Digitised copies of lists of students and University of London graduates, 1836-1932, are below.
Above: the Chancellor of the University, Lord Beauchamp, on Presentation Day, May 1930 (reference UoL/FG/5/2)
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, students who attended other institutions took University of London examinations as external students. Included in these lists, therefore, are students who attended the predecessor institutions of universities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Southampton, Exeter, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Bangor, Aberystwyth, Surrey, Queen’s University Belfast, and University College Dublin.
If you are expecting to find a student listed in the searchable PDFs and cannot find them, it is possible that your browser does not display all the data. In this case use the non-searchable PDFs.
Enquiries about students who attended the University of London in the period 1836-1937 (inclusive) are dealt with by Historic Collections staff at Senate House Library, shl.historiccollections@london.ac.uk. Neither students’ personal files nor their photographs are held in the archive, however. Enquiries about students who attended the University after 1937 should be directed to the University’s Transcripts Office, transcripts@london.ac.uk.
Please note that enquiries about students who graduated less than 85 years ago will only be answered if the enquirer can prove that they have the student’s consent or if proof of the student’s death is given. This restriction is due to the sensitive nature of some personal data in unpublished sources.
Students on Presentation Day, 1930 (reference UoL/FG/5/2)
Students up to 1912
University of London General Register parts I and II (published 1890, 1899)
- Part I includes graduates who died before 31 December 1890 and those who were undergraduates up until 31 March 1883 but had not passed an examination up until 31 December 1890.
- Part II contains graduates who died, 1 January 1891- 30 March 1899, and those who were undergraduates, 31 March 1883-31 March 1893, but had not passed an examination by 31 March 1899.
University of London General Register part III (published 1901)
- Details of graduates and undergraduates up until 31 March 1901 (except those listed in parts I-II).
- Names of Chancellors, officials, and teachers up until 1901.
A guide to the abbreviations of the General Registers is available here.
Louisa MacDonald (1858-1949), a resident of College Hall (reference UoL/CH 10/1/16)
University of London Historical Record 1836-1912
- Lists of students’ examination results until 1912.
- A searchable PDF of this document is available here (36.3Mb)
Graduates 1836-1932
University of London Historical Record 1836-1926
- A list of University of London graduates up to December 1926.
University of London calendars 1930-31, 1931-3
- Lists of University of London graduates (excluding deceased graduates) up until 30 June 1930, and 1931 graduates.
- A list of University of London graduates in 1932.
Pathé newsreel footage of the 1931 presentation ceremony is available here.
Presentation Day, 1930 (reference UoL/FG/5/2)
Military Service 1914-1918, 1939-1945
Lists of personnel in the armed forces who were associated with the University of London are available here.
Examination registers 1838-1889
The University archive also includes manuscript volumes, which give details of matriculation and degree candidates in the nineteenth century. A pdf catalogue of these is available on-line and these archives may be consulted in the Special Collections reading room, Senate House Library. A full working day’s notice should be given before a research visit. A reader’s ticket is required before access will be given to archives.
A project has begun to transcribe details of these students.
Obtaining copies
Senate House Library can produce reproductions of the original pages of the London University General Registers and graduate lists. Details of reprographics services are on the Senate House Library website.
Email orders to shl.historiccollections@london.ac.uk.
Senate House construction site, c1935 (ref. UoL/cT3/4/1)
External links
Archives of the University of Aberystwyth and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Bristol and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Cardiff and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Exeter and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Manchester and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Nottingham and its predecessors
Archives of the University of Southampton and its predecessors