Modern Universities, UK

In the United Kingdom, institutions given university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 are known as ‘modern universities’. The 1992 law abolished the Council for National Academic Awards, empowered polytechnics and Scottish Central Institutions to award their own degrees, and allowed them to apply for the title of university. All did so—34 in England, four in Scotland, and one in Wales; the Northern Ireland Polytechnic and the New University of Ulster had merged, under pressure, in 1984 as the University of Ulster. This entry discusses the development of modern universities in the United Kingdom, why the term ‘modern’ was chosen, what makes these institutions distinctive, and issues of funding, hierarchy, and equity surrounding modern universities.

After the initial period of designations, there was ...