Universities
Content
The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars." Prior to their formal establishment, many medieval universities were run for hundreds of years as Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), in which monks and nuns taught classes; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD. The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church, usually from cathedral schools or by papal bull as studia generalia, later they were also founded by Kings or municipal administrations. In the early medieval period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries. The first universities with formally established guilds in Europe were the University of Bologna (1088), the University of Paris (c. 1150, later associated with the Sorbonne), the University of Oxford(1167), the University of Palencia (1208) and the University of Cambridge (1209). In Europe, young men proceeded to university when they had completed their study of the trivium – the preparatory arts of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic or logic – and the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. British universities tend to have a strong reputation internationally for two reasons: history and research output. Britain's top universities have fared well in international rankings, where four of them were in the world top ten according to the Times Higher Education in 2009, these being Cambridge (2nd), University College London (4th), Imperial College London and Oxford (joint 5th). Most universities in the United Kingdom may be classified into six main categories: Ancient Universities - the seven universities founded between the 12th and 16th centuries, including Oxford (before the year 1167), Cambridge (1209), St Andrews (1413), Glasgow (1451), Aberdeen (1492) and Edinburgh (1583) . London, Durham and Wales (at Lampeter, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff) - which were chartered in the 19th century. Red Brick Universities - the six large civic universities (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield) which were founded in
the industrial cities of England in the Victorian era and which achieved university status before the Second World War. The name 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. Red brick ‘civic' universities were non-collegiate institutions that admitted men without specific reference to their religion or family background and which concentrated on educating their students in ‘real-world' skills, often linked to engineering, unlike the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge which traditionally imposed religious tests on staff and students and were collegiate institutions, concentrating primarily on a more academic development in the liberal arts and divinity. Plate Glass Universities - the universities chartered in the 1960s (formerly described as the 'new universities' or the 'Robbins expansion' universities). The Open University - Britain's 'open to all' distance learning University (est. 1968). Study materials are provided online and by post to a wide range of students, many of whom are working people who wish to improve or develop their portfolio of higher education qualifications. New Universities - the Post-1992 universities formed from polytechnics or colleges of Higher Education.
The University of Oxford
As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. In 1190, the arrival of Emo of Friesland, the first known overseas student, set in motion the University's tradition of international scholarly links. In the 13th century, rioting between town and gown (townspeople and students) hastened the establishment of primitive halls of residence. These were succeeded by the first of Oxford's colleges, which began as medieval 'halls of residence' or endowed houses under the supervision of a Master. University, Balliol and Merton Colleges, which were established between 1249 and 1264, are the oldest. Today, Oxford University is made up 0f 38 separate colleges. The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the
opposing Parliamentarian cause. From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts. Although the University's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century to encompass scientific and medical studies. From 1878, academic halls were established for women and they were admitted to full membership of the University in 1920. Five all-male colleges first admitted women in 1974 and, since then, all colleges have changed their statutes to admit both women and men. St Hilda's College, which was originally for women only, was the last of Oxford's single sex colleges. It has admitted both men and women since 2008. By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female; the ratio is now about 48:52 in men's favour. More than forty Nobel laureates and more than fifty world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford. Either students or having held fellowships at the university’s colleges, famous people from all fields can be found among the names on the list of the university’s alumni, such as: writers: Lewis Carol, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Fowles; scientists: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking; politicians: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair; economists or philosophers: Adam Smith, John Locke.
The University of Cambridge
The university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching "scholastic philosophy". In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics. Cambridge's colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge's first college. The newest full college, the 31st one, is Homerton College, which only achieved full university college status in March 2010. The first women students were examined in 1882 but attempts to make women full members of the university did not succeed until 1947. Starting with Churchill College, all of the men's colleges began to admit women between 1972 and 1988. One women's college, Girton, also began to admit male students from 1979, but the other women's colleges did not follow suit. As a result of St Hilda's College, Oxford, ending its ban on male students in 2008, Cambridge is now the only remaining United Kingdom
University with colleges which refuse to admit males, with three such institutions (Newnham, Murray Edwards and Lucy Cavendish). The long history of rivalry between Cambridge and Oxford is a famous story all around the world, contending for first place in UK league tables. However, in the most recently published ranking of UK universities, published by The Guardian newspaper, Cambridge was ranked first. Cambridge also ranks as one of the top universities in the world: first in the world in both the 2010 and 2011 QS World University Rankings, sixth in the world in the 2011 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and fifth in the world (and first in Europe) in the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Graduates of the University have won a total of 61 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world. At the same time, many of the most important scientific discoveries and revolutions were made by Cambridge alumni, including: Understanding the scientific method, by Francis Bacon -The laws of motion and the development of calculus, by Sir Isaac Newton -The development of thermodynamics, by Lord Kelvin -The discovery of the electron, by J. J. Thomson -The splitting of the atom, by Ernest Rutherford and of the nucleus by Sir John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton -The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell -The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish -Theory of Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin -Mathematical synthesis of Darwinian selection with Mendelian genetics, by Ronald Fisher -The Turing machine, a basic model for computation, by Alan Turing -The structure of DNA, by Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, James D. Watson and Maurice Wilkins, the later three awarded the Nobel Prize. (Rosalind Franklin didn't receive the Nobel Prize as it was not given posthumously) -Pioneering quantum mechanics, by Paul Dirac
The University of Saint Andrews
The university was founded in 1410. At this time, much of the teaching was of a religious nature and was conducted by clerics associated with the cathedral. From the 17th to 19th centuries, St Andrews underwent a dramatic decline which at some point even menaced the university's own survival. Pupil numbers were very low; for instance, in 1773, the university barely had
100 pupils, and this situation did not improve during the 19th century, as in the 1870s, the student population was fewer than 150. In the 19th century, St Andrews offered a traditional education based on classical languages, divinity and philosophical studies, and at that time was slow to embrace more practical fields such as science, medicine and law that were the vogue. Perhaps partly in response to this and to the low number in pupils, the university merged with University College in Dundee in 1897, which became a centre of medical, scientific and legal excellence. This affiliation ended in 1967 when the college, renamed Queen's College, became a separate and independent institution as the University of Dundee. After the foundation of University College, the decadence of St. Andrews came to an end. It became increasingly popular amongst the Scottish upper class to send their children to their oldest higher learning institution, and the university soon enough saw a renaissance. Its current world-class reputation in teaching and research consistently place St Andrews as the top university in Scotland and often amongst the top five in the UK, according to annual league tables produced by The Times, Sunday Times and The Guardian. The Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking named St Andrews among the world’s Top 20 Arts and Humanities universities in 2010.
the industrial cities of England in the Victorian era and which achieved university status before the Second World War. The name 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. Red brick ‘civic' universities were non-collegiate institutions that admitted men without specific reference to their religion or family background and which concentrated on educating their students in ‘real-world' skills, often linked to engineering, unlike the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge which traditionally imposed religious tests on staff and students and were collegiate institutions, concentrating primarily on a more academic development in the liberal arts and divinity. Plate Glass Universities - the universities chartered in the 1960s (formerly described as the 'new universities' or the 'Robbins expansion' universities). The Open University - Britain's 'open to all' distance learning University (est. 1968). Study materials are provided online and by post to a wide range of students, many of whom are working people who wish to improve or develop their portfolio of higher education qualifications. New Universities - the Post-1992 universities formed from polytechnics or colleges of Higher Education.
The University of Oxford
As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. In 1190, the arrival of Emo of Friesland, the first known overseas student, set in motion the University's tradition of international scholarly links. In the 13th century, rioting between town and gown (townspeople and students) hastened the establishment of primitive halls of residence. These were succeeded by the first of Oxford's colleges, which began as medieval 'halls of residence' or endowed houses under the supervision of a Master. University, Balliol and Merton Colleges, which were established between 1249 and 1264, are the oldest. Today, Oxford University is made up 0f 38 separate colleges. The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the
opposing Parliamentarian cause. From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts. Although the University's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century to encompass scientific and medical studies. From 1878, academic halls were established for women and they were admitted to full membership of the University in 1920. Five all-male colleges first admitted women in 1974 and, since then, all colleges have changed their statutes to admit both women and men. St Hilda's College, which was originally for women only, was the last of Oxford's single sex colleges. It has admitted both men and women since 2008. By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female; the ratio is now about 48:52 in men's favour. More than forty Nobel laureates and more than fifty world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford. Either students or having held fellowships at the university’s colleges, famous people from all fields can be found among the names on the list of the university’s alumni, such as: writers: Lewis Carol, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Fowles; scientists: Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking; politicians: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair; economists or philosophers: Adam Smith, John Locke.
The University of Cambridge
The university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching "scholastic philosophy". In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics. Cambridge's colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge's first college. The newest full college, the 31st one, is Homerton College, which only achieved full university college status in March 2010. The first women students were examined in 1882 but attempts to make women full members of the university did not succeed until 1947. Starting with Churchill College, all of the men's colleges began to admit women between 1972 and 1988. One women's college, Girton, also began to admit male students from 1979, but the other women's colleges did not follow suit. As a result of St Hilda's College, Oxford, ending its ban on male students in 2008, Cambridge is now the only remaining United Kingdom
University with colleges which refuse to admit males, with three such institutions (Newnham, Murray Edwards and Lucy Cavendish). The long history of rivalry between Cambridge and Oxford is a famous story all around the world, contending for first place in UK league tables. However, in the most recently published ranking of UK universities, published by The Guardian newspaper, Cambridge was ranked first. Cambridge also ranks as one of the top universities in the world: first in the world in both the 2010 and 2011 QS World University Rankings, sixth in the world in the 2011 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and fifth in the world (and first in Europe) in the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Graduates of the University have won a total of 61 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world. At the same time, many of the most important scientific discoveries and revolutions were made by Cambridge alumni, including: Understanding the scientific method, by Francis Bacon -The laws of motion and the development of calculus, by Sir Isaac Newton -The development of thermodynamics, by Lord Kelvin -The discovery of the electron, by J. J. Thomson -The splitting of the atom, by Ernest Rutherford and of the nucleus by Sir John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton -The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell -The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish -Theory of Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin -Mathematical synthesis of Darwinian selection with Mendelian genetics, by Ronald Fisher -The Turing machine, a basic model for computation, by Alan Turing -The structure of DNA, by Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, James D. Watson and Maurice Wilkins, the later three awarded the Nobel Prize. (Rosalind Franklin didn't receive the Nobel Prize as it was not given posthumously) -Pioneering quantum mechanics, by Paul Dirac
The University of Saint Andrews
The university was founded in 1410. At this time, much of the teaching was of a religious nature and was conducted by clerics associated with the cathedral. From the 17th to 19th centuries, St Andrews underwent a dramatic decline which at some point even menaced the university's own survival. Pupil numbers were very low; for instance, in 1773, the university barely had
100 pupils, and this situation did not improve during the 19th century, as in the 1870s, the student population was fewer than 150. In the 19th century, St Andrews offered a traditional education based on classical languages, divinity and philosophical studies, and at that time was slow to embrace more practical fields such as science, medicine and law that were the vogue. Perhaps partly in response to this and to the low number in pupils, the university merged with University College in Dundee in 1897, which became a centre of medical, scientific and legal excellence. This affiliation ended in 1967 when the college, renamed Queen's College, became a separate and independent institution as the University of Dundee. After the foundation of University College, the decadence of St. Andrews came to an end. It became increasingly popular amongst the Scottish upper class to send their children to their oldest higher learning institution, and the university soon enough saw a renaissance. Its current world-class reputation in teaching and research consistently place St Andrews as the top university in Scotland and often amongst the top five in the UK, according to annual league tables produced by The Times, Sunday Times and The Guardian. The Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking named St Andrews among the world’s Top 20 Arts and Humanities universities in 2010.
