Generation UCL

As part of UCL’s bicentenary in 2026, Generation UCL, a research and engagement project, put students and alumni at the heart of the history of UCL.

The major academic output was Student London: A New History of Higher Education in the Capital (UCL Press), which can be purchased from the Hanger, or downloaded for free, as an Open Access publication.

We have also made a Making of Student London documentary which explains how the book was researched.

Student London explores 200 years of student life in London, turning institutional history upside down to suggest that the first students of 1828 should be seen as the real ‘founders’ of UCL. Generation UCL has established the first major collection of oral history interviews with UCL alumni and has supported the deposit of students’ union archive material and student ephemera with UCL Special Collections.

Importantly, the project researched student life at the many formerly independent higher education institutions that later merged with UCL: the Middlesex Hospital Medical School (1835), the School of Pharmacy (1842), the London School of Medicine for Women/Royal Free Hospital Medical School (1874), the London Day Training College/Institute of Education (1902), the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (1915), the Institute of Archaeology (1937) and the Institute of Neurology (1950).

The project is a partnership between Education, Practice and Society at IOE, UCL’s Institute of Education, Students’ Union UCL, and the Office of the Vice-President (Advancement). The project works closely with the UCL200 Bicentennial team and UCL Special Collections.

Generation UCL is led by Professor Georgina Brewis (IOE) and John Dubber (Students’ Union UCL). Dr Sam Blaxland, Associate Professor (IOE), lead on the oral history element of the project. We have also worked with a number of student researchers and interns.

Our programme of impact and engagement activities continues to involve the whole UCL community. In 2023 we published a short history of Students’ Union UCL (see below) and curated an exhibition in UCL’s Octagon Gallery which ran until December 2024. In 2024 we worked with UCL’s Race Equality Steering Group to produce a revised historical walking tour. We give frequent talks to audiences at UCL, in the wider community, and overseas (see blogs).

Further reading
Negley Harte, John North and Georgina Brewis, The World of UCL (UCL Press, 2018).

Sam Blaxland, Students' Union UCL: A Short History (UCL, 2023).

Amy Spencer and Colin Thom, University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus (UCL, 2026)

UCL's Portico Magazine articles from the project team:
Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland, Student London

Georgina Brewis, Living and Learning

Georgina Brewis and Jenny Bond, 'Who were UCL's first Chinese students?'

Georgina Brewis, 'London students in the Second World War'

Sam Blaxland, 'Students and South Africa: UCL and anti-apartheid campaigns'

UCL200 exhibition:
Two Centuries Here: The UCL200 exhibition