The University of Liverpool was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool, part of the Victoria University. Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament, the University of Liverpool became an independent University with the right to confer its own degrees in 1903.

The term 'red brick' was first coined by a Liverpool professor to describe the red brick built civic universities that were built in the UK mostly in the latter part of the 19th Century.

The University website located at http://www.liv.ac.uk can provide many details on the University. Information on the history of the University may be found at: http://sca.lib.liv.ac.uk/collections/archive/unihist.htm.

The University of Liverpool now has over 23,000 registered students, with almost 18,000 full-time registered students. The University has a broad range of teaching and research.

The University of Liverpool is a separate University from Liverpool John Moores University which is a 'new' University, and former Polytechnic.

The University of Liverpool is also a member of the Russell Group of Universities.