The University of Roehampton, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, south-west London.
The university has its roots in the traditions of its four constituent colleges, all of which were founded in the 19th century as teacher training colleges:
Whitelands College – Founded in 1841, the college is one of the five oldest institutions for training educators in England. A flagship women's college of the Church of England, it was the first college of higher education in the UK to admit women. It occupies a 14-acre site overlooking Richmond Park.
Southlands College – Founded in 1872, the college derives it ethos from its Methodist foundation. It offers an open and valuable community for all of its members, and regularly organises a range of events and activities to help build and support the community.
Digby Stuart College – Established in 1874 as a teacher training college for Roman Catholic women. The college owes its existence to the Society of the Sacred Heart, whose members continue to support the college and the university.
Froebel College – Founded in 1892, the college was established to further the values of Friedrich Fröbel, the German educationalist who pioneered a holistic view of child development. It is one of the UK’s major centres for initial teacher training.
All four colleges were founded to address the need to educate poor and disadvantaged children. In 1975, the four colleges joined to form the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education.
Roehampton was formerly an equal partner in the now-dissolved Federal University of Surrey (along with the original University of Surrey in Guildford). Since 1 August 2004, the University of Surrey Roehampton became Roehampton University.
Since 2011, the university has been branded University of Roehampton. However, its legal name remains Roehampton University.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson was appointed Chancellor of the University in August 2014, succeeding the first Chancellor John Simpson.
The University is equipped with a state-of-the-art fitness centre, grass football pitches, a multi-use games area, studio facilities and a sports hall for indoor sports and classes. Teams also have access to excellent nearby facilities, including the Roehampton Club and the National Tennis Centre. Sports are managed by Sport Roehampton, and the options available to students range from football and cricket to ultimate and Zumba
The University Library is open seven days a week during term time, with the PC suites open 24/7 nearly every day of the year.
The library has more than 350,000 books, as well as a collection of e-books and electronic journals. The library houses the Jewish Resource Centre Collection[4] and the Richmal Crompton Collection of books and archive material accumulated during the lifetime of the author Richmal Crompton (1890–1969).[5] The University is currently implementing a project that will see a new purpose-built Library, and new student accommodation, built on campus by 2016. This is alongside a development that has already started to build student accommodation on its Downshire House site
Roehampton consists of four colleges around which accommodation is centred. Since 2014 it has also offered accommodation in central London at the Spring Mews development in Vauxhall, central London. In September 2015, it will open Chadwick Halls.
