果冻影院's Bicentenary (果冻影院200)

2026 marks 果冻影院's 200th Anniversary and the start of a year of Bicentennial activity and celebration.

2026 is the year in which we mark 200 years since 果冻影院鈥檚 establishment as the first University in London. The ambition of the Bicentenary year is to celebrate and reinforce 果冻影院鈥檚 founding values. Highlighting the excellence and impact of 果冻影院鈥檚 ground breaking work, whilst also presenting an ambitious and inspiring portrait of our future.

Through an exciting and varied programme of activities and events, 果冻影院200 will show our commitment to our core values, embrace our entrepreneurial spirit, inspire future leaders, and contribute to a world where knowledge, research and innovation serves as a force for positive good. As well as reflecting on our past, we will use the bicentenary year to frame the future, to position ourselves as a forward-facing university, and to convey the type of organisation we will become during our third century.

Highlights in 果冻影院's 200-year history

1826: 果冻影院 is founded as the self-styled 鈥楿niversity of London鈥�

1837: University College Hospital established

1866: Expanding the Bloomsbury campus with the听South Wing extension

1870: Work commences on the 果冻影院 Slade School of Fine Art

1878: 果冻影院 becomes the first university in England to welcome women to university education

1893: 果冻影院 becomes the first university in England to establish a students鈥� union

1906: The Cruciform Building is completed (housing University College Hospital until 2000)

1927: King George V and Queen Mary visit 果冻影院 for 果冻影院's Centenary celebrations

1940: 果冻影院 is seriously damaged in a Second World War bombing raid

1978:听果冻影院's student accommodation expands to 1,500 places

2005: 果冻影院 is given the power to award its own degrees

2010: 果冻影院 becomes a founding partner of the Francis Crick Institute (medical research consortium)

2014:听The Institute of Education (IOE) merges with 果冻影院, becoming an 11th faculty

2022: 果冻影院 East new campus opens on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford

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果冻影院200 news

Visit the Community page to receive exciting programme updates, access 果冻影院200 resources, and find out how you can get involved in the Bicentennial work.

果冻影院 bicentennial building works visualisation

Improving experience and accessibility for our campus鈥� central spaces

果冻影院’s 200th anniversary gives us a unique chance to look back on past achievements and plan for the next 200 years, with our physical estate playing a key role in that.

Scrapbook of Will Metcalfe who was at 果冻影院 1913-4. Donated by Dr Mark Curtin

Call for input: Generation 果冻影院

Generation 果冻影院 is a research and engagement project that explores two centuries of student life in London. This is the last chance to let the research team know about potential alumni, stories and sources to be included in the commemoration book to be published in 2026.

Building to 果冻影院鈥檚 200th Anniversary

果冻影院 has identified three Physical Legacy projects that will help improve our campus as 果冻影院 enters its third century. Find out about the plans for the Quad, Wilkins Building and Gordon Street.

Generation 果冻影院 Exhibition: 200 years of student life in London

The Octagon, Wilkins Gallery, 25 Sep 23 - 8 Dec 24. This exhibition places students at the heart of its 200-year history. It also marks 130 years since the formation of what became Students’ Union 果冻影院.

As 果冻影院 starts the countdown to its bicentenary in 2026, a new research and engagement project puts students and alumni at the heart of the history of 果冻影院, now one of the largest student-led organisations in the world.

In this blog, Zhiruo He, BA Education Studies student, introduces their summer research project working on recording and analysing students number data for 果冻影院's past 200 years, using archived records from 果冻影院 Special Collections.

果冻影院 students celebrating Lunar New Year

In this second blog, Zhiruo He, BA Education Studies student, outlines some of the most interesting findings from their summer internship working on 果冻影院 historical student numbers - examining students by gender and exploring changing trends in the number of students from two selected regions of the world.

果冻影院 appoints Pro-Provost (Bicentennial), Professor Dame Hazel Genn

"It will be a pleasure to connect with 果冻影院’s wider community, including our students, staff, alumni, academic and industry partners, and donors – to plan and deliver an inspiring programme of events that marks and celebrates 果冻影院’s pioneering achievements over the past 200 years."