Foundation and early period campus, including its Great Hall The University of Surrey was preceded by the Battersea Polytechnic Institute which was founded in 1891 and admitted its first students in 1894. Its aim was to provide greater access to further and
higher education for Londoners, including some of the city's "poorer inhabitants". In 1901, evening classes provided instruction in subjects such as Mechanical Engineering and Building, Electrical Engineering, Chemical and other trades, Physics and Natural Science, Maths, Languages, Commercial subjects, Music and special classes for women including Domestic Economy subjects. Day classes consisted of Art, Science, Women's Subjects and Gymnastics, and classes were also offered in preparation for university and professional examinations. The institute focused on science and technology subjects, and from about 1920 taught
University of London students, awarding University of London external degrees. In 1956, the institute was among the first to receive the designation "College of Advanced Technology" and was renamed Battersea College of Technology. By the beginning of the sixties, the college had virtually outgrown its building in Battersea and had decided to move to Guildford. In addition to this, the
Robbins Report of 1963 proposed that the Colleges of Advanced Technology, including Battersea, should expand and become degree-awarding universities. A complete model was built by December 1964 of the 83-acre site. The £4m contract was given to James Longley of Crawley in March 1965, for phase one, of three four-storey academic blocks, seven five-storey residential blocks, the nine-storey Senate House, lecture theatres and restaurant. It was built in only ten months. The architect was the Building Design Partnership (
George Grenfell-Baines). Government planning permission was given on 30 December 1965. In May 1968, James Longley of Crawley were given the £1.75m contract for phase two, with two academic blocks, six residential blocks, a hall, and a restaurant. It was built with the
Bison industrialised building system.
University status On 9 September 1966 the University of Surrey was established by
royal charter. Robens continued with the ceremony in Guildford to become Chancellor. During this transition period, visitors to the Battersea campus on 25 October 1968 saw
Led Zeppelin perform their very first gig, advertised as being at the university's
Victorian Great Hall, on Battersea Park Road. By 1970 the move from Battersea to Guildford was complete. Between 1982 and 2008, the university became the trustee of the building of the Guildford Institute, using parts of the building for its adult education programme and providing a university presence in the heart of Guildford. The
Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (formerly Associated Examining Board) moved from
Aldershot to its own headquarters building on the Stag Hill campus in 1985. The university marked its
Silver Jubilee in 1991, an event celebrated by the publishing of
Surrey – The Rise of a Modern University by
Roy Douglas In June 2004, the
Privy Council granted Roehampton an independent university title, and it became
Roehampton University from 1 August 2004, ending the partnership between the institutions. The university celebrated its 35th anniversary in May 2002 with a major event in Guildford Cathedral. It was also marked by the unveiling of
The Surrey Scholar sculpture (by Allan Sly FBS) to mark the
Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen and as a gift to the people of Guildford.
The Surrey Scholar is at the bottom of Guildford High Street.
Understanding the Real World, a visual history of the university, by Christopher Pick, was published to coincide with this anniversary. This was followed by a further increase in applications of 12% in 2008. In October 2008, the university lost out to
Royal Holloway in a bid to merge with London medical institute
St George's, University of London. From September 2009, the
Guildford School of Acting became a subsidiary of the university and relocated from Guildford town centre to the university campus. In March 2019 the university announced it would have to make £15m worth of cuts owing to the effects of
Brexit and anticipated cuts in tuition fees, and was offering redundancy to all staff. Following the announcement,
The Stag, published an article titled 'Paygate: The Problem with Surrey's Vice-Chancellor', in which it compared Vice-Chancellor
Max Lu's "performance-related bonuses" to the university's actual performance. Soon after, in May 2019, staff and students held a
no confidence vote against the university management, with coverage largely focused on Lu's leadership. Of all the unionised staff who voted, 96% gave a vote of no confidence in "the Vice-Chancellor and Executive Board". The all-staff vote was approved by all three trade unions represented at the university, in a meeting held with the largest member attendance seen. Concerns raised by staff specifically include "Lu's language which suggests staff are a cost rather than an asset", according to the
University and College Union, while the Students' Union was specifically concerned about the closure of many arts courses at the university despite a "healthy" number of applications for them. Students who wanted a "no" vote hoped this result would make the university management "engage with staff and students and discuss changes". ==Buildings and sites==