Student register, 1870–1901

For centuries, higher education in England and Wales was only available at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and restricted to young men from wealthy backgrounds. More universities were founded in the 1400s and 1500s, and from the 19th century there were greater opportunities for working- and middle-class students of both sexes. De Montfort University began as the Leicester School of Art in 1870. Katharine Short, the university library’s Special Collections manager, explains how a register from the opening of the school sheds light on student life.