University of East London

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 a "people’s university" in the words of John Passmore Edwards, speaking at the building’s opening ceremony. 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. 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, 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". The UEL's succession of founding institutions exemplify the developments that took place in British further and higher education policy throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth 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.

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 Cass 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.

New student accommodation opened in 2008 and the campus now has 1,200 student rooms, together with shops, cafés and a restaurant, launderettes and an open-air fitness suite. SportsDock, a £21 million sports and academic centre, opened in March 2012. SportsDock served as the High-Performance Training Centre for Team USA during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The campus library is housed in the Royal Docks Business School building.

In the near future, when Royal Wharf is completed, there will be more housing options provided to students as well as working professionals. It is expecting to have 3385 new homes housing over 10,000. This will be a mixed use development comprising shops, restaurants and even office complexes.

University Square Stratford

A third campus, University Square Stratford (USS - not to be confused with University Square at the Docklands Campus), opened for the academic year in 2013. Co-owned with Birkbeck, University of London it is situated in Stratford and delivers part-time and full-time study for adults. The project is the first time two higher education institutions have created a new shared building. The new building provides shared teaching spaces for both higher education institutions and their partners. It is home to the School of Law and Social Sciences as well as UEL's Institute of Performing Arts.

The new building has been nominated for the 2014 Carbuncle Cup.

Faculties and Schools

Degree programmes and other courses are taught by one of the seven teaching Schools. In addition, the Graduate School provides support and administrative services for postgraduate research students.

School of Business and Law

The School of Business and Law (RDBS) is a combined school which offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD degree programmes, as well as non-degree executive education for individuals and companies. The School's main location is at the Stratford Campus but it also offers programmes at One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, as well as the Docklands Campus. Its programmes are recognised by professional bodies including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, (ACCA), the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, (CIPD).

The school also offers a range of business support, enterprise development services and conferencing facilities. Knowledge Dock helps students start their own companies by supplying help and business start-up incubators. Knowledge Dock is accredited by the European Business Network as a Business Innovation Centre (BIC) and is the only BIC in London, and one of only 12 in the UK.

School of Social Sciences

The School of Social Sciences offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in disciplines including international development, politics and NGOs, sociology, psychosocial studies, social enterprise and innovation studies.

School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering

The School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering was established in 2011. It delivers undergraduate programmes in architecture, computing, civil engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mathematics and product design.

Cass School of Education and Communities

The Cass School of Education and Communities delivers teaching and supports research in comparative education, early childhood, diversity and language, multilingualism, professional education, race and community, social work, teacher education and technology-enhanced learning.

School of Health, Sport and Bioscience

The School of Health, Sport and Bioscience supports research and delivers teaching in health studies, physiotherapy, microbiology, biomedical science, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, forensic science, sports science, conservation and ecology.

School of Psychology

The School of Psychology delivers programmes such as BSc (Hons) Psychology, accredited by the British Psychological Society, and a qualification in counselling training, BSc (Hons) Counselling and Mentoring.

School of Arts and the Digital Industries

The School of Arts and Digital Industries delivers courses that cover fashion, film, design, fine art and media, digital arts and communications, games design and animation, music, theatre and dance, creative writing, cultural and heritage studies, journalism and advertising.

Graduate School

The Graduate School provides support for postgraduate research students, research and scholarly activities.

Degrees

UEL offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

In addition, extended degree programmes are available for many of the single honour programmes. In these programmes, students add a preliminary foundation year to the usual three-year programme.

UEL offers a range of postgraduate degrees, including taught master's degrees, professional doctorates and research degrees including MPhils and PhDs.

Partnership

UEL has an MBA programme in Malaysia via collaboration with Women's Institute of Management Malaysia.

Study abroad programmes

UEL has student exchange programmes with numerous universities abroad, including financial support for those who participate through the Erasmus programme.

Rankings and reputation

In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2008, 78% of UEL's submission was judged to be of at least internationally recognised quality, with a proportion rated world-leading, in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

In the National Student Survey (NSS) results released by HEFCE in 2011, UEL recorded an overall student satisfaction rating increase from 76% to 81%, making this the highest student satisfactory rating ever recorded at the University of East London. In this latest survey, UEL also experienced a rise of 21 places in the table of UK universities and recorded a 97% satisfaction rating in relation to its teacher training.

Statistics announced in January 2011 by UCAS showed that UEL had experienced a 13% increase in applications in the previous year, compared to 5% nationally.

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

UEL’s campuses are in Newham, the host borough of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, close to two Olympic venues; the Olympic Park in Stratford and the Excel Centre in Docklands. UEL has had Olympic and Paralympic projects including research, student involvement and sporting partnerships underway since it was announced that London’s bid to host the Games was successful in 2005.

Partnerships

ASICS has a five-year partnership with UEL, and is providing bursaries and scholarships to support research athletes at the university. During the Games, ASICS played host to athletes, ambassadors and business partners in their brand centre at UEL’s Stratford campus

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games(LOCOG) was a Games-time partner with UEL and students volunteered as Games-makers during the Games.

British Swimming has had a partnership with UEL since the London Olympic Games in 2005. British Swimming used UEL residencies during the Games.

The United States Olympic Committee's Team USA used SportsDock as its training centre during the Games. UEL sites acted as a base for USOC’s sports performance services, logistical operations and media relations. Michelle Obama addressed the Team USA athletes at the SportsDock facility on Friday, 27 July 2012, speaking of the pride and excitement that the Games bring to people.

UEL students volunteered with Team USA in a number of roles during the Olympic season, including writing for the team’s Games-time publication.

Team Singapore (SSC)'s recovery centre was based at UEL, providing high-performance athletic services including an athletes’ lounge. UEL also provided accommodation for SSC’s medical team.

Research

UEL has produced around 70 pieces of work throughout the last seven years including the Westfield Transport Observation, Newham Impact Evaluation and LOCOG Impact Evaluation.

Students' Union

The University of East London Students' Union (UELSU) is the university-wide representative body for students at the university. It exists to represent UEL students in university decision-making, to act as the voice of students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body. It is affiliated to the National Union of Students, which represents students nationwide. Elections are held every year to elect a new executive committee. The Students' Union runs a number of clubs and societies, campaigns and entertainment. There is also a social meeting space, on the Docklands campus and another, the Dome, on the Stratford campus

There are over 50 societies at UEL. There is a student e-zine called Your Universe, a joint partnership between UEL and student writers.

Student facilities

UEL has a library at each of its campuses. A new library opened on the Stratford Campus in 2013.

There is a bar at the Docklands campus and canteens or cafes at all three: five at Docklands, two at Stratford and one at USS.

There are ten halls of residence at the Docklands Campus.

Staff and students with children below school age can use the campus nursery, the Children’s Garden Early Years Centre, on the Docklands Campus.

Sports

UEL's sports clubs participate in the British Universities and Colleges Sport leagues and sports activities are managed by UELSports. UEL was in 2011 named the most improved university for sport at the BUCS awards, having jumped 43 places in the league table and aims to be the best university in London for sport by 2015.

A new sports centre at the Docklands campus, Sportsdock, opened in 2012. This was used by Team USA for their training during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The centre features state-of-the-art facilities including a gym and fitness suite, two large indoor sports arenas, ten badminton courts, two competition basketball courts, volleyball and netball courts, cricket bays, two five-a-side football pitches, a sports café and covered seating for 400 people.

Notable alumni

The UEL has several notable academic staff and alumni, including politicians, business people, authors, actors, musicians and sports people.