Red brick university

The use of bricks was seen as a cheaper and less traditional alternative and therefore not as highly regarded, reflected in the general view of these new universities compared to the established ones.

Peers's reference was inspired by the fact that the Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool (designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1892 as the main building for University College, Liverpool) is built from a distinctive red pressed brick, with terracotta decorative dressings.

[20] These universities were distinguished by being non-collegiate institutions that admitted men without reference to religion or background and concentrated on imparting to their students "real-world" skills, often linked to engineering and medicine.

[21] In this sense they owed their structural heritage to the Humboldt University of Berlin, which emphasised practical knowledge over the academic sort.

Scotland's ancient universities (St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh) were founded on a different basis between 1400 and 1600.

[23] The first wave of large civic red brick universities all gained official university status before the First World War: all of these institutions have origins dating back to older medical or engineering colleges, and were located in the industrial centres of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras that required strong scientific and technical workforces.

[25] Reading was established as an extension college by the University of Oxford in 1892, incorporating pre-existing schools of art and science,[26] while Nottingham was established as a civic college in 1881 and students were awarded degrees by the University of London until it received its Royal Charter in 1948.

[36] Department for Education research in 2016 split universities into four categories: ancient (pre-1800), red brick (1800–1960), plate glass (1960-1992), and post-1992.