Editing Plate glass university

{{Short description|Group of 1960s universities in England}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}

[[File:Central Hall University of York.jpg|thumb|The [[University of York]]'s [[Central Hall, University of York|Central Hall.]]]]

A '''plate glass university''' or '''plateglass university''' is one of a group of universities in the [[United Kingdom]] established or promoted to university status in the 1960s.<ref name=Definition>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQQzDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA234|pages=234–235|title=The Routledge Student Guide to English Usage: A Guide to Academic Writing for Students|author=Stewart Clark, Graham Pointon|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=20 May 2016|isbn=9781317391173}}</ref> The original plate glass universities were established following decisions by the [[University Grants Committee (UK)|University Grants Committee]] (UGC) in the late 1950s and early 1960s, prior to the [[Robbins Report]] in 1963.<ref name=Robbins>{{cite book|url=http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/robbins/robbins1963.html#04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030011903/http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/robbins/robbins1963.html#04|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 October 2013|page=24|date=1963|quote=Despite the expansion that had been achieved in the existing universities it became evident by 1958 that more universities were going to be needed. In that year the government, on the advice of the University Grants Committee, approved the establishment of the University of Sussex and, in the following years, of six more universities at Norwich, York, Canterbury, Colchester, Coventry and Lancaster.|title=Higher Education – Report of the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister under the Chairmanship of Lord Robbins|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> However, the term has since expanded to encompass the institutions that became universities as a result of Robbins' recommendations.<ref name=Definition/>

==Origin of terminology==
The term ''plateglass'' was coined by [[Michael Beloff]] for a book he wrote about these universities,<ref name=Beloff>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeS2BCfN3AYC&pg=PA11|title=The Plateglass Universities |publisher=Secker & Warburg |date=31 December 1968 |access-date=30 June 2017|page=11|isbn=9780838675502 }}</ref> to reflect their [[Modern architecture|modern]] architectural design which often contains wide expanses of [[plate glass]] in steel or concrete frames. This contrasted with the (largely [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]]) [[red brick university|red brick universities]] and the very much older [[ancient university|ancient universities]].

{{quote|I had at the start to decide upon a generic term for the new universities – they will not be new for ever. None of the various caps so far tried have fitted. "Greenfields" describes only a transient phase. "Whitebrick", "Whitestone", and "Pinktile" hardly conjure up the grey or biscuit concrete massiveness of most of their buildings, and certainly not the black towers of Essex. "Newbridge" is fine as far as the novelty goes, but where on earth are the bridges? Sir Edward Boyle more felicitously suggested "Shakespeare". But I have chosen to call them the Plateglass Universities. It is architecturally evocative; but more important, it is metaphorically accurate.<ref name=Beloff/>}}

Beloff applied the term specifically to the new creations of the 1960s, not including the institutions promoted from [[university college]]s or [[college of advanced technology (United Kingdom)|colleges of advanced technology]], or created by division of existing universities "as Durham shed Newcastle". All of the original plateglass universities were created ''de novo'' as universities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeS2BCfN3AYC&pg=PA25|title=The Plateglass Universities |publisher=Secker & Warburg |date=31 December 1968 |access-date=30 June 2017|page=25|isbn=9780838675502 }}</ref>

==  Beloff's plateglass universities ==
Beloff listed seven universities in his book.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YeS2BCfN3AYC&pg=PA7 |title = The Plateglass Universities |publisher=Secker & Warburg |date = 31 December 1968 |access-date=30 June 2017 |page = 7 |isbn = 9780838675502 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://yumagazine.co.uk/made-in-the-1960s/ |title = Made in the 1960s: What does it mean to be a plate glass university? |first = Katy |last = Sandals |work=YU Magazine |publisher=University of York |date=7 November 2016 |access-date = 30 June 2017 }}</ref> These were the seven universities approved by the UGC prior to the Robbins Report.<ref name=Robbins/>
[[File:University of Sussex.JPG|thumb|The [[University of Sussex]], the first of the plateglass generation]]
*[[University of East Anglia]] (1963)
*[[University of Essex]] (1964/5)
*[[University of Kent|University of Kent at Canterbury]] (now known as the University of Kent) (1965)
*[[Lancaster University|University of Lancaster]] (now known as Lancaster University) (1964)
*[[University of Sussex]] (1961)
*[[University of Warwick]] (1965)
*[[University of York]] (1963)

===Naming===
Unlike earlier universities in the United Kingdom, which were typically named after the city in which they were located (e.g., the [[University of Cambridge]] in [[Cambridge]]), several newer universities were named after the counties or wider regions they served. For example, universities founded in [[Colchester]] and [[Brighton]] were named after the counties of Essex and Sussex, respectively. The university in [[Canterbury]] initially adopted the name ''University of Kent at Canterbury'', combining the county name ([[Kent]]) with the city name, although this was later simplified to the University of Kent. The university on the outskirts of [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]] was named after the [[county town]] of [[Warwick]].{{efn|In the case of Warwick the naming was related to the acquisition of adjacent land outside the border of Coventry{{cn|date=June 2024}}}} The university in [[Norwich]], which is in the county of [[Norfolk]], was instead named for the wider area of [[East Anglia]] which also includes [[Suffolk]] and [[Essex]]. The universities in [[Lancashire]] and [[Yorkshire]] were located in the county towns of [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] and [[York]] respectively. There were already universities within those counties ([[University of Manchester|Manchester]] and [[University of Liverpool|Liverpool]] in Lancashire; [[University of Sheffield|Sheffield]], [[University of Leeds|Leeds]] and [[University of Hull|Hull]] in Yorkshire).

Since the passage of the [[Further and Higher Education Act 1992]] several [[New university|new universities]] and [[University college|university colleges]] have been created within the same city as a plate-glass university and have been named after the city: [[University of Brighton|Brighton]], [[Canterbury Christ Church University|Canterbury Christ Church]], [[Coventry University|Coventry]], [[Norwich University of the Arts]], [[Writtle University College|Writtle]] and [[York St John University|York St John]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaufman |first=Paul |date=1967 |title=The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1006043 |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=57 |issue=7 |pages=1–67 |doi=10.2307/1006043 |jstor=1006043 |issn=0065-9746|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Common references===
Certain aspects of the design of these universities acknowledges the formation of the group; for example, at Sussex the first batches of student residences to be built were named after some of the other new universities, i.e. "Essex House", "Kent House", "Lancaster House", "Norwich House" (for UEA), and "York House".

==Other universities, sometimes referred to as plate glass universities==

Research at the [[Department for Education]] in 2016 categorised universities into four age groups: [[Ancient university|ancient]] (pre-1800), [[Red brick university|red brick]] (1800–1960), plate glass (1960–1992), and [[New university|post-1992]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/557107/Teaching-Excellence-Framework-highly-skilled-employment..pdf|publisher=Department for Education|title=Teaching Excellence Framework: analysis of highly skilled employment outcomes |author=Peter Blyth and Arran Cleminson| date=September 2016|access-date=30 June 2017|page=18}}</ref>

The institutions that gained university status in the 1960–1992 plate glass period are listed below. Almost all of these were promoted to university status, rather than created as universities like the institutions in Beloff's original list; ten were previously [[college of advanced technology (United Kingdom)|colleges of advanced technology]] (CATs).

(Dates refer to the granting of university status, not to founding of the institution.)

*[[Aston University]] (1966) – formerly Birmingham CAT<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aston.ac.uk/about/history/|title=History and Traditions|publisher=Aston University|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref>
*[[University of Bath]] (1966) – formerly Bristol College of Science and Technology<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/the-story-of-the-university/|title=The story of the University|publisher=University of Bath|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref>
*[[University of Bradford]] (1966) – formerly Bradford Institute of Technology<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bradford.ac.uk/about/heritage/|title=Heritage|publisher=University of Bradford|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref>
*[[Brunel University]] (1966) – formerly Brunel CAT; became a member institution of the [[University of London]] in 2024 and now operates as "[[Brunel University of London]]" 
*[[University of Buckingham]] (1983) – formerly University College at Buckingham (from 1973)
*[[City University, London]] (1966) – formerly Northampton CAT; became a college of the [[University of London]] and renamed "[[City, University of London]]" in 2016
*[[Heriot-Watt University]] (1966) – formerly School of Arts of Edinburgh
*[[Keele University]] (1962) – formerly North Staffordshire University College
*[[Loughborough University]] (1966) – formerly Loughborough CAT
*[[Newcastle University]] (1963) – formerly King's College, [[University of Durham]]
*[[Open University]] (1969) – ''de novo'' creation as a distance-learning university
*[[University of Salford]] (1967) – formerly Salford CAT
*[[University of Dundee]] (1969) – formerly Queen's College Dundee, part of the [[University of St Andrews]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/collections/archives/themunimentcollection/collegiaterecords/universitycollegedundeequeenscollege/|title=University College, Dundee and Queen's College|publisher=University of St Andrews|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>
*[[University of Stirling]] (1967) – ''de novo'' creation as a university
*[[University of Strathclyde]] (1964) – formerly the [[Royal College of Science and Technology]]
*[[University of Surrey]] (1966) – formerly Battersea CAT
*[[New University of Ulster]] (1968) – ''de novo'' creation as a university; merged with the older [[Magee College|Magee University College]] in 1969; merged with [[Ulster Polytechnic]] and renamed "[[Ulster University|University of Ulster]]" in 1984<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arts.ulster.ac.uk/eurocall/about_us/university.html|title=University|publisher=Ulster University|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.ulster.ac.uk/magee/history.htm|title=A History of Magee College|date=10 August 1999|publisher=Ulster University|access-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626003541/http://library.ulster.ac.uk/magee/history.htm|archive-date=26 June 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The DfE study classified higher education institutions (HEIs) according to "the length of time an HEI had been established", without a detailed definition of how this was determined Keele might thus be considered "Red Brick" under this classification as it entered the university sector (as a university college) prior to 1960), as might Newcastle and Dundee, which were colleges of the universities of [[Durham University|Durham]] and [[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]] respectively. The definition might also include institutions and colleges of the [[University of London]] that became part of the university sector in that period but did not receive university status:
*[[Cranfield Institute of Technology]] (1969)<ref name="stewart">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aoWlnnio7ToC&pg=PA108|page=108|title=Rediscovering identity in higher education|work=Higher Education: Patterns of Change in the 1970s| volume =15|author=W.A.C. Stewart|editor=John Lawlor|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=8 December 2011|isbn=9780415689205}}</ref> – formerly the College of Aeronautics; granted university status and renamed "[[Cranfield University]]" in 1993<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/0/cranfield-university-guide/|title=Cranfield University guide|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|date=29 July 2016|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>
* [[London Business School]] (1965) – established 1964, joined University of London 1965<ref>{{cite web|url=https://london.ac.uk/london-business-school|title=London Business School|publisher=University of London|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref>
* [[Royal College of Art]] (1967)<ref name="stewart">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aoWlnnio7ToC&pg=PA108|page=108|title=Rediscovering identity in higher education|work=Higher Education: Patterns of Change in the 1970s| volume =15|author=W.A.C. Stewart|editor=John Lawlor|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=8 December 2011|isbn=9780415689205}}</ref>

The Scottish universities from the 1960s (Heriot-Watt, Stirling, Strathclyde, Dundee and the Open University in Scotland) are also known as "chartered universities" as they were established, and are governed, by their royal charters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/11/2389/8|title=Higher Education in Scotland: In Context|work=Consultation Paper on a Higher Education Governance Bill|publisher=The Scottish Government|access-date=30 June 2017}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
[[Malcolm Bradbury]]'s 1975 [[campus novel]] ''[[The History Man]]'' is set in the fictional plate glass University of Watermouth.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jicAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA150|page=150|title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature|author=Dinah Birch|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=24 September 2009|isbn=9780192806871}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9xaDOHuzgQC&pg=PA49|page=49|title=Who's Who of Twentieth Century Novelists|author=Tim Woods|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=13 May 2013|isbn=978-1134709915}}</ref> External scenes of the [[The History Man (TV series)|television series]] were filmed at Lancaster University.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/803414/index.html|title= History Man, The (1981)|website=[[British Film Institute]]|first= Sergio|last=Angelini|accessdate=15 August 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ancient universities]]
* [[Ancient universities of Scotland]]
* [[Armorial of UK universities]]
* [[List of universities in the UK]]
* [[Post-1992 university]]
* [[Red brick university]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*Toynbee, Polly (2002-06-05) [https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,727427,00.html After the jubilation must come the reckoning], ''[[The Guardian]]''
*[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jul/04/politicalcolumnists.comment Anti-ageism Laws Will Be Good for All], ''The Guardian'' (2003)
*Collini, Stefan (2003-11-06) [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n21/stefan-collini/hiedbiz HiEdBiz], ''[[London Review of Books]]'', Vol. 25 No. 21, pp 3–9
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110514071411/http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/special/libmem.html Sheffield University Library Collection]

{{University associations and groupings in the United Kingdom}}

[[Category:History of higher education in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Glass architecture]]
[[Category:Colloquial terms for groups of universities and colleges]]
[[Category:1950s in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1960s in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1970s in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Modernist architecture in England]]
[[Category:Modernist architecture in the United Kingdom]]