Past Present Future
london.ac.uk
Contents Preface from the Vice-Chancellor
3
Introduction to the University of London
5
The University in numbers
9
Academic excellence
11
International 19 Philanthropy and engagement
25
The University estate
29
Inside Senate House
31
High quality services
33
Financial overview
36
Financial highlights
37
Member institutions
38
Leading Women 1868–2018
40
london.ac.uk
Preface from the Vice-Chancellor As has been the case throughout the 170+ years of our existence, the University of London is undergoing significant change. With renewed confidence, we are addressing challenges in an ever-changing national and international landscape in higher education. We are responding to the shifting needs of students across the world, the task of managing our extensive property portfolio and ensuring that we meet the needs of our stakeholders. Innovation characterises the University of London. We pioneered distance learning courses that spread higher education across the globe and we continued that tradition by being the first higher education institution in England to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) via Coursera, while still delivering full degree programmes to 51,000 students worldwide through the University of London International Programmes (UoLIA).
New investment sees stellar academic appointments and a widening of our profile and activity. All academic departments are on track to launch new programmes in the coming year, such as an MA in Human Rights under the academic direction of the School of Advanced Study in collaboration with the University of London International Programmes, and a new undergraduate programme in International Politics offered by the University of London Institute in Paris in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London. 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of women being admitted into higher education. The University was the first to do so in Britain and will undertake a yearlong programme of events and activities entitled ‘Leading Women’ to celebrate the anniversary.
The academic strength of the central University also lives on through the prestigious research institutes of the School of Advanced Study (SAS), the UK’s national centre for the support and promotion of research in the humanities, and the University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP), which recently launched a strategic partnership with Queen Mary University of London, one of the top 100 universities in the world. Senate House Library remains one of the leading research libraries in the UK and is located in the iconic building that is the administrative heart of the University.
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Introduction to the University of London Economist and social reformer Sir William Beveridge, who defined the character of the University of London as Vice-Chancellor, stated in 1928: 'Every University worthy of the name at all is an embodiment of optimism, of belief in youth and in progress, of a certainty that man does not live by bread alone, of a trust in the continuity of the human spirit and human life throughout the ages. What else makes it seem worthwhile to grub so dustily in the records of the past in order to hand on what is learned generation by generation to the future?'¹ Beveridge’s words capture the essence of the University of London, one of the oldest, largest and most diverse universities in the UK. Established by Royal Charter in 1836, the University is recognised globally as a world leader in higher education. It was founded for public benefit, to promote education and knowledge, and was a pioneering institution in making higher education available to women and those unable to pursue traditional forms of study. Different from Oxford and Cambridge, it was the first university explicitly to exclude religious qualification as an entry requirement. Already in 1859, Charles Dickens’s magazine All the Year Round coined the term 'The People’s University', which would 'extend her hand even to the young shoemaker who studies in his garret'.2 It was the first university to give 1 2
external students the opportunity to continue to earn a living while studying, and to study privately and take exams without coming to London. The University had great impact for those who were serving during the First and Second World War in the Armed Forces, or having been prisoners of war. Many continued studying and were passing exams, ultimately paving the way for a life after the war. To the present day, University of London degree programmes can be accessed by prisoners in some countries. The University had quite a nomadic start and was located in several central London locations in the early decades but eventually, Bloomsbury became the University’s home. Senate House, designed by British architect Charles Holden, who was also the creative force behind many of London’s Underground stations, was created to house what became the world’s largest purpose-built University. The landmark Art Deco building, which is one of the few buildings in London to boast original 1930s features, was the University’s new permanent home after a century. King George V laid the foundation stone on 26 June 1933 and the building welcomed its first occupants in 1936. Senate House, consisting of 19 floors and standing 210 feet (64m) high, was the tallest secular building in Britain on completion. Acknowledged as a building
Sir William Beveridge: The Physical Relation of a University to a City. A Lecture, London 1928, p. 2. Charles Dickens: The English People’s University. In: All the Year Round No. 12 (July 16, 1859).
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of great architectural significance, it was listed as Grade II* in 1969. During the Second World War, Senate House was home to the Ministry of Information and inspired George Orwell’s description of the Ministry of Truth in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Today, the building still houses the University’s central administrative staff and the School of Advanced Study with its institutes and is an academic hub for the University’s member institutions. Furthermore, it is home to the renowned Senate House Library, which houses one of the world’s largest humanities collections and holds exceptional treasures, such as two of Shakespeare’s First Folios. Senate House is generally open to the public and often hosts events, conferences and private functions and is a popular location for TV and film productions.
The University today
he Ministry of Truth […] T was startlingly different from any other object in sight. It was an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 metres into the air. George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
All universities are different, but some – to take liberties with George Orwell’s words – are more different than others. The University of London is a federation of 18 independent member institutions of outstanding reputation, with over 120,000 students based in London and a number of highly acclaimed central academic bodies and activities. Amongst them is the School of Advanced Study, the UK’s national centre for the support and facilitation of research in the humanities, with nine renowned research institutes such as the Institute of Historical Research and the Warburg Institute. A further 51,000 students take degrees via distance learning through the University of London International Programmes. The central University, in addition to its academic activity, provides a suite of innovative, high-quality academic support and professional services, and manages a valuable property portfolio.
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The University in numbers
students (UoLIA, SAS and ULIP) Moodle VLE users
square metres of building owned students housed (halls and private)
University of London Institute in Paris incorporated into the University of London
the first women in the UK admitted to special examinations at the University of London
average staff in full time employment
students received the first University of London degrees in 1839
years since the first University of London overseas examinations in Mauritius
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Academic excellence Through the activity of its nine institutes, the School of Advanced Study champions the cause of humanities research both nationally and internationally; supports individuals, organisations and networks conducting humanities research; leads debates that stimulate new agendas and innovative thinking; and develops new resources and training. The School’s portfolio is wide-ranging and varied. In an important initiative that crosses the boundaries between conventional academic research and public engagement, the Institute of Modern Languages Research is leading the four-year AHRC-funded project ‘Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community’, which is exploring the ways in which foreign language teaching and learning impacts on a range of pressing contemporary issues including migration and social cohesion. Researchers in the School’s Refugee Law Initiative are core partners in a £7.5m Global Challenges Research Fund project that will support preparedness and response to humanitarian crises and epidemics by studying accountability in the protection and health sectors. A key aspect of the School’s work is the creation and support of digital research resources. Layers of London, a crowdsourced website and mobile app developed by the Institute of Historical Research, will enable the public to interact with many different ‘layers’ of the city’s
history from the Roman period to the present day. The Hansard Online project, also led by the Institute of Historical Research, is providing enhanced access to UK parliamentary proceedings. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies’ Oral History of the Modern Commonwealth website features a series of interviews with nearly 70 leading figures in the recent history of the Commonwealth. The School took a bold step into the field of digital humanities with the launch of an open access scholarly books platform. The Humanities Digital Library, led by the Institute of Historical Research and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in partnership with the Royal Historical Society, combines new open access publications with digital versions of existing print titles that will now, for the first time, be freely available.
he Refugee Law Initiative T project 'Pushing the boundaries' won the Research Project of the Year award in the Times Higher Education Awards 2017.
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The School is also expanding its academic offerings. It now offers research degrees by distance learning and, in the coming year, will offer an MA in Human Rights in collaboration with University of London International Programmes and a new master’s-level module in Digital Humanities. New online legal research training modules and a collaboration with UCL on a module on the History of the Book are also available.
The School’s conferences, workshops and seminars promote dialogue on a national and international scale. Its twoday conference on Media Freedom in the Commonwealth drew standing-room only audiences. An Institute of Philosophy collaboration with Tate Modern on how the senses shape aesthetic preferences attracted more than 2,000 visitors over four days. The Warburg Institute celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Aby Warburg with an international festival that brought together more than 30 distinguished speakers and an audience of nearly 1,200. An event marking the centenary of the abolition of Indian indenture featured poets, novelists, migrants and community workers. A core part of the School’s mission is to develop meaningful opportunities for public engagement with the humanities – opening up academic research to new audiences and helping researchers build links with diverse communities in ways that generate mutual benefit. The School and the University of London are at the very forefront of national efforts to take research into new contexts, present ideas in exciting new ways, and allow academics to benefit from new perspectives on their work. The national Being Human festival is the School’s flagship public engagement initiative, established in 2014 in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. The 2016 festival, themed ‘Hope and Fear’, featured more than 250 events organised by 71 universities and research organisations, in partnership with 221 cultural and community groups in 45 cities and towns across the country. Nearly 1,000 academics took part in the Festival as organisers, and around 33,000 people attended events.
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With the support of the University of London’s Convocation Trust, Senate House was transformed into the ‘Ministry of Hope and Fear’ festival hub, which drew together programming from the University’s member institutions and brought more than 2,000 people to Senate House during the festival week. In 2016, the School’s Chair in Public Understanding of the Humanities, Professor Sarah Churchwell, established a new public engagement initiative, Living Literature, which brings iconic literary works to life by creating immersive, theatrical worlds for audiences to explore. The first event, Living Gatsby, drew around 500 people to Senate House in May 2016 to experience the art, music and literature of the Jazz Age. In May 2017 the second Living Literature event, Living Proust and the Belle Époque, brought the French fin-de-siècle to life. The 2018 event will feature Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Dean in September 2017 on the retirement of Roger Kain, who led the School for more than seven years. The Durham University historian Jo Fox was named the new Director of the Institute of Historical Research and Bill Sherman, Director of Research and Collections at the V&A Museum, leads at the Warburg Institute. One of the world’s experts in the cognitive neurosciences, Manos Tsakiris, is the first recipient of the Nomis Foundation Award for Distinguished Scientists and Scholars and will develop the ‘Body and Image in Arts and Sciences’ project at the Warburg Institute. Senate House Library is the central library of the University of London and the School of Advanced Study. Located in the cultural heart of London, it provides expert advice and access to thousands of printed books, journals, newspapers, databases and e-resources. The Library is home to world-class collections and
Alongside the School’s high-profile festivals and events it also offers year-round training and support to researchers undertaking public engagement activity – both from the University of London and further afield. It allocates funding via the ‘Public Engagement Innovator’s Scheme’, and fosters collaborations and partnerships with a global reach. In this light it is particularly exciting that 2017 was the first truly international year of the Being Human festival, with events in Singapore, Melbourne, Paris and Rome. Recent appointments strengthen the School’s position as the UK’s national centre for the promotion of research in the humanities. Rick Rylance, Director of the Institute of English Studies and a former chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, became
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holds a treasure trove of unique and distinctive special collections, including medieval manuscripts, rare books, archives, ephemera, pamphlets, maps, the University of London archive, an art collection and more. The collections at Senate House Library cover a wide spectrum of subject areas, such as social and economic history, politics, English literature, philosophy, magic and the occult, book and manuscript studies, art, music, film and media, modern languages and psychology. The collections of the Institutes of Commonwealth Studies, Latin American Studies and Modern Languages Research are also held at Senate House Library, giving the Library a truly global outlook. In 2016, Senate House Library embarked on an ambitious new engagement programme with a major exhibition commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The highlight of the season was the transformation of the ceremonial staircase, centrepiece in Senate House’s Crush Hall, into a mosaic revealing Shakespeare’s face. Over 1,000 new visitors came to Senate House Library to view the exhibition, which included a First Folio, recently named as one of the most valuable rare books in existence, on display. A dedicated microsite attracted nearly 30,000 users from 77 countries, and included a digital timeline, a film about the ‘seven ages of Shakespeare’ presented by actor Paterson Joseph, and clips from the five month events programme which concluded with a keynote address by one of the world’s foremost Shakespearians, Sir Stanley Wells. Reaching new audiences and presenting rich collections in innovative ways were also the objectives for the following exhibitions and events programmes. The winter season marked the celebration of
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Senate House Library continues to present its rich collections in innovative ways through an ambitious engagement programme.
the 500th anniversary of the publication of Thomas More’s novel Utopia. ‘Utopia / Dystopia’ explored past and future visions of the perfect society and engaged new audiences in innovative ways: a collaboration with street artists and local schools resulted in graffiti canvas displays which visualised children’s ‘hopes and fears’ for urban society. A symposium entitled ‘Radical Walking: Protest, dissent, and crossing urban boundaries’ was one of the highlights of the ‘Radical Voices’ exhibition, featuring the Ron Heisler collection of political pamphlets, as well as protest posters and examples of radicalism in literary works. Continuing to have the finger on the pulse of current political events ‘Reformation: Shattered World, New Beginnings’ focuses on the impact of the Reformation on London’s society and culture. Driven by the communications revolution in print technology this ‘divorce’ from the rest of Europe ultimately created a new world order. Historian and broadcaster Dr Suzannah Lipscomb stars in the Library’s latest film and future events will include a bespoke recital of Reformation era music by renowned vocal group I Fagiolini and bestselling author Philippa Gregory in conversation. Further investment is planned for Senate House Library in 2018, which will support additional spaces for study, and other operational changes to support its ambition to be a nationally recognised library for arts and humanities scholars, based right at the heart of the federal University. The University of London Institute in Paris plays, more than ever, in the light of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, an important role not only as the University’s sole campus on the European
mainland, but also as a Europe based partner in research studies for UK higher education institutions. The Institute plays an important role in discussions about Brexit as well as the future of European politics. It runs a series of Brexit higher education policy discussions with London and Paris institutions such as UCL, King’s College London, Goldsmiths and Queen Mary University of London, Paris SciencesPo, Université Paris-Seine, Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University and a vibrant series of public engagement events under the themes of ‘Politics of
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Translation’ and ‘Challenging Europe’. Partners include Queen Mary University of London, Columbia University, University of Kent and the American University in Paris. ULIP runs a distinctive and unique undergraduate degree in French Studies with minors available in history, international relations and business. Throughout the three year liberal arts style education students are immersed in French language, culture and history. The Institute already runs a number of postgraduate programmes in law and international relations in partnership with Queen Mary University of London and in addition a new undergraduate programme in international politics will be launched in 2018, with further new courses being planned. ULIP has established a small but growing research programme concerned with questions of mobility, identity and language with a particular current focus on (forced) migration. ULIP works in a number of innovative capacities with different communities in Paris to investigate
three broad research areas: the interface between the radically transformative experience of migration and settlement and its expression; graphic novels as a new prism of expression for a changing society; and the practice and advocacy of multilingual capabilities.
T he University of London Institute in Paris has established a research programme concerned with questions of mobility, identity and language.
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International The University of London International Programmes reaches and connects 51,000 students in over 180 countries through its study programmes, and a further 1.2 million learners through its free open access virtual learning programmes (MOOCs), delivered through Coursera, making it ‘the world’s largest classroom’. The University of London’s 1858 Royal Charter changed the landscape of education forever. It enabled the University to award degrees to students not studying directly at one of its member institutions, opening up the University of London degrees to potential students around the world. This tradition of radical innovation and commitment to open access continues through the International Programmes. It was this continued innovation that saw the University launch the world’s first integrated Masters in Professional Accountancy under the academic direction of UCL in January 2016, delivered in partnership with the world renowned Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). This unique collaboration, which has resulted in the registration of over 2,000 new students to date, was followed by the launch of the new Global MBA in conjunction with Queen Mary University of London and with professional accreditations from major international bodies, including the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The new programme allows students to present themselves for professional recognition upon the successful completion of their degree, providing a competitive edge in today’s job market. A number of postgraduate programmes were also added to the portfolio of over 80 degree courses on offer. These include SOAS’s new pathways in Global Diplomacy, and the Masters in Global Energy and Climate Policy.
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In supporting these new programmes, 2016 also saw the newly constituted Global Engagement directorate take the lead in delivering sustained growth through business development, and the newly formed Student Experience team, which takes responsibility for supporting student progression. Enhancing the student experience has been a theme that cuts across all strands of the International Programmes operational work, with new teams being created to provide a first-class service, including intervention, live-chats and case management. 2017 saw the delivery of two major events for the International Programmes: the London graduation ceremony and the inaugural 1858 Charter Lecture. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told graduating students that they had ‘the great fortune of receiving an education from one of the most open and cosmopolitan institutions on earth, encouraging and encountering people of all faiths, nationalities and backgrounds, whether in person or by distance learning’. An honorary doctorate
The University’s fourth Charter, signed by Queen Victoria on 9 April, opens the London degree to those who have not attended a college affiliated to the University, and so founds what is later known as the External System
1836
1858
Foundation of the University of London as a Chartered University
1859
The first ‘non-collegiate’ students graduate from the University of London
1860
University of London examinations are first held outside London, at Queen’s College Liverpool and Owens College in Manchester
1865
University of London examinations are first held in Canada and Gibraltar
University of London examinations are first held in Tasmania and the West Indies
The first University of London students to obtain degrees after taking examinations overseas graduate in Mauritius
1867
1869
1873
The University of London’s first overseas examinations are held at Royal College, Mauritius, on 10 July
1868
The Special Examination for women is introduced by the University of London
1872
University of London examinations are first held in South Africa
1876
University of London examinations are first held in India The University of London awards degrees to the UK’s first women graduates
1836
Foundation of the London Society for the Extension of University Teaching
1882 University of London examinations are first held in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Sidney Webb (later Lord Passfield) achieves a University of London LLB as a ‘non-collegiate’ student
1885
1886
At least 16 institutions in England and Wales are offering University of London degrees by ‘External’ study
Frederick Gowland Hopkins, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1929, graduates as a ‘noncollegiate’ student of the University of London
1888
1890
The first University of London student graduates after taking examinations in Hong Kong
University of London examinations are held in 18 centres worldwide
1891
HG Wells achieves first class honours in zoology and second class honours in geology as a ‘noncollegiate’ University of London student
1899
University of London examinations are first held in Singapore and Trinidad
1900
1905
Re-establishment of the University of London with ‘Internal’ and ‘External’ sides
The Haldane Report proposes to reduce and eventually abolish the External work of the University, but the Report is laid aside because of the advent of the First World War in 1914
1906
1913
DH Lawrence starts to study for the University of London BA as an External student at University College Nottingham, but does not complete the course
University of London examinations are first held in the Malay States (Kuala Lumpur)
1916
1917
Foundation of the Commerce Degree Bureau, offering support to External students in this subject area
TS Eliot becomes a London Extension teacher University of London examinations are held in Ruhleben Internment Camp, Germany
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was also awarded to the renowned actor and University of London International Programmes alumnus, Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje, who drew on his own personal experience to give graduates an inspiring message of aspiration and achievement. At the inaugural 1858 Charter Lecture celebrating T.S. Eliot’s time as an extension tutor with the University of London, awardwinning actor Jeremy Irons read Eliot’s Four Quartets, following a keynote lecture by internationally acclaimed academic Professor Ronald Schuchard (Emory University). The lecture, entitled ‘Eliot in the Classroom – 1916 to 1919’, focused on Eliot’s early writing, much of which was shaped during his time teaching working people in West London. The event at Senate House marked the awarding of the 1858 Charter by Queen Victoria.
Establishment of the University of London External Advisory Service
1922
1925
Barnes Wallis, inventor of the ‘dambusting’ or ‘bouncing’ bomb, graduates as a University of London External student
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1929
University of London exams are first held in German Prisoner of War camps. Between 1942 and 1945 the University of London co-ordinates arrangements for over 6,000 different examination papers of 136 examining bodies. More than 1,300 of these are for University of London exams
1942
Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize winner in 1991, takes the University of London Intermediate exam as an External student while still at grammar school
1946
Wole (Akinwande Oluwole) Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1986) studies at University College Ibadan while it is in ‘special relation’ to the University of London
1952
Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum, is the first non-UK higher education institution to enter a ‘special relation’ with the University of London
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1953
The University of Leicester gains its own charter after completing the last UK period of ‘special relation’ to the University of London.
1957
Derek Walcott, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992, graduates from the University College of the West Indies, while it is in ‘special relation’ to the University of London
The University of Zimbabwe is the last of seven non-UK higher education institutions to become an independent university after a period of ‘special relation’ to the University of London
1963
1970
Nelson Mandela passes University of London Intermediate examinations as an External student while in prison awaiting trial
Professor Jonathan Kydd appointed first Dean of the University of London External System The University of London announces that overseas External registrations will not be accepted after September 1977
1972 The University of London gives notice of ceasing to register full-time External students in UK public educational institutions from 1 September 1977
1974
1983 The University again registers UK External students and starts to provide academic guidance for External students Overseas registrations are again permitted
Dr Luisa Diogo, later Prime Minister of Mozambique, achieves a master’s degree in Economics as a University of London External student
1987
1992
A series of contracts between the University of London and individual London colleges are signed, establishing the concept of the ‘Lead College’
1993
The University of London’s Online Library is launched
2001
Gisela Stuart MP graduates in Law as a University of London External student
Dr Rolph Payet shares the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for his role as lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
External System graduate Charles K. Kao shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking achievements in fibre optics
2005
2007 2008 2009
University of London Centre for Distance Learning established
The University of London External System celebrates its 150th Anniversary
From 10 June, the University of London International Programmes launches its first MOOCs programme on the Coursera platform
2010
From 1 August 2010, the External System is renamed the University of London International Programmes
2013
The University of London and ACCA launch the world’s first integrated MSc in Professional Accountancy
2015
2016
Marking 150 years of exacting academic achievements through examinations taken worldwide, which started in Mauritius in 1865
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2017
In January 2017 the University of London in partnership with Queen Mary University of London launch a new Global MBA.
Philanthropy and engagement Two new teams are leading the alumni and constituency engagement initiatives at the University of London. Over the last year, staff from the Development and Global Engagement teams have engaged with over 3,000 constituents and hosted more than 60 events for alumni, stakeholders and prospective donors. All activities support the University’s strategic vision to make a unique contribution to learning and research-led scholarship and underpin the mission to build a global community of professionals with a lifelong relationship with the University. In April 2017, more than 200 alumni and friends in Singapore attended a panel event focused on the role of the expert in a post-truth world. The panellists, which included University of London chair of the Board of Trustees Sir Richard Dearlove, Pro Vice-Chancellor International Dr Mary Stiasny, Royal Holloway’s Professor Bob O’Keefe and alumnus Emmanuel Daniel, discussed how experts from higher education and business could counter the rise of post-truth ideas. During the same week, the University hosted a professional development event in Singapore for new graduates. Working in collaboration with the global body for professional accountants, ACCA, the event gave over 30 alumni the chance to take part in a series of workshops focused on different skills, including leadership, strategic thinking, communication and persuasion.
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Elsewhere the imagenation5 photo competition attracted 1,200 photos submitted by over 600 students and alumni, and the online magazine WC1E reached some 100,000 readers. A successful mentoring pilot with alumni and students in Sri Lanka was launched and in 2016, the first ever alumni event was held in Pakistan. With over 300 alumni and 100 special guests filing the Sheesh Mahal Hall in Islamabad, it was the biggest international alumni event ever held by the University of London. Social media plays an integral part in all engagement activities, and in March 2017 the University was proud to win the Edurank ‘Social Media Performance of the Year’ award for its international profile. Together with the Friends of Senate House Library, the Development Office relaunched the ‘BeFriend a Book’ scheme to support the vital conservation work undertaken by
A ll activities underpin the mission to build a global community of professionals with a lifelong relationship with the University.
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Senate House opened its door once again for the ever popular annual Open House event in 2017, hosting around 800 visitors over one day. It was also the venue for BBC’s Antiques Roadshow with over 1,200 visitors to the University’s landmark building. Two episodes of the programme featured Senate House’s architecture and history and one of Senate House Library’s treasures, a medieval manuscript, was among the most valuable and rare items of the show.
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Senate House Library. The new scheme gives book lovers the chance to support one of 10 books in need, each one chosen by the Library team as needing urgent repair. All 10 titles are of great cultural and historical significance, and range from a rare quarto edition of Shakespeare’s Othello to an early translation of the Bible in English. In its first week, the relaunched scheme exceeded the initial goal, and raised enough to fund the full conservation of three of the 10 books selected.
at the Warburg Institute; two significant legacy gifts, one of which will support the Institute of Classical Studies Library; and a donation from Google Ireland to support the Tactile Communication Project in the Institute of Philosophy. The University is also fortunate to have received continued funding from the Sir John Cass’s Foundation, the Peltz Trust and Ede & Ravenscroft, to provide a range of scholarships to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Philanthropy continues to grow at the University; in the past year more than £1m in cash has been raised in support of our Access to Education mission. This includes support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a Chair in the History of Art, Science and Folk Practice
Opening up the University estate to the general public has been and continues to be a central endeavour of the University and over the last year a number of initiatives with community groups and organisations in the Bloomsbury area and Camden Council have been launched.
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wider University estate, were part of the Zoological Society of London’s field research on local urban wildlife. The University continues to support the annual Bloomsbury Festival, which draws together over 100 participating organisations promoting the arts and culture throughout Bloomsbury and beyond.
Over the last year, staff from the Development and Global Engagement teams have engaged with over 3,000 constituents and hosted more than 60 events for alumni, stakeholders and prospective donors. With the objective to support the University gardens as a valuable facility for the whole community, a number of activities took place. For the fourth year the University’s Malet Street Garden provided the location for the community-led London Open Iftar Ramadan Tent Project, an international award-winning social enterprise. The decision to appoint a landscape architect for Gordon and Woburn Squares underlines the University’s role as conservator of these important public gardens. These squares, together with the
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The University estate The University estate has over 140 properties, with a total floor area of approximately 390,000sqm in London, Surrey and Paris. Most of the estate is in a London metropolitan area which, over the last two centuries, has become a hub for cultural, educational and research institutions, and which is increasingly become known as the Knowledge Quarter in London. The University’s estate, with the iconic Senate House at its heart, is not just an asset for the University, but also for London and the wider community. It is at the centre of the estates strategy to safeguard its heritage, encourage public access to the buildings and gardens and enhance academic activity, with the overall aim to provide the physical environment required by a world-class university in a changing educational environment.
and in line with Charles Holden’s original aspirations for the building. This is especially fitting as the University celebrated the 80th anniversary of Senate House in 2017. Over the next three year period the University is planning an investment of circa £30 million across three major capital projects; the refurbishments and infrastructure upgrades of the grade II listed Charles Clore House on Russell Square and renowned Warburg Institute at Woburn Square as well as the University’s book repository in Egham. In January 2017, University of London Chancellor HRH The Princess Royal officially opened the University’s new flagship student accommodation Garden Halls, realised in partnership with University Partnerships Programme (UPP). The £140 million investment with
To meet this objective, over 250 University of London professional staff members moved from various floors in Senate House into a transformed space on the lower ground floor. It is the culmination of a three year capital project internally known as Programme Beveridge, which represents a milestone in the development and use of Senate House as an academic hub for the University and its member institutions. Space vacated by staff on other floors of Senate House is now used for central London academic activity by member institutions, another step towards Senate House becoming an academic hub at the heart of the federal University of London
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Sustainability has been and will be a key consideration for all major developments, refurbishments, strategic decisions and
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Whilst the University works towards a plan for development and growth in the Bloomsbury area, it has managed to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% across the estate against a 2010 baseline. All of the University’s electricity now comes from renewable sources, and 100% of construction site waste produced by Programme Beveridge has been recycled. The team was nominated for a Green Gown Award for student engagement for their environmental engagement programme ‘Reduce the Juice’ which has been successfully rolled out to four other universities and a total of 20 halls of residence. The University’s Sustainable Food and Fairtrade Policy ensures sustainability is embedded into the catering services across Senate House and student accommodations. Through a dedicated staff group of sustainability champions, individual departments devised and implemented approaches to reduce their departments’ carbon footprint. It is a central part of the University’s sustainability strategy to make a positive impact on the local community and environment through schemes such as beekeeper training, cycling challenges and walking to work weeks, to name but a few.
Inside Senate House
Influential
Honorary Graduates Margot Fonteyn (1954) – Ballerina Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) – US President Professor Albert Einstein (1936) – Physicist René Cassin (1969) – Jurist and Judge Professor Max Planck (1936) – Physicist & PUB LIS H ET
ER
The University is now looking forward to 2019 and welcoming the Eleanor Rosa House in Stratford into its intercollegiate accommodation offering. The £105 million student hall in East London is again a partnership with UPP. Named after two prominent women in the history of the University, the 32 storey mixed use building will house just over 500 students and strengthen the diversity of the University’s current provision. It is ideally located near excellent transport links and the planned UCL development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
major tenders. In January 2017, the University launched the world’s first tweetbased sustainability report using the #UoLCarbonCut hashtag. Moving away from the more traditional reporting and aiming at to reach the widest possible audience, readers could view the full report via an interactive online presentation. The success of the report was recognised by winning an International CSR Excellence Award. The report showcases the University’s efforts to become the most environmentally sustainable estate in London, from major reductions in carbon emissions to nationwide uptake of its environmental behaviour change project.
PO
the aim to deliver high quality, good value student accommodation in the heart of Bloomsbury, saw the complete reconstruction of the existing Garden Halls and the refurbishment of the Hughes Parry Tower, now home to 1,200 students from many University of London member institutions. The new design reflects the local architecture and was shortlisted for numerous architecture and student housing awards. As part of the development, the gardens opposite the halls were landscaped and are now, together with the four tennis courts within the gardens, open to the public.
Films where
Senate House has been featured
··
Batman – The Dark Knight Rises Fast & Furious 6 War Machine Mr Selfridge Black Mirror The Crown
T.S. ELIOT
Over 15 blue and brown plaques on the University estate
1933
A rare penny struck by the Royal Mint in 1933 is buried in the foundations of Senate House.
Extraordinary treasures from
Senate House Library
Chandos Herald, Edward, Prince of Wales, The Black Prince (c.1385) Set of the first four Shakespeare Folios (1632) Copy of Das Kapital (1872) inscribed by Karl Marx to a fellow emigré, Peter Imandt
A penny from the same set of only seven was auctioned in 2016 for over £70,000
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High quality services The concept of developing shared or share-able services within the UK higher education sector is one that successive governments have wished to promote, and with declining funding for universities makes economic and strategic sense for the sector. With its history and scale, the University of London is uniquely placed to offer services to the sector that have been developed within the sector and has already been active for many decades in this arena. Supporting the student experience is demonstrated through a range of academic support services to over 150 institutions. The Careers Group operates as a membership organisation consisting of a range of university careers services supported by a small central team within the University of London. Founded in 1909, The Careers Group has been offering careers services to universities for over 100 years, providing access to advice and guidance, work experience and graduate job opportunities, employer engagement and networking events, and support for entrepreneurship. The Careers Group currently consists of over 240 careers and employability professionals working across the member institutions to ensure that career planning and employability development is fully embedded within the student experience for each institution. The Careers Group’s mission is to ensure that each member's careers service is the best that it can be within the context of its institution, and
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that the Group as a whole is recognised as a thought and practice leader in the field of higher education employability. As part of this commitment, The Careers Group’s in-house Professional Development and Research Units ensure that staff are supported to be practice leaders in their field, working with students and graduates from all disciplines and employers from across all sectors. Recent Group-wide projects have included the Research Unit’s successful leadership of a three year HEFCE-funded research project into careers registration as a measure of learning gain within higher education, including hosting the UK’s first national conference on this theme. Learning analytics, and learning gain specifically, is an increasingly important theme within UK higher education, and The Careers Group-led consortium involves 16 research partners across the country. This year also saw the launch of the ‘Great Grad Job Hunt’, a collaborative project involving all member institutions to capture the job search experiences of group of students and recent graduates through video blogs shared alongside content from employability professionals on YouTube. This peer-to-peer approach to career learning has attracted over 7,700 minutes of viewing times in the first six months, with over 90 videos made available online. The coming year will see The Careers Group expand its online education activities, building on the success of existing MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and SPOC
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(Small Private Online Course) programmes to develop further resources available to member institutions to incorporate into local employability programmes. Situated in the heart of the universities in Bloomsbury, Student Central (formerly ULU – University of London Union) provides activities, entertainment, and services to all University of London students, staff and alumni, such as three lively bars, a café, a club venue with regular live music acts, a gym with the largest swimming pool in central London, shops and more. In its first years of existence Student Central has noted record numbers joining clubs and societies and an ever increasing demand for the courses provided to its members. The academic years ahead hold incredible promise for Student Central. With more member institutions and external universities and colleges interested in ‘the student experience’ the outreach of Student Central into London will be significant and plans for increased student engagement are underway. CoSector was formed in 2015 by the University amalgamating its three shared service departments into one. It carries out a number of activities including IT and digital services, recruitment, and housing services.
recruitment services, matching talented students, graduates, and professionals with innovative employers. The CoSector IT and Digital team (formally ULCC) offers a range of business systems, IT infrastructure support services and virtual learning environments for students at over 300 UK institutions. They provide support to over three million higher and further education students, whilst the specialised Digital Archives and Research Technologies (DART) team provides publication repositories and archiving services for over 30 institutions. Major investment has taken place in the last 12 months to develop and convert training courses to an online provision, particularly in digital preservation. The long term strategy is to grow this area of the business and create relationships that lead to more tailored consultancy as a result of the training. The aim is to further develop high quality products and services that meet and exceed customer needs and deliver on CoSector’s vision to become the provider of choice for student services.
Located in Student Central, the housing services provided by CoSector staff work collaboratively across the member institutions of the University of London, as well as external universities and colleges. The team offers a range of services that assist students and staff in their search for accommodation, including intercollegiate halls and self-catered accommodation, registration schemes for private landlords and letting agents, a private housing database, a legal advice service and a range of events and training. Also located in the University’s student hub is CoSector’s
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Financial overview
Financial highlights
The University Strategy 2014–19 is one of investment and growth, and outlines an ambitious programme of investment and development capable of fulfilling the University’s future plans and ambitions. To ensure the realisation of these ambitions whilst meeting the needs of our stakeholders, the University is creating innovative solutions and making a series of key investments to respond to the changing needs of students, to support its academic mission, and to manage its extensive property portfolio.
Prepared under FRS 102 £m £m £m 2016–17 2015–16 2014–15 (restated) Income
174.0 151.4 144.1
Expenditure
(174.5) (155.1) (148.9)
Operating surplus/(deficit) for the year
The decision to run a deficit before other gains or losses in 2016–17 continues the investment of the previous two years and underpins the four aims of the 2014–19 University Strategy: Aim 1: deliver academic excellence Aim 2: provide innovative high quality academic support and professional services Aim 3: property that is valued and relevant Aim 4: manage a high performing organisation The sound financial performance in earlier years enables the University to undertake this investment with confidence.
(Loss)/Gain on disposal of assets
(0.5) -
(3.7)
(4.8)
(0.7)
(0.1)
Gains on investments
16.7
13.0
19.0
Other items of comprehensive income
(0.4)
0.5
(0.1)
15.9*
9.1
Cash generated from operating activities
28.8
2.5
Capital expenditure
30.6 3.8 3.8
Cash balance (including endowment cash and cash equivalents)
51.8
56.1
55.3
1.8
5.9
5.0
Total comprehensive income for the year
14.0
Additional key financial figures
Net Funds/(Debt) balance
(1.8)
*Figures do not cast due to rounding differences. All figures agree to the primary statements.
The financial strategy is to use the University’s assets and operations to generate income, to diversify its income sources where possible, and to use this to support the ongoing investment in academic operations and services provided to the member institutions. The University is committed to maintaining and improving its financial sustainability and will take the required actions to do so in the coming years. The outlook for the University remains positive, despite the presence of risk and ongoing uncertainty in the UK higher education sector. The unique nature of the University means that many of the challenges are different to those other UK universities are facing and it is less immediately impacted by the changing UK higher education regulatory environment. 2016–17 has been another year of strong growth and achievements. The University is in a sound financial position, committed to its core vision as outlined in its Strategy and underpinned by the need to maintain financial sustainability. We continue to build upon the work undertaken in recent years to grow and diversify to deliver the ambitions of the University. The University Financial Statements 2016–17 provide a more detailed commentary of its financial position.
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Member institutions The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
62–64 Eton Avenue, NW3 3HY
The Royal Veterinary College
4 Royal College Street, NW1 0TU
UCL
London Business School
Gower Street, WC1E 6BT
26 Sussex Place, NW1 4SA
Royal Academy of Music Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT
Birkbeck, University of London
Mallet Street, WC1E 7HX
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT
City, University of London Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB
SOAS, University of London 10 Thornhaugh Street WC1H 0XG
London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE
King's College London Strand, WC2R 2LS
Courtauld Institute of Art
Heythorp College
Strand, WC2R 0RN
23 Kensington Square, W8 5HN
Goldsmiths, University of London
8 Lewisham Way, SE14 6NW
Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, Surrey,TW20 0EX
The Institute of Cancer Research 15 Cotswold Road, Sutton, SM2 5NG
St George's, University of London Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE
Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road, E1 4NS
Leading Women 1868–2018 Celebrating the 150th anniversary of women being first admitted to higher education in Britain In 1868, nine women were admitted to the University of London to enrol for a 'special examination' course. This was the first time in Britain that women had gained access to university education and, though it was to be over 10 years before they were admitted on equal terms with men to read for the same degree programmes, this modest event was an immensely significant moment for the University, for women and for society as a whole. Throughout 2018 the University is celebrating the 150th anniversary of this first 'foot in the door' with a series of events and activities.
london.ac.uk/women 40
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For further information please visit our website or contacts us at:
Š University of London 2018
University of London Senate House Malet Street London WC1E 7HU UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 7862 8000
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