin by starting this explicitly because the name University College so often misleads even those familiar with the language of the educational world.) These five are Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, London, and Victoria."" However, UCL still does not have official university status, as it is a college of the University of London, but it is considered to be effectively an independent university by, e.g., the Russell Group. Its claim to be the third oldest university rests on its ""de facto"""
"in England for their institute. In more recent publications, the claim was instead made that UCL was ""the first university to be founded in London"", avoiding explicit conflict with Durham's claim although maintaining the argument with KCL and the University of London. This claim still implied that UCL should be considered a university from 1826, and thus could be considered an implicit claim to be the third oldest university in England. It has, however, been dropped from the prospectus for 2019 entry although it appears on the UCL website. The situation is further confounded by the fact that (unlike London"
"University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (; abbreviated as St And, from the Latin ""Sancti Andreae"", in post-nominals) is a British public university in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and the third oldest university in the English-speaking world (following Oxford and Cambridge universities). St Andrews was founded between 1410 and 1413, when the Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII issued a papal bull to a small founding group of Augustinian clergy. St Andrews is made up of a variety of institutions, comprising three colleges – United College (a union"
"University College London UCL (legally University College London) is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment, and the largest by postgraduate enrolment. 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"
"doubt by contemporary sources. London was certainly, however, the ""first"" university in England to receive an explicit grant of degree awarding powers as Oxford and Cambridge owe their powers to ancient prescription and Durham has only an implicit grant. For London, the critical question is whether any of the prior claims of UCL, King's College London and Durham are true. If these claims are not considered valid, then London is the third oldest university in England unless it is shown that it was, for some reason (see discussion above), not a university prior to Durham's royal charter being granted on"
"University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London, in the United Kingdom. It has three campuses in London and Kent, England. These are located at Greenwich, in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, and in Avery Hill and Medway. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's range of subjects includes architecture, business, computing, mathematics, education, engineering, humanities, maritime studies, natural sciences, pharmacy and social sciences. The university dates back to November 1891, when Woolwich Polytechnic, the second-oldest polytechnic in the United Kingdom, opened in Woolwich. In 1970, Woolwich Polytechnic"
"the assertion that London gained its degree awarding powers before Durham, and others have noted that there was uncertainty at the time as to whether or not Durham had degree awarding powers stemming from its founding Act of Parliament, which was cleared up by it obtaining a royal charter. As seen above, a number of institutions have significant claims to being the third-oldest university in England. Among the contenders for the title is University College London (UCL) which, although established as a teaching institution in 1826, did not have degree-awarding powers and did not obtain a Royal Charter until 1836,"
"University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two 'ancient universities' are frequently jointly referred to as 'Oxbridge'. The history and influence of the"
"Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of ""Oxford"" and ""Cambridge"", the two oldest, most prestigious, and highly-ranked universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to describe characteristics reminiscent of them, often with implications of superior social or intellectual status or elitism. The Sutton Trust maintains that Oxford University and Cambridge University recruit disproportionately from 8 schools which accounted for 1,310 Oxbridge places during three years, contrasted with 1,220 from 2,900 other schools. Although both universities were founded more than eight centuries ago, the term ""Oxbridge"""
"institutional ancestry preceding their formation as ""universities"": for example what is now the University of Nottingham can trace some elements back to 1798 but only began university-level teaching with the foundation of the first civic college in 1881 (royal charter as University College Nottingham in 1903), and did not gain University status (via a new royal charter) until 1948. Conversely, King's College London (KCL) was founded after UCL, but received its Royal Charter (granting it legal existence as a corporation) in 1829, before UCL, so arguably is older, leading King's College students to claim the title of third oldest university"
"St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham, is a public university located in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in South West London. Founded in 1850, it is generally acknowledged to be the oldest Roman Catholic university in the United Kingdom. Formerly called ""St Mary’s University College"", it was granted full university title by the Privy Council on 23 January 2014. The university is built on land previously attached to Strawberry Hill House, which was originally a small cottage in two or of land by the River Thames. Horace Walpole, a son of the politician Robert Walpole, rented the cottage in 1747"
"University, England's third-oldest university, founded in 1832. Thorne first visited the Unites States in 1904 at the invitation of the Mayor of New York City. During this visit, Thorne delivered an address to the President and Alumni of Wilberforce University, where the Senate conferred upon Thorne the degree of LLD (Doctor of Laws), an honor which at the time had previously only been conferred on two men: United States President William McKinley, and Frederick Douglass. Thorne served many decades as an educator, writer and elected official in British Guiana, creating positive and lasting impact for generations by advocating for the"
"professors at Oxford on the matter. The university's name was revived in 2005 when the then University College Northampton, itself an amalgam of earlier institutions, was upgraded to full university status and renamed the University of Northampton. Other than the name and the location in the town, there is no link between the medieval university and the modern university. University of Northampton (13th century) The University of Northampton was based in Northampton, England, from 1261 to 1265. The university was established by royal charter after approval from King Henry III in 1261. It was the third university in England, after"
"University of Buckingham The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit, private university in the UK and the oldest of the country's five private universities. It is located in Buckingham, England, and was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983. Buckingham offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees through five ""schools"" (or faculties) of study. The university was closely linked to Margaret Thatcher, who as Education Secretary oversaw the creation of the university college in 1973, and as Prime Minister"
"could still prevail. The first critical question for Durham is whether it gained ""de jure"" University status via the 1832 act of parliament (or the subsequent 1834 act of chapter) or, despite the various legal recognitions of its status in the intervening years, not until the 1837 royal charter. If it gained university status in 1832 or 1834, then Durham is the third oldest ""de jure"" university in England. Alternatively, if London was not truly established as a university in 1836 (see discussion below), then Durham is the third oldest ""de jure"" university in England regardless of which date is"
"the establishment of predecessor institutions, the institution's foundation by Act of Parliament, Royal Charter or otherwise, its incorporation, or its date of formal recognition as a university all produce different results. Formally, a university is an institution that has been granted the right by the government to use the title of University. By this criterion, Durham is the third oldest university, having been named as a university in the Durham University Act 1832 as well as in the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and the Established Church Act 1836, prior to the University of London receiving the title in 1836. The"
"which had gained the right to confer London degrees themselves and direct access to government funding in the early 1990s. In its modern usage ""university"" thus often takes on the meaning of ""de facto"" rather than ""de jure"" university. It is notable that by the formal definition, both UCL and King's remain colleges of the University of London rather than universities in their own right. This is part of the definition used by the European University Association's four-volume series, ""A History of the University in Europe"", which lists Durham as the third oldest university in England (from 1832) with London"
"the station, many bus routes, shops and supermarkets and are within 12 minutes walk of the main campus. St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham, is a public university located in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in South West London. Founded in 1850, it is generally acknowledged to be the oldest Roman Catholic university in the United Kingdom. Formerly called ""St Mary’s University College"", it was granted full university title by the Privy Council on 23 January 2014. The university is built on land previously attached to Strawberry Hill House, which was originally a small cottage in two or of land"
"""Loxbridge"" (referring to London, Oxford, and Cambridge) is also sometimes used, and was also adopted as the name of the Ancient History conference now known as ""AMPAH"". Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of ""Oxford"" and ""Cambridge"", the two oldest, most prestigious, and highly-ranked universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to describe characteristics reminiscent of them, often with implications of superior social or intellectual status or elitism. The Sutton Trust maintains that Oxford University and Cambridge University recruit disproportionately from 8 schools which accounted"