Who Owns Universities?

Universities
Universities are diverse, ranging in size, mission, subject mix and history. In England, the older universities were established by Royal Charter or statute. The Privy Council (The Privy Council advises the Queen on the approval of Orders in Council including the granting of royal charters and incorporation of universities.) has the power to grant university status to an institution which has the necessary characteristics. Former polytechnics were given the status of universities under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. These are sometimes called 'new' universities. The existing 'old' universities include many founded in the 1950s and 1960s, the 'civic' ('civic' universities were founded by Royal Charter in major cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries) universities and the first colleges of the University of Wales established in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and three Scottish universities, St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen, have existed since the fifteenth century.

Universities have their own degree-awarding powers. They range in size from around 4,000 students (University of Abertay Dundee) to 28,000 students (Manchester Metropolitan University). The combined schools and colleges of the University of London have around 100,000 students, and the Open University, which teaches largely by distance learning, is even larger.

There is one privately funded university - the University of Buckingham, which runs mainly business and management courses.