Records of the University Grants Committee

Records of the University Grants Committee and its sub-committees and working parties.

Minutes of the University Grants Committee are in UGC 1 and UGC 11. UGC 1 also includes agenda and papers from 1972, with agenda and papers to 1971 in UGC 2. The minutes of various sub-committees are contained in UGC 8, with their agenda and papers in UGC 9, while agenda, minutes and papers of working parties and similar groups are in UGC 12

Annual reports of the University Grants Committee, together with special reports on matters of higher education, are in UGC 6 and UGC 3 which also includes returns from institutions in receipt of grants.

Some correspondence and papers of the Committee concerning Irish institutions, interviews with representatives of British universities and the organisation and finances of universities during the Second World War are in UGC 5

Schedules of the Committees' expenditure on grants are in UGC 4. Registered files of the Committee are in UGC 7 which together with UGC 10 also includes circular letters to university vice-chancellors.

• Board of Education, 1899-1944
• Treasury, 1667-1667
• University Grants Committee, 1919-1988

Topics

Conflict

Ireland

Education

Operations, battles and campaigns

The University Grants Committee was set up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1919, under the chairmanship of Sir William M'Cormick. Its purpose was, 'To inquire into the financial needs of University Education in the United Kingdom, and to advise the Government as to the application of any grants made by Parliament towards meeting them.' This advisory role was in practice extended to virtual administrative responsibility for the allocation of university finance. The UGC also provided information about university education in the United Kingdom and was involved in the preparation and execution of plans for the development of universities. In April 1922 responsibility for grants to Irish institutions was transferred to the governments of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.

In December 1963 ministerial responsibility for the UGC was transferred from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Lord President of the Council, who was charged with co-ordinating departmental work on higher education. On 1 April 1964 these functions passed to the Department of Education and Science, and the UGC also became responsible for grants to colleges of technology which were selected for expansion and promotion to university status in accordance with the recommendations of the Robbins Committee on Higher Education.

The UGC remained responsible for grants throughout Great Britain, though provision was made for consultation with the Scottish Office and, in 1965, the Welsh Office in the case of universities and colleges in these countries. In 1976 there was a chairman appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Education and Science, together with twenty members. The UGC had a Secretariat and a Capital Division to carry out its administrative and internal functions.

The UGC was replaced by the Universities Funding Council under the Education Reform Act 1988.