University of London

We are one of the largest, most diverse universities in the UK with over 120,000 students in London, and a further 50,000 studying across 180 countries for a University of London degree. The University of London is unlike many other universities. Our commitment to widening access has shaped our history, from our foundation to the present day.

Established as a secular alternative to Oxford and Cambridge, the only two other English universities at the time, we became the first to explicitly exclude religious qualification as an entry requirement. In 1858, Charles Dickens’ 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”.

We were also the first University to give external students the opportunity to continue to earn a living while studying, and to study privately and take exams without coming to London. Since then we have expanded and modernised, becoming a pioneering institution that was the first to make higher education available to women and those unable to pursue traditional forms of study.

In 1858 we became the birthplace of long distance learning, allowing students to study for degrees outside of London, spreading higher education across the globe. We also introduced many new subjects into university education, including modern languages and laboratory science. We were the first to give external students the opportunity to continue to earn a living while studying, and to study privately and take exams without coming to London. Since these beginnings, we have continued to accrue new member institutions, vastly expanding our membership and academic catalogue. Each year, our ‘Foundation Day’ celebrates the anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone and since 1903 honorary degrees have been bestowed to, among others, Prince of Wales and Winston Churchill.

The University had great impact for those who were serving during the First and Second World Wars in the Armed Forces or had been prisoners of war. Many continued studying and passed exams, ultimately paving the way for a life after the wars. To the present day our degree programmes can be accessed by prisoners in some countries, allowing for new opportunities or a fresh perspective of the world. It’s an honour to have eminent figures such as T.S. Elliot and Christina Rossetti remembered on our buildings, in an area synonymous with knowledge, culture and education.

It doesn’t take long strolling through the streets of Bloomsbury before you come across your first plaque. From Virginia Woolf to George Orwell, 17 plaques commemorating a diverse range of distinguished people can be found across the University of London’s central precinct in the heart of Bloomsbury.

The plaques represent notable people from diverse social backgrounds and religions and of different ages, genders and nationalities but what unites them all is their eminence within their field of expertise. It is fitting that these people from all walks of life are marked on University-owned property. Since the University of was founded in 1836, we have pioneered widening access to education. We were the first to open our doors to all students irrespective of race, creed or political belief, the first to admit female students and the first to open our degrees to distance learning.

Celebrating people in this way highlights the historical associations of buildings and demonstrates the way these small but important pieces of text, inscribed on metal and stone, foster community interest in local history. From anaesthetists to anthropologists and poets to politicians, each individual identified on their plaque, installed by local councils, civic societies and English Heritage, will have a unique story to tell about their time in Bloomsbury. Though some parts of their stories will be lost, their lasting memory is here to stay – albeit in a small way – on Bloomsbury’s bricks and mortar.