University of Sunderland

Its modern history dating back to 1901 the University of Sunderland is a dynamic university with high standards of teaching and research and a growing reputation as the university for enterprise, employment and opportunity.

In fact Sunderland has been an important centre for education since 674 AD, when Benedict Biscop built St Peter’s Church and monastery.

The first stained glass ever made in England was created for St Peter’s Church and the modern site is, appropriately, home to the National Glass Centre – a prestigious building in which the University’s glass and ceramics teaching and research are based.

St Peter’s Church was the site of the greatest scriptorium north of the Alps, and has been described as the Oxford of its day. The oldest existing Latin version of the Bible - the Codex Amiantinus - was written at St Peter's Church, close to the University’s £9m state-of-the-art Media Centre, which was launched in 2004.

This innovative College was the first in England to introduce the ‘sandwich course’ – enabling engineering apprentices to gain higher qualifications whilst working. By 1908, 25 engineering firms were involved in the scheme and today this system is run by almost every university in the UK.

The University was recognised by The Guardian as England's best new university in 2001, and in 2005 was named by The Times Higher Education Supplement as the top university in England

University of London

The University of London is one of the world’s leading academic institutions, recognized internationally as a centre of excellence. It is a federation of 20 world-class Colleges and a number of acclaimed Institutes. Our alumni and academic staff shape the world that they inhabit. They include over 55 Nobel prize winners and over 35 past or present Heads of State.

University of London degrees have been accessible to students worldwide through the External System since 1858. Today, we have over 34,000 students in more than 180 countries studying for 100 different programmes.

The University maintains robust and effective quality assurance mechanisms for all its programmes. Examinations are set and marked by the same academics who assess College-based students. So, while External students get specially designed programmes of study, they all achieve exactly the same internationally recognised qualification as those who attended the University itself. In fact, this principle is enshrined in our statutes.

“ The most important British open university model during this period, from its foundation in 1836 as a distance examining system up until the present day, has been the University of London.”
Robert Bell and Malcolm Tight, Open Universities: A British Tradition? (Open University Press, 1993).