Student Accommodation London Metropolitan University
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The earliest roots of one of London’s oldest institutions date back to the mid-19th century. London Metropolitan University - or London Met to many - started out as an establishment that offered evening classes to improve the moral, intellectual and spiritual condition of young men in England’s capital city.
In 1848, Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London, called upon the clergy to establish such classes and the bishop Charles Mackenzie answered the call by formally introducing the Metropolitan Evening Classes for Young Men in Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate, with student fees at one shilling per session.
Subjects on the original curriculum included Greek, Latin, Hebrew, English, History, Maths, Drawing, and Natural Philosophy. Just three years later, this fledgling college came under royal patronage following the visit of Prince Albert to the classes.
By 1860 the classes had moved to Sussex Hall and some 800 students were enrolled annually and in 1861 the classes were reconstituted and named the City of London College. The next two decades saw it become one of the pioneers of commercial and technical subjects.
A number of changes in guises followed over the next eight decades before war-time tragedy struck. In December 1940, the college’s building was destroyed by a German air raid, meaning it had to move into Moorgate in 1944.
Fast forward to the end of the 20th century and it was renamed London Guildhall University, when it was awarded university status under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.
In 2004, there was a merger with University of North London to become London Met, and today its former London Guidhall University campus is now the city campus and sits between the city’s financial district and the old East End, near Aldgate East, Tower Hill and Liverpool Street tube stations.
If you've been made an offer for a place at the university then have a look at some of our centrally located London student accommodation below:
2 Properties near London Metropolitan University
Looking to the future, the institution is now creating a single campus at Islington at a cost of £125 million under its One Campus, One Community (OCOC) project. This will bring a host of changes including the refurbishment of current buildings, the creation of new ones, and an investment in technology and resources in a bid to create a better sense of community for its diverse students.
London Met offers around 160 Degree courses to almost 13,000 students, including 7,000 overseas, from 155 countries. The university also has a presence in Beijing, Chennai, Delhi, Dhaka, Lagos and Lahore, overseen by a board of governors.
The university was once the educational home of politicians Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan. It has also educated some of the arts’ finest British exports, including director, screenwriter and actor Noel Clarke, comedian Vic Reeves and singers Alison Moyet and Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant.
London Met courses have fared well in league tables, particularly in Architecture, and its Architecture department was ranked 18th and 20th in 2011 and 2012 in The Guardian University League Tables. American Studies at London Met was placed 20th, 17th and 18th in 2011, 2012 and more recently, at the newly published Complete University Guide.