The following seven universities which are based in London used to be ex-polytechnics:
University of East London, formerly North East London Polytechnic and Polytechnic of East London
University of Greenwich, formerly Woolwich Polytechnic (until 1970), then Thames Polytechnic
London Metropolitan University, formerly City of London Polytechnic and Polytechnic of North London
Middlesex University, formerly Middlesex Polytechnic
South Bank University, formerly South Bank Polytechnic
University of West London, formerly Polytechnic of West London
University of Westminster, formerly Polytechnic of Central London and the Royal Polytechnic Institution – Regent Street
Polytechnics gained university status in 1992 with the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992. The Further and Higher Education Act of 1992 allowed thirty-five polytechnics to become universities (often referred to as the "new universities" or "post-1992 universities"). A goal of the act was to end the distinction – known as the "binary divide" – between colleges and universities.
The ex-polytechnics should not be confused with the former colleges of advanced technology (CAT) which gained university status together with other de-novo universities. Collectively they are known as plate glass universities.
This is the list of the former CATs:
Birmingham CAT became Aston University (the first designated college of advanced technology)
Loughborough CAT became Loughborough University of Technology (afterwards Loughborough University)
Northampton CAT (London) became City University London (now City, University of London)
Chelsea CAT became Chelsea College of Science and Technology as part of the University of London then later was subsumed into King's College London
Battersea CAT became the University of Surrey
Brunel CAT became Brunel University
Bristol CAT became the Bath University of Technology in 1966 (afterwards University of Bath)
Welsh CAT (in Cardiff) became the University of Wales Institute of Science and technology (UWIST) before eventually merging with other institutions to become part of the University of Wales, then Cardiff University
Salford CAT (the Royal College of Advanced Technology) became the University of Salford
Bradford Institute of Technology became University of Bradford
And this is the list of Bellof's plate glass universities which were created in the 60's. Beloff applied the term specifically to the new creations of the 1960s, not including the institutions promoted from university colleges or colleges of advanced technology, or created by division of existing universities "as Durham shed Newcastle". All of the original plate glass universities were created de novo as universities. These were the seven universities approved by the UGC prior to the Robbins Report.
University of East Anglia (1963)
University of Essex (1964/5)
University of Kent (1965)
University of Lancaster (now known as Lancaster University) (1964)
University of Sussex (1961)
University of Warwick (1965)
University of York (1963)
The former CATs and the above seven de-novo universities are known collectively as plate glass universities and once more should not be confused with the ex-polytechnics.