The archive spans the existence of The London Institute and the University of the Arts London from the mid-1980s until the present day.
The archive holds material concerning the formation and governance of The London Institute under the aegis of the Inner London Education Authority, the Institute’s change to incorporated status and the transfer to university status as the University of the Arts London. It also records details of school and college mergers as well as institutional and academic developments.
The archive also includes material related to the staff and student experience of the institution such as marketing material, internal newsletters, student publications, course handbooks, prospectuses and research journals.
There is also a large collection of estates plans which depict institutional holdings dating back to the early twentieth century. Around a hundred of these have been digitised and the majority need extensive conservation treatment.
The collection of the Institutional Archive ran parallel to a programme of oral history recordings to capture the memories and experiences of both key decision-makers and long-serving academic, technical and operational staff.