Our History

Business and management education at Kingston University’s forerunner – the Kingston College of Technology – was introduced in the 1940s and 1950s in response to the needs of the newly emerging aircraft industry and the historic market role of the Royal Borough of Kingston. Since then we have enjoyed a huge expansion of disciplines, courses and student numbers, become a polytechnic and then a university and received recognition for the scale and quality of our provision that is of international standing.

Timeline

1899  

• Kingston Technical Institute – a forerunner of Kingston University – opens its doors, offering courses ranging from chemistry and electrical wiring to nursing and dressmaking

1946   

• Business Training Programme is introduced for demobbed ex-servicemen at Kingston College of Technology – a forerunner of Kingston University; it runs until 1948

• One-year course in Business Administration launches

• Preparation classes for the Association of Certified Corporate Accountants and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants are introduced

1960s   

• Programme of business and management courses expands to include an HND in Business Studies, a four-year Business Studies sandwich course, and the Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) which is still run today as a postgraduate course

1970          

• Kingston College of Technology becomes a Polytechnic

• The Polytechnic is designated as the Regional Management Centre for London and the South-East by Minister of Education, Margaret Thatcher,       

Early 70s       

• Undergraduate degrees in Business and Accountancy launch

1984           

• Faculty of Business is created

• The Kingston MBA launches

1985   

• The first Kingston Business School building opens

1986           

• Accreditation by the Association of MBAs

1980s and 90s  

• New Masters programmes in Finance, Marketing, and Human Resource Management launch

• Undergraduate courses in Business Information Technology, Accounting & Law, and Business Administration launch

• “Open Learning” provision expands the reach of its courses to a wider audience of managers and professionals across the United Kingdom

• Number of students recruited to Business School courses doubles

1990   

• In the spirit of Glasnost, links with Russian universities are established. The Polytechnic provided a management programme to the Russian Ministry of Communications.

1992           

• Kingston Polytechnic becomes Kingston University

1994   

• “Centre of Excellence” for Business & Management in the HEFCE Teaching Quality Assessment

1998   

• Kingston Business School programmes launch in Russia

2008   

• Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Kingston Business School’s research output is ranked as the best among the post-1992 group of universities, rivalling the research of many of the more established business schools

2009   

• Bloomberg Trading Room opens at the Kingston Hill Learning Resource Centre

2012           

• The opening of the new Business School building on Kingston Hill in April