University of Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first technological university in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde, its combined enrolment of 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students ranks it Scotland's third-largest university, drawn with its staff from over 100 countries.

The annual income of the institution for 2024–25 was £430.6 million of which £119.5 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £440.1 million.

History

The university was founded in 1796 through the will of John Anderson, professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He left the majority of his estate to create a second university in Glasgow which would focus on "Useful Learning" – specialising in practical subjects – "for the good of mankind and the improvement of science, a place of useful learning".

Beginning as the Andersonian Institute, the school changed its name in 1828 to Anderson's University, partially fulfilling Anderson's vision of having a second university in the city of Glasgow. The name was changed in 1887, to reflect the lack of legal standing for the use of the title of 'university'. As a result, the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College was formed, becoming the Royal Technical College in 1912, and the Royal College of Science and Technology in 1956 concentrating on science and engineering teaching and research. Undergraduate students could qualify for degrees of the University of Glasgow or the equivalent Associate of the Royal College of Science and Technology (ARCST).

Under Principal Samuel Curran, internationally respected nuclear physicist (and inventor of the scintillation counter), the Royal College gained University Status, receiving its Royal Charter to become The University of Strathclyde in 1964, merging with the Scottish College of Commerce at the same time. Contrary to popular belief, The University of Strathclyde was not created as a result of the Robbins Report – the decision to grant the Royal College university status had been made in 1962 but delayed as a result of Robbins Report. The University of Strathclyde was the UK's first technological university, reflecting its history, teaching and research in technological education. Between the granting of the Charter and the late 1970s, the university expanded rapidly in size, in tandem with the ongoing regeneration of the Townhead area of the city where the campus is located. In 1993, the university incorporated Jordanhill College of Education.

The university grew from approximately 4,000 full-time students in 1964 to over 20,000 students by 2003, when it celebrated the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the original Royal College building.

In recognition of its founder, and the loss of association with his name, the university named its city centre campus the John Anderson Campus in..

In July 2015, queen Elizabeth II opened the University of Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC).

Campus

The John Anderson Campus is located mostly within the Townhead district, on the north-eastern side of Glasgow city centre, with some buildings located south of this in the Merchant City area. The campus grew initially from the Royal College Building on George Street, which was originally the location of the former Anderson's Institution. Work started in 1903 and completed in 1912, it was partially opened in 1910 and at the time was the largest educational building in Europe for technical education. Originally built as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College Building, it now houses Bioscience, Chemistry, and Electronic and Electrical Engineering. In the mid-1950s, campus expansion began with the construction of the Engineering Block (James Weir Building), Chemistry Block (Thomas Graham Building) and Student's Union buildings. Following the granting of the Royal Charter and the Royal College gaining university status in 1964, the campus grew quickly in size. The Corporation of Glasgow had already rezoned what had been a densely populated residential and industrial area for educational use as part of the Townhead "Comprehensive Development Area" (CDA) and by the time of the foundation of the university, slum clearances has already begun In the area. By 1974, thirteen new buildings were erected on what would grow to a 25-acre (10-hectare) site.

The new Engineering Block, built in 1956 was the first major expansion of the Royal College, and was extended in 1963 in tandem with the construction of the new Chemistry Block. These buildings would be named the James Weir Building and Thomas Graham Building respectively. The former was refurbished and reopened in 2014 after a serious fire resulted in many rooms being unusable.

University of Strathclyde Students' Association was founded in 1964 out of the merger of the respective student unions of both the Royal College and the Scottish College of Commerce and was located at 90 John Street, which was constructed by the Royal College in 1959. It remained the home of the Association until August 2021, when it moved into new accommodation within the former Colville Building on Richmond Street. The original student union buildings on were left derelict until late November 2024, at which point it was announced that they were to be renovated into a Digital, Entrepreneurial and Social Engagement Hub. This is expected to be completed in 2026.

The Graham Hills Building was originally an office block known as 'Marland House', built by the General Post Office and completed in 1959 for the GPO's Telephones division and other governmental organisations but was acquired by the university in 1987 from British Telecom and converted for academic use in the early 1990s. It is now the location of the "Strathclyde Wonderwall", one of the biggest wall murals in the United Kingdom.

Faculties and departments

The university currently consists of four main faculties categorised based on subjects and academic fields that they deal with and each faculty is sub-divided into several departments which deal with specific academic and research areas. They are:

The university delivered teaching to 24,330 full-time and part-time students in 2024/25: 16,115 undergraduates and 8,215 postgraduates. Another 34,000 people take part in continuing education and professional development programmes.

Strathclyde is the only Scottish university that offers the IET Power Academy engineering scholarships to its engineering students.

Finances

In the financial year ending 31 July 2024, Strathclyde had a total income of £432.5 million (2022/23 – £487.4 million) and total expenditure of £278.1 million (2022/23 – £402.3 million). Key sources of income included £124.4 million from tuition fees and education contracts (2022/23 – £136.2 million), £113 million from funding body grants (2022/23 – £115.4 million), £118.6 million from research grants and contracts (2022/23 – £115.8 million), £13.9 million from investment income (2022/23 – £7.2 million) and £4.6 million from donations and endowments (2022/23 – £2.6 million).

At year end, Strathclyde had endowments of £46.6 million (2023 – £42.2 million) and total net assets of £565.9 million (2023 – £402.9 million).

Academic profile

Admissions

In the 2024/25 academic year, the student body consisted of 22,225 students, composed of 14,515 undergraduates and 7,710 postgraduate students. The university is generally designated as a 'medium-tariff', sometimes 'high-tariff', institution by the Department for Education, with the average undergraduate entrant to the university in recent years amassing between 122–134 UCAS Tariff points in their top three pre-university qualifications. Based on 2022/23 HESA entry standards data published in domestic league tables, which include a broad range of qualifications beyond the top three exam grades, the average student at the University of Strathclyde achieved 203 points – the fourth highest in the United Kingdom.

Rankings and reputation

According to the Complete University Guide 2024, the university was ranked in the Top 10 for 12 subjects, including 1st in Forensic Science; 2nd in Creative Writing; 9th in Education; 10th in Speech and Language Therapy; and 10th in Manufacturing and Production Engineering.

In the 2024 Guardian University Guide, Strathclyde ranked in the Top 10 for Civil Engineering (3rd); Sociology and Social Policy (4th); Sports Science (5th); Politics (6th); Health professions (6th); and Hospitality, event management and tourism (10th).

Strathclyde is placed in the top 20 of European business schools in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings. In this regard, QS World University Ranking placed Strathclyde among 51–100 best universities in business management. Strathclyde Master's programs take 36th place globally in marketing, 51st place globally in business analysis and 55th globally in management, according to QS World University Ranking in 2020.

In 2020, ARWU ranked Strathclyde in the 101–150 best Political Science universities. Since ARWU began to publish a separate subject ranking on Public Administration, Strathclyde has consistently ranked internationally among 76–100 best universities in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

According to The Complete University Guide, Strathclyde Law School is in the UK's top 10 (2020). According to Times Higher Education, the University of Strathclyde was placed 76th best in law globally among universities in 2018.

QS World University Rankings 2018 placed the university among the top 25 internationally for Hospitality & Leisure Management, 51–100 for Pharmacy, 51–100 for Business & Management, 101–150 for Electrical & Electronic Engineering, 101–150 for Architecture, 101–150 for Education, 151–200 for Accounting & Finance, 151–200 for Law, 151–200 for Civil & Structural Engineering, 151–200 for Mechanical Engineering, 201–250 for Chemical Engineering, 201–250 for Physics and Astronomy, 251–300 for Sociology, 251–300 for Economics, 251–300 for Materials Sciences, 301–350 for Mathematics and 301–350 for Computer Science & Information Systems.

Notable people

Students

There are around 15,000 undergraduate students out of which almost 4,000 are mature students who start their studies after gaining experience in the workplace, and almost 16% are overseas students from more than 100 countries around the world. Around 7,000 students are undertaking postgraduate studies at Strathclyde. There are approximately 45,000 students studying part-time in the university each year, either in the evenings and weekends or through distance learning. The university also has an alumni population of over 100,000 and growing.

Notable academics and alumni

Alumni of Strathclyde and its predecessors (the Andersonian Institute and the Royal College of Science and Technology) include the scientists; William Ramsay, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (1904); John Logie Baird, inventor of the first working television; Henry Faulds, physician, missionary and scientist who developed of fingerprinting; James Young, chemist best known for his method of distilling paraffin from coal and oil shales; Professor John Curtice, a renowned political commentator, Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In politics: Annabel Goldie, Baroness Goldie, Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, member of the House of Lords, Minister of State for Defense; Helen Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, minister in Blair government, a House of Lords member, former British High Commissioner to Australia, former Minister for Trade and Industry, former Minister for Transport, former Economic Secretary of the Treasury, the first female General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party at the age of 26 from 1977 to 1978; John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords; Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, the first elected Vice-President of Nigeria; Teuea Toatu, Vice-President of Kiribati; Fahri Hamzah, an Indonesian politician and currently a deputy speaker of the People's Representative Council; Omar Abdullah, Indian politician, Chief Minister of J & K state, former Minister of State for External Affairs; Jay Sutherland, Scottish political theorist and activist; Nikos Pappas, Greek Minister of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media in Alexis Tsipras' cabinet; David Gordon Mundell, Secretary of the State for Scotland in Cameron and May governments, Conservative MP; Eduardo Doryan, Costa Rican Minister of Education; Ann McKechin, Member of Parliament, former Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland; Jim Murphy, Labour Member of Parliament and former Secretary of State for Scotland; Malcolm Gray Bruce, Baron Bruce of Bennachie, Deputy Leader of Liberal Democrats, Chair of the International Development Committee, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland, member of House of Lords; Lady Elish Angiolini KC, former Lord Advocate and Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford; Jim Murphy leader of Labour Party in Scotland in 2014–2015; Lord Bracadale, Senator of the College of Justice, Lord Commissioner of Justiciary; Sir Simon Stevens (healthcare manager) is a Chief Executive of the National Health Service; John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, the Director-General of the BBC; Michael Peter Evans-Freke, 12th Baron Carbery, an Irish peer; John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie, a Scottish peer, the current chief of Clan Mackenzie; Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton, Conservative MP, member of the House of Lords, grandson of prime minister Harold Macmillan; Nazir Karamagi, Tanzanian Minister of Energy and Minerals, Minister of Industry, Trade and Marketing; Francis Nhema, Zimbabwean Minister of Youth Development, Minister of Environment; Clive Soley, Baron Soley, Labour MP, member of the House of Lords; Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Bangladeshi Minister of Local Government and Engineering Department; Ken Kandodo, Malawi's Minister of Finance; Iain Peebles, Lord Bannatyne, Senator of the College of Justice; Ian McAllister, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University; Mark Blyth, Scottish-American political scientist and a professor of international political economy at Brown University; K M Baharul Islam, Professor and Chair of Public Policy and Government Center at Indian Institute of Management Kashipur; Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study; Sandra Currie Osborne, Labour MP, a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Zulkieflimansyah, Indonesian Governor of West Nusa Tenggara; Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Pakistani Governor of Balochistan; Tommy Sheridan, Scottish politician;

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