The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884 it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Yorkshire College. It became part of the federal Victoria University in 1887, joining Owens College (which became the University of Manchester) and University College Liverpool (which became the University of Liverpool). In 1904 a royal charter was granted to the University of Leeds by King Edward VII.
Leeds is the eleventh-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrollment and receives over 67,000 undergraduate applications per year, making it the fifth-most popular university (behind Manchester, Edinburgh, University College London and King's College London) in the UK by volume of applications. Leeds had an income of £924.7 million in 2021–22, of which £177.3 million was from research grants and contracts. The university has financial endowments of £87.4 million (2022), placing it within the top twenty British universities by financial endowment.
Notable alumni include current Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer, former Home and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, former co-chairman of the Conservative Party Sayeeda Warsi, Piers Sellers (NASA astronaut) and six Nobel laureates.
History
Prior to formation
The university's history is linked to the development of Leeds as an international centre for the textile industry and clothing manufacture in the United Kingdom during the Victorian era. The university's roots can be traced back to the formation of schools of medicine in English cities to serve the general public.
The Victoria University was established in Manchester in 1880 as a federal university in the North of England, instead of the government elevating Owens College to a university and grant it a royal charter. Owens College was the sole college of Victoria University from 1880 to 1884; in 1887 Yorkshire College was the third to join the university.
Origins of the Leeds School of Medicine and the Yorkshire College
In 1831, the Leeds School of Medicine was established with the aim of serving the needs of the five medical institutions which had been established in the city. In 1874, the Yorkshire College of Science was created to provide education for the children of middle-class industrialists and merchants. Financial support from local industry was crucial in setting up the college and aiding the students. The university continues to recognise these elements of its history; for example, there is still a Clothworkers' Court on campus.
The College of Science, modelled on Owens College, Manchester, was established in 1851 as non-sectarian, and was open to Protestant Dissenters, Catholics and Jews (though not then to women) since Oxford and Cambridge restricted attendance to members only of the Church of England. University College London was non-sectarian. The religious qualification ceased in the 1850s but the classics-based education continued at Oxford and Cambridge. The Northern colleges continued to promote themselves as offering a general education that was progressive and pragmatic in nature as were the technical colleges of Germany and the ancient universities upon which they were modelled.
The Yorkshire College of Science began by teaching experimental physics, mathematics, geology, mining, chemistry and biology, and soon became well known as an international centre for the study of engineering and textile technology (due to the manufacturing and textile trades being strong in the West Riding). When classics, modern literature and history went on offer a few years later, the Yorkshire College of Science became simply the Yorkshire College. In 1884, the Yorkshire College absorbed the Leeds School of Medicine and subsequently joined the federal Victoria University (established at Manchester in 1880) on 3 November 1887. Students in this period were awarded external degrees by the University of London.
Victoria University and royal charter
Leeds was given its first university in 1887 when the Yorkshire College joined the federal Victoria University on 3 November. The Victoria University had been established by royal charter in 1880; Owens College being at first the only member college. Leeds now found itself in an educational union with close social cousins from Manchester and Liverpool.