Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London was born in a tavern, in the teeth of opposition, on the 11th of November 1823. Two thousand people had come to the Crown and Anchor in the Strand for the founding meeting of a brand-new college. Their host, George Birkbeck, was already being denounced as a man who scattered "the seeds of evil." His plan was to offer higher education to working people in the evenings, during the hours they were actually free. Who were the radicals behind this scheme? How did a mechanics' institute survive two world wars and two centuries of financial pressure? And what did this college become? The answer starts with a weekly magazine article published just weeks before that November meeting.
The 11th of October 1823 issue of Mechanic's Magazine carried a proposal for a London Mechanics' Institute. The weekly serial was edited by J.C. Robertson and Thomas Hodgskin, and it appeared with the influence of the reformer Francis Place. The article drew on the work of George Birkbeck, who had graduated from the University of Edinburgh and devoted himself to adult education. The Institute found powerful backing immediately. Supporters included the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the politician J.C. Hobhouse, and the lawyer Henry Brougham. Birkbeck became the college's founder and first president.
By 1825, the new institution had moved into the Southampton Buildings on Chancery Lane. Five years later, in 1830, it became one of the earliest colleges in Britain to admit female students. University of London reforms in 1858 opened a new path: for the first time, students could sit for University of London degrees. The college was renamed the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution in 1866. It then moved to the Breams Building on Fetter Lane in 1885, where it would remain for the next 67 years.
In 1876, the London Society for the Extension of University Education was founded with a similar aim: encouraging working people into higher education. That organization was integrated into Birkbeck in 1988 as the Centre for Extramural Studies. The Students' Union, formed in 1904, was one of the founding members of the National Union of Students. By 1907, the college's name had been shortened to Birkbeck College. In 1913, a formal review of the University of London recommended that Birkbeck be elevated to constituent college status. A world war was about to complicate that plan.
The First World War postponed Birkbeck's promotion until 1920. The Royal Charter came six years after that, in 1926.
In 1921, Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan became the college's first female professor, teaching botany. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner joined the staff in those interwar years. So did the physicist J.D. Bernal and the broadcaster Cyril Joad.
When the Second World War began, Birkbeck became the only central University of London college that did not relocate outside the capital. In 1941, the college's library took a direct hit during the Blitz. Teaching continued. Wartime public lectures were organized for Londoners at lunchtime, delivered by, among others, Joad, Pevsner, and the diplomat and writer Harold Nicolson.
In 1952, seven years after the war's end, the college moved to its current home in Malet Street. In 2003, the Princess Royal, as Chancellor of the University of London, reopened that building after a major redevelopment.
The London Consortium has been running since the mid-1990s. It is a graduate school co-founded by Birkbeck with the Tate Galleries, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the Architectural Association. The British Film Institute was a founding partner until 1999. The Consortium has offered master's and doctoral degrees in interdisciplinary humanities and cultural studies. Its faculty and adjunct teachers have included Tom McCarthy, Laura Mulvey, Colin MacCabe, Marina Warner, Stuart Hall, Roger Scruton, Salman Rushdie, and Tilda Swinton. The current chair of the Consortium is the legal scholar Anthony Julius.
In 2004, Birkbeck established the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, appointing the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek as International Director. The appointment drew immediate controversy. An article in The Observer, titled "What have intellectuals ever done for the world?", questioned the relevance and elitism of contemporary public intellectualism. Zizek held the position until 2025. The current director of the institute is Costas Douzinas.
David Latchman, who became Master of Birkbeck in 2003, forged closer research ties with University College London. Joint centres they established include the UCL/Birkbeck Institute for Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Birkbeck-UCL Centre for Neuroimaging.
Kathleen Booth wrote the first computer assembly language while working at Birkbeck. David Bohm, who made notable contributions to quantum mechanics, served as Professor of Theoretical Physics here from 1961 to 1987. Aaron Klug worked in the Department of Crystallography, Derek Barton in the Department of Chemistry, and Roger Penrose in the Department of Physics.
The Bloomsbury Centre for Structural Biology, established in 1998, is a collaboration between Birkbeck and University College London that focuses on translating gene sequences and determining protein structure and function. Birkbeck is also part of the broader Institute of Structural Molecular Biology, which includes the Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics, a joint venture with UCL covering genomics, systems biology, and text mining. The Centre for Brain Function and Development won the Queen's Anniversary Prize for brain research in 2005.
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, Birkbeck ranked in the top 25% of UK multi-faculty higher education institutions. In REF2014, 73% of its research was rated "world-leading" or "internationally excellent." In 2021, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Birkbeck 95th in the world for Psychology. In the same year's national assessment, the college ranked second in England for English Language and Literature and fourth for Art and Design. The university is consistently placed in the top 100 globally by QS World University Rankings for both English Language and Literature and Philosophy.
In 2018, Birkbeck announced that it was withdrawing from UK university rankings. The explanation was pointed: "despite having highly rated teaching and research, other factors caused by its unique teaching model and unrelated to its performance push it significantly down the ratings." That teaching model is Birkbeck's defining characteristic. It is one of the only universities in the United Kingdom to specialize in evening higher education. The model allows working adults to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees during hours that fit around full-time employment.
Since 2012, Birkbeck has held its own degree-awarding powers. It has chosen to keep them in reserve, preferring to award University of London degrees. Birkbeck now offers more than 200 programmes across undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing education levels. In 2009, the Faculty of Lifelong Learning was folded into the main college structure.
In 2006, the Higher Education Funding Council for England awarded Birkbeck five million pounds to expand into East London. The Birkbeck Stratford partnership, launched on the 21st of November 2006, was a collaboration with the University of East London. By July 2021, the Stratford campus had transferred entirely to the University of East London. A building on Euston Road was refurbished by Penoyre and Prasad for Birkbeck's use in 2021.
The School of Arts occupies a building in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. That building was once the home of Virginia Woolf. Other notable former residents include the economist John Maynard Keynes, the artist Vanessa Bell, and the dancer Lydia Lopokova. The building also houses the Birkbeck Cinema and the Peltz Gallery.
In late October 2022, the University and College Union announced that Birkbeck was planning significant staff cuts because of a multi-million-pound deficit. The local UCU branch passed a motion of no confidence in the senior leadership team. Protests took place in November 2022. That same year, a history of the college was published by Oxford University Press to mark the 200th anniversary of its foundation.
Among the college's alumni and former staff is a British prime minister.
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Common questions
When was Birkbeck, University of London founded?
Birkbeck, University of London was founded on the 11th of November 1823 as the London Mechanics' Institute. The founding meeting was chaired by George Birkbeck at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand, before a crowd of two thousand people.
Who founded Birkbeck, University of London?
The institution was established by Joseph Clinton Robertson, with key supporters including George Birkbeck, Jeremy Bentham, J.C. Hobhouse, and Henry Brougham. The proposal appeared in the 11th of October 1823 issue of Mechanic's Magazine, edited by Robertson and Thomas Hodgskin, and Birkbeck became the college's founder and first president.
Why does Birkbeck, University of London specialize in evening higher education?
Birkbeck was established in 1823 with the specific aim of providing university-level education to working people who could only attend in the evenings. It remains one of the few universities in the United Kingdom to specialize in evening higher education, a model it has maintained since its founding.
What happened to Birkbeck, University of London during the Second World War?
During the Second World War, Birkbeck was the only central University of London college that did not relocate outside the capital. In 1941, the college library took a direct hit during the Blitz, but teaching continued. Birkbeck also organized wartime lunchtime public lectures delivered by, among others, Cyril Joad, Nikolaus Pevsner, and Harold Nicolson.
Why did Birkbeck, University of London withdraw from UK university rankings in 2018?
Birkbeck withdrew because the rankings methodologies penalized its evening teaching model rather than reflecting its academic quality. The college stated that "despite having highly rated teaching and research, other factors caused by its unique teaching model and unrelated to its performance push it significantly down the ratings."
Who are some notable people associated with Birkbeck, University of London?
Birkbeck's alumni and former and current staff include five Nobel laureates, numerous members of Parliament, and a British prime minister. Notable former faculty include the physicist David Bohm, who served as Professor of Theoretical Physics from 1961 to 1987, and the philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who was International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities until 2025. The London Consortium, co-founded by Birkbeck, has drawn in writers including Salman Rushdie and figures such as the actress Tilda Swinton.
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41 references cited across the entry
- 2Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2022Birkbeck, University of London
- 4The Queen's Anniversary Prize – Previous Prize-winnersThe Royal Anniversary Trust
- 6BookDictionary of Labour Biography: Volume IXPalgrave Macmillan UK — 1993
- 7ThesisThe London Mechanics' Institution: Social and cultural foundations 1823-1830Helen Hudson Flexner — University College London — 2014
- 8NewsInstitutions for Instruction of Mechanics. Proposals for a London Mechanics' InstituteJC Robertson et al. — 11 October 1823
- 9NewsPublic Meeting, for the Establishment of the London Mechanics' Institute15 November 1823
- 12BookBirkbeck, University of London Continuing Education Courses 2002 EntryBirkbeck External Relations Department — 2002
- 15Degree Awarding PowersBirkbeck, University of London
- 19BookBirkbeck, University of London Continuing Education Courses 2004 EntryBirkbeck External Relations Department — 2004
- 26Penoyre & Prasad completes copper learning centre for Birkbeck, University of LondonFran Williams — 2021-08-19
- 27Penoyre & Prasad's angular addition to Birkbeck campus completesJordan Marshall — 2021-08-23
- 30What have intellectuals ever done for the world?28 November 2004
- 33Birkbeck REF2014 results18 December 2014
- 34English REF results, REF202112 May 2022
- 35Art and Design REF results, REF202112 May 2022
- 36The Awards 2010Times Higher Education — 23 September 2010
- 37Birkbeck, University of London2012-12-09
- 38Birkbeck to leave UK university league tablesBbk.ac.uk — 9 October 2018