When I was applying to uni both of those would be invalid passwords too, as they're more than 8 characters. I emailed them to complain, and was told that this is to enforce easy-to-remember passwords, because they didn't want to deal with the hassle of people asking for password resets...
The University of York have a similar length requirement. When I enquired about it, I was told it was because some of the older systems have a maximum length, and they keep your password the same everywhere.
When I was applying to uni both of those would be invalid passwords too, as they're more than 8 characters. I emailed them to complain, and was told that this is to enforce easy-to-remember passwords, because they didn't want to deal with the hassle of people asking for password resets...