University of Roehampton London

The University of Roehampton is a public research university located in Roehampton, London, with a strong collegiate heritage rooted in the 19th century. Its foundations lie in four historic institutions—Whitelands College, Southlands College, Digby Stuart College, and Froebel College—each originally established as women’s teacher training colleges to meet the educational needs of poor and disadvantaged communities. These colleges came together in 1976 to form the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, marking the start of a unified institution while preserving a collegiate system that continues today. Whitelands College, founded in 1841 by the Church of England, is one of the earliest teacher training colleges for women in the UK and is set on a site overlooking Richmond Park. Southlands College, established in 1872 by the Methodist Church, later became coeducational and now houses the university’s business school. Digby Stuart College was founded in 1874 as a Roman Catholic teacher training college and remains closely associated with the Society of the Sacred Heart. Froebel College, founded in 1892 as a secular institution inspired by the educational philosophy of Friedrich Fröbel, is recognised as a major centre for initial teacher training in the UK. The institution gained research degree awarding powers in 1998, a significant step in its academic development. From 2000 to 2004, Roehampton partnered with the University of Surrey as part of the Federal University of Surrey, operating as the University of Surrey Roehampton. In 2004, it became an independent university, making it one of the post-1992 universities, and in 2011 it adopted the trading name University of Roehampton, while retaining Roehampton University as its legal name. In 2012, Whitelands College was legally merged into the university, aligning all colleges under a common management structure. Today, the University of Roehampton is a member of Universities UK and the European University Association and has been recognised for teaching quality, achieving a silver rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, alongside positive outcomes in student satisfaction and national research assessments.