University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford and Docklands, following the opening of University Square Stratford in September 2013. The University of East London began as the West Ham Technical Institute and it was officially opened in October 1898 after approval was given for the construction of the site by the West Ham Technical Instruction Act Committee in 1892 following the Technical Instruction Act of 1889. It gained university status in 1992. It was formerly known as College of East London.
In February 2019, it had more than 17,000 students from 135 countries.
History
UEL can trace its roots back to 1892, when the newly formed County Borough of West Ham decided to establish a West Ham Technical Institute to serve the local community. The institute was to be, in the words of John Passmore Edwards speaking at the building's opening ceremony, a "people's university". The college provided courses in science, engineering and art, and also established its own internal degree courses in science and engineering, which were ratified by the University of London. In addition, it had a women's department.
As demand for technical education grew throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Essex County Council created two further colleges at Walthamstow and Dagenham (South West Essex Technical College and South East Essex Technical College). In 1970 these three colleges (West Ham, Walthamstow, Dagenham) were combined as a merger of higher education colleges, to create the North East London Polytechnic. Campuses were modernised and revitalised by buildings such as the Arthur Edwards building on the Stratford campus, completed in 1982.
In 1988 the North East London Polytechnic became a higher education institution, and was renamed the Polytechnic of East London in 1989.
In 1992 the Polytechnic of East London became the University of East London, one of a number of "new universities". UEL's succession of founding institutions exemplify the developments that took place in British further and higher education policy throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. The University of East London consisted of the Barking Campus (closed 2006) and the Stratford Campus. In 1999 the Docklands Campus was opened, the first new university campus built in London for over 50 years.
In 2012, following previous opposition, UEL adopted the full increased tuition rates of £9,000 permitted by legislation enacted in 2010, an increase from the previous rate of £3,290. The university is a lead academic sponsor of Hackney University Technical College which opened in 2012, one of the first university technical colleges in England.
In April 2013 the university was granted armorial bearings by the College of Arms.
Campuses
UEL has three campuses, at Stratford and Docklands, the newest of which, University Square Stratford, opened in September 2013. The Barking campus was closed in 2006.
UEL delivers programmes and short courses at the Barking Learning Centre in a nearby borough. Off campus, there are students registered on programmes with UK and non-UK academic partners, such as the Women's Institute of Management in Malaysia.
UCFB is a college of the university.
Stratford Campus
The Stratford Campus is close to the 2012 Olympic Park. It is centred around University House, a 19th-century listed building. The campus is home to the School of Education and Communities, the School of Health Sport and Bioscience and the School of Psychology. The Centre for Clinical Education was opened in January 2008. Operating in partnership with the National Health Service, the centre is London's only provider of podiatric education.
In 2011 UEL appointed Make Architects to lead the design of a replacement library at the Stratford Campus. The project had a budget of £13 million and the library opened in June 2013.
Docklands Campus
The Docklands Campus, opened in 1999, is the largest of the three campuses, It is in the redeveloped Docklands area of east London, at the Royal Albert Dock, closed to commercial shipping since the 1980s and now largely used as a water sports centre and rowing course, for example for the London Regatta Centre.
London City Airport is across the dock from the campus. The Cyprus station of the Docklands Light Railway is adjacent to the campus, and offers links to Canary Wharf and central London.
The campus was shortlisted for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' Building of the Year in 2001.
