After Oxford and Cambridge, which is England's next oldest university?
Third-oldest university in England debate doubt by contemporary sources. London was certainly, however, the "first" university in England to receive an explicit grant of degree awarding powers as Oxford and Cambridge owe their powers to ancient prescription and Durham has only an implicit grant. For London, the critical question is whether any of the prior claims of UCL, King's College London and Durham are true. If these claims are not considered valid, then London is the third oldest university in England unless it is shown that it was, for some reason (see discussion above), not a university prior to Durham's royal charter being granted on
Third-oldest university in England debate university lists. An objection specific to King's College is that it only claims to be "the fourth oldest [university] in England" in its 2008 annual report and on its website, and states in some of its course brochures that "The University of London is the third oldest university in England, being the first to be established after Oxford and Cambridge." The title of third oldest university is, however, claimed for King's College by student papers and societies. In a podcast on the King's College website, Arthur Burns (Professor of Modern History at King's) describes UCL and King's College as the