This paper is a history of university adult education since 1900 to 1920’s. It focuses on the University of Birmingham which is the first civic University. Upon gaining Royal Charter in 1900, Birmingham University established an Extension Lectures Committee in 1902 and delivered university extension courses. The importance of bringing the University into closer touch with working class organisations in the Midland was growing. When the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) was founded in 1903, the University of Birmingham, principal Oliver Lodge supported it. He took the chair at the WEA Annual Meeting held in Birmingham in 1905 and supported the establishment of the WEA Midlands Section. Concurrently, the University of Birmingham and the WEA Midlands Section collaborated to establish the scheme of Social Study. It was special evening lectures the University able to co-operate in a movement which attracted many of the best artisans. Subsequently, when university tutorial classes began, University of Birmingham also followed the establishment of tutorial classes in connextion with the WEA Midlands Section across various locations in Midlands. By the 1920s, the University Tutorial Classes had become one of the main activities at the extra-mural activities of the University of Birmingham. In 1919, Birmingham University organized Industrial Certificate Department. It was the special courses for trade unionists, admitted workers as regular students, enabling them to work and study for one year with the award of the Industrial Certificates. It was a new form of the contact with city and district at Civic Universities. The University of Birmingham was a pioneer in establish these courses.
