The University of East London (UEL) is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas. The university has more than 26,000 students from 110 countries worldwide. UEL can trace its roots back to 1892 when the newly formed Borough of West Ham decided to establish a technical institute to serve the local community. The institute was to be a “people’s university” in the words of John Passmore Edwards, speaking at the building’s opening ceremony. The college provided courses in art, science, engineering and art and also established its own internal degree courses in science and engineering, which were ratified by the University of London. In addition, it had a Women's Department. As demand for technical education grew throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the county council created two further colleges at Walthamstow and Dagenham. In 1970, these three colleges (West Ham, Walthamstow, Dagenham) were combined as a merger of higher education colleges to create the North East London Polytechnic.