Our History
The University of East London is a new university (designated in 1992) with a long tradition behind it. The UEL of today rests on the achievements of the West Ham Technical Institute, the South East Essex Technical College and School and the North East London Polytechnic (designated in 1969, later the Polytechnic of East London - 1988).
Since its establishment in 1898, the building that is now our Stratford Campus has been a site of continual learning. UEL was granted university status in 1992, and continued to grow ever since.
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Photo reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR
In 1892 the newly formed Borough of West Ham decided upon the need to establish a grand technical institute to serve the local community.
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The institute was to be a “people’s university” in the words of Mr. Passmore Edwards, speaking at the building’s opening ceremony.
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Throughout the early twentieth century, the West Ham Technical Institute taught degree programmes ratified by the University of London. Courses were focused on preparing students for the working world.
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As demand for more technical education grew throughout the 1930s and 40s, the county council decided to create two further colleges at Walthamstow and Dagenham
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In 1970, these three colleges (West Ham, Walthamstow, Dagenham) were combined to create the North East London Polytechnic.(The picture shows a couple of NELP students from the 70s)
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Campuses were modernised and revitalised by buildings such as the Arthur Edwards building on the Stratford campus, completed in 1982.
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In 1988 NELP became a Higher Education Corporation. It was renamed the Polytechnic of East London and in 1989 Barking Regional College of Technology became the Polytechnic’s Barking Campus.
In 1992, the Polytechnic of East London became the University of East London. UEL consisted of Barking Campus (closed 2006) and the Stratford Campus. In 2000 the Docklands Campus – the first new university campus built in London for over 50 years – was opened by the freshly installed Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.
