List of UK universities by date of foundation
Name University status Ceased to be a university Reason
University of Northampton 1261 1265 Dissolved by King Henry III
University of Fraserburgh 1592 1605 Founded by permission of royal charter granted to Sir Alexander Fraser . Closed after the Principal , Charles Ferme , was arrested and imprisoned for unlawfully assembling against the letters and charges of his majesty
Marischal College 1593 1860 Founded by George Keith , 5th Earl Marischal , later confirmed by act of parliament . Was merged into the University of Aberdeen
Queen 's University of Ireland 1850 1880 Federal university with colleges in Belfast , Cork and Galway . Replaced by the Royal University of Ireland ( see below )
Royal University of Ireland 1880 1908 Examining board for Irish colleges . Replaced by the National University of Ireland , with Queen 's College Belfast becoming Queen 's University Belfast
Victoria University 20 April 1880 1 October 1904 Leeds and Liverpool left ; surviving college became Victoria University of Manchester
University of Wales 1893 October 2011 Still legally in existence as of August 2018 but effectively abolished in October 2011 via merger with University of Wales Trinity St David
Victoria University of Manchester 1 October 1904 1 October 2004 Merged with UMIST to form the University of Manchester
New University of Ulster 1968 1984 merged with Ulster Polytechnic to form University of Ulster
University of Glamorgan 1992 April 2013 merged with University of Wales , Newport to form the University of South Wales
University of North London 1992 1 August 2002 merged with London Guildhall University to form London Metropolitan University
London Guildhall University 1992 1 August 2002 merged with University of North London to form London Metropolitan University
UMIST 1994 1 October 2004 Traces its origins to 1824 . Students gained Victoria University of Manchester degrees from 1905 . Royal Charter as a university college in 1956 . Independent university 1994 . Merged with Victoria University of Manchester to form the University of Manchester
Swansea Metropolitan University 2008 1 August 2013 Merged into the University of Wales Trinity Saint David
City University , London 1966 2016 Became a college of the University of London in 2016 as City , University of London
Former universities
This table contains universities that were officially recognised but were dissolved either by merging , splitting or just closing down . It does not include institutions which did not receive official recognition as universities , such as the attempt to found a university at Stamford in the 14th century , Cromwell 's New College , Durham in the 17th century , or colleges of the federal universities of Wales and London that never became independent universities . It also does not include universities in the Republic of Ireland that ceased to be UK universities on independence from the UK .
This is a list of Universities in the United Kingdom by the date of their foundation as universities. In many cases the supposed date of foundation as a university is open to debate, particularly for the ancient universities. For the modern (post 1800) universities, the date of achieving university status (by royal charter, act of parliament, order in council, or decision of Companies House) is given. Former universities with extant successor institutions in the UK are given in italics.