The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

, in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town. The borough border ...

. Roehampton was formerly an equal partner, along with the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

, in the now-dissolved Federal University of Surrey. In 2004, Roehampton became a university. In 2011, it was renamed the University of Roehampton. The university is one of the

post-1992 universities In the UK, a post-1992 university, synonymous with new university or modern university, is a former polytechnic or central institution that was given university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, or an institution that ...

. Roehampton consists of four colleges, around which accommodation is centred: Digby Stuart College, Froebel College, Southlands College and Whitelands College. Roehampton's academic faculties include the Faculty of Business and Law, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences and Faculty of Psychology. Roehampton is a member of the

European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of th ...

and

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

History

The university has its roots in the traditions of its four constituent colleges, all of which were founded in the 19th century as women's

teacher training college A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

s: * Whitelands College – Founded in 1841, the college is one of the five oldest institutions for training educators in England. A flagship women's college of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, it was the first college of higher education in the UK to admit women. It occupies a 14-acre site overlooking

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

. * Southlands College – Founded in 1872, the college derives its ethos from its

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

foundation. It offers an open and valuable community for all of its members, and regularly organises a range of events and activities to help build and support the community. * Digby Stuart College – Established in 1874 as a teacher training college for

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

women. The college owes its existence to the

Society of the Sacred Heart , image = RSCJnuevo.jpg, , image_size = 150px , caption = , abbreviation = Post-nominal letters: RSCJ , formation = , founder = Saint Sr. Madeleine Sophie Barat, R.S.C.J. ...

, whose members continue to support the college and the university. * Froebel College – Founded in 1892, the college was established to further the values of

Friedrich Fröbel Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel (; 21 April 1782 – 21 June 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique need ...

, the German educationalist who pioneered a holistic view of child development. It is one of the UK's major centres for initial teacher training. All four colleges were founded to address the need to educate poor and disadvantaged children. In 1976, the four colleges joined to form the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education. Its first Rector was Kevin Keohane, the former Professor of Science Education at

Chelsea College of Science and Technology Chelsea College of Science and Technology was established as a College of Advanced Technology on a single site on the corner of Manresa Road and King's Road, Chelsea, London SW3, as part of the University of London in 1966 and was granted ...

. Since 2011, the university has been branded the University of Roehampton. However, its legal name remains Roehampton University. In 2012 the last college, Whitelands, was legally merged with the university, bringing all the colleges into a common management structure.

Facilities

Specialist facilities

The university has a biomechanics laboratory.

Library

The university opened a new library in 2017, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. The library houses the Jewish Resource Centre Collection, the Centre for Marian Studies, a collection of resources covering all matters regarding the Virgin Mary, the Queen's Archive, featuring material on authority and governance within the Roman Catholic Church in the UK and the Richmal Crompton Collection of books and archive material accumulated during the lifetime of the author Richmal Crompton (1890–1969).

E-sports

The university has an e-sports arena, with 20 PCs and facilities for

live streaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...

and video editing. The University of Roehampton was the first university in the UK to offer e-sports scholarships.

Accommodation

Digby Stuart College * Bede House * Elm Grove Hall *Lee House *Newman House *Shaw House University of Roehampton, Whitelands College, Parkstead House

Froebel College * Aspen House * Chadwick Hall - Shortlisted for the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

for excellence in architecture in 2018. * Garden Court * Lawrence * Linden House * Mount Clare * New Court * Old Court *Willow House Southlands lake, Southlands College

Southlands College * Aldersgate and Epworth Court * Wesley Hall Whitelands College * Beverley and Cheltenham * Durham and Gilesgate * Kings and Melrose * Sutherland and Walpole

Academic departments

*Faculty of Business and Law including Roehampton University Business School and Roehampton University Law School *School of Arts (including Computing) *School of Education *School of Humanities and Social Sciences *School of Life and Health Sciences (including Nursing) *School of Psychology

Reputation and standing for research

In the 2008

Research Assessment Exercise The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British hig ...

(RAE), Roehampton University was ranked first in the country for Dance and

Biological Anthropology Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...

. Ten out of the fifteen subjects that submitted work included at least some proportion of research judged to be world-leading in terms of its originality and significance. 78% of all research undertaken at the university was of an international standard. According to

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

's 2014

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...

(REF), the university is the most research-intensive post-1992 university in the UK. Roehampton submitted work by more than two-thirds of its academic staff, in 13 subject areas. This is the highest proportion of any post-1992 university. Dance was the top performing subject, with 94% of research rated 4* and 3* – making it the highest-rated department in its subject area in the UK. Roehampton was also ranked 3rd in London for research quality in Education, and 4th for English. Roehampton was the strongest-performing university in London in these subject areas. Overall, 66 per cent Roehampton's research was judged either world-leading or internationally excellent. In the REF 2021, 218 staff were submitted in 12 areas and were graded 3*-4* overall.

Proposed restructuring

In May 2022, 226 academics (almost half the academic staff at the University of Roehampton) received an email from Vice Chancellor, Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, informing them that their jobs were at risk. The email proposed wide-ranging restructuring and redundancies across the university. The proposed job losses target the arts and humanities and would devastate longstanding and acclaimed teaching and research in subject areas such as creative writing, drama, and classics. The Member of Parliament for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, Fleur Anderson, wrote to Professor Ezingeard on 6 June 2022 expressing her concern over the proposed restructuring and redundancies. Amongst the concerns laid out by Anderson in her letter were that the university's proposals amount to the practice of 'fire and rehire'; that the proposals would have a negative impact on current and prospective students; and that the proposed restructuring of the university would limit working-class education and opportunities, particularly in the creative fields.

Roehampton Students' Union (RSU)

The RSU is the main organisation of student representation at the university. It is led by student officers elected by the student body and aims to promote the interests and welfare of all those studying at Roehampton. It is also a focal point for social activities and is responsible for organising events like the Summer Ball, Summer Ball being the biggest event of the academic year. Attracting over 2000 students and held on campus, the event attracts a variety of musical and entertainment acts. The RSU also organises nights out in London, some of these consist of the Clapham grand once a month, fez club Putney on Wednesday nights and the union's special event the Bop hosted at the union bar. The Union itself has 12 different bars, cafes and restaurants spread around the campus. In September 2013 Roehampton Students' Union was awarded £226,900 from NUS Students' Green Fund for a sustainability initiative with a focus on urban food growing. The project is called Growhampton. Growhampton runs a cafe, the Hive, alongside a regular market day, where food produced by students and small local organisations is sold. In June 2015, Wandsworth Council awarded Growhampton funds to launch a food education outreach programme, which now operates in Wandsworth schools, youth groups and community groups, with a focus on food growing. Growhampton also works directly with a local charities, including Regenerate and Paradise Co-op. The Union runs Fresh Network for student media.

Third Row Dance Company

The Third Row Dance Company is a company for undergraduate dance students, led by students. Founded in 2008, the company is made up of dancers selected through an audition process. It commissions professional

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

s to create works, in order for the dancers to gain experience of the professional dance world, which are performed to other students both within the university and outside. Guest choreographers have included Australian dancer and choreographer Daniel Riley, formerly of

Bangarra Dance Theatre Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born C ...

and since late 2021 artistic director of the

Australian Dance Theatre Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), known as Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre from 1993 to 1999, is a contemporary dance company based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman . The ADT was the first moder ...

People associated with Roehampton University

Notable alumni

Amongst the alumni of the University of Roehampton, and other institutions that fall under that banner are: * Niki and Sammy Albon, YouTubers * Toby Anstis, radio DJ * Mike Bailey, actor * Lyn Brown, a politician *

Jack Garratt Jack Robert Garratt (born 11 October 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and composer from Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire. He released his debut studio album '' Phase'' on 19 February 2016. At the 2016 Brit Awards he received the Critics' ...

, singer * Jon Gilbert, bibliographer *

Jon Goodman Jonathan Goodman (born 2 June 1971) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward for Wimbledon, Millwall and Bromley. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team at international level. Following ret ...

, footballer * Matt Henry, actor and singer * Rachel John, actress and singer * Allyson Jule, professor/author *

Daniel Kitson Daniel John Kitson (born 2 July 1977) is an English comedian and writer. Early life Daniel John Kitson was born in Denby Dale on 2 July 1977, the son of a primary school headteacher mother and a lecturer father. He was a pupil at Scissett Midd ...

, comedian * Samira Makhmalbaf, filmmaker *

Helen Metcalf Dame Helen Metcalf, Order of the British Empire, DBE, Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, FRSA (née Pitt; 7 October 1946 – 3 December 2003) was a British academic, educator, and politician. Biography Born a ...

, educator/politician * Alize Mounter, former Miss England * Brody Neuenschwander, artist and calligrapher * Danielle Perez, former Miss Gibraltar * Rita Ramnani, actress and dancer *

Chris Robshaw Chris Robshaw (born 4 June 1986) is an English former rugby union player. He was the captain of the England national rugby union team from January 2012 until December 2015. Robshaw's position of choice was in the back row of the scrum, usually ...

, Harlequins and England rugby captain * David Rossdale, Bishop of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

* Djoumin Sangaré, footballerYork City F.C. matchday programme. 3 October 2009. p. 21. * Darren Shan, author * Joe Tillen, footballer * Deepak Tripathi, historian * Lamorna Watts, actress * Tim Woolcock, painter

Chancellors and vice-chancellors

Baroness Sandip Verma was appointed the Chancellor in 2022. Dame Jacqueline Wilson was appointed Chancellor of the university in August 2014, she succeeded the first Chancellor John Simpson (2004–2014). Jacqueline Wilson retired from the role in 2020. Jacqueline is also a Teaching Fellow, who teaches modules. The Vice-Chancellor of the university is Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, who succeeded Professor Paul O'Prey in May 2019. Former Vice-Chancellor O'Prey was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours list for his services to higher education and the literary history of the First World War.

References

External links

Official websiteRoehampton University Students' Union
{{authority control 1975 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1975 Education in the London Borough of Wandsworth Roehampton