Shropshire could soon boast its own, new university it was revealed today.
The Government announced the county as one of 27 places to have expressed an interest in opening a new higher education centre.
Skills secretary John Denham published a list of those showing an early interest in bidding for funds to create universities.
Shropshire County Council is backing the bid for a share of the funding and has held discussions with key business and education partners, including local colleges and universities, about how a higher education centre develop.
It is likely Shrewsbury would be the base for such a centre.
It is unlikely a new campus would be built, instead students would use existing facilities and home learning under a system the council calls a “hub and spokes” initiative.
The New University Challenge was announced by Mr Denham in March, to allow towns and cities to bid.
Councillor Ann Hartley, council cabinet member for education services, said today: “I think a higher education facility is absolutely vital for Shropshire.
“At the moment we are losing a lot of our students who are accessing higher education outside of Shropshire.
“Having provision in the county will mean we have much better chance of keeping them. It will also provide a fantastic opportunity for adult learners.”
Councillor Hartley said a university facility would also help improve the skills of the workforce and improve Shropshire’s economic viability.
“We have done a lot of work with businesses and they are all excited by the prospect,” she said.
A county council report has previously claimed the proposed co-location of Shrewsbury’s two colleges could help produce a successful bid for a university.
But earlier this month Shrewsbury borough planners rejected co-location.
Since 2003, 17 new universities across the country have opened, or had funding committed to them.
Ministers said they wanted to accelerate the pace of this development, and expect to have 20 more opened or agreed to over the next six years.
By Education Correspondent Dave Morris
17 Comments
Is that why they wanted to move the sixth form out of the town centre…???
Report abuse
excellent news, it is high time the largest inland county in england had a university. while they are at it they should create one of the churches in the county town into a cathedral and make shrewsbury the city of shrewsbury. floreat salopia, amwythig am byth and onward the cause of my beloved county
Report abuse
I can hear the NIMBYS now, we don’t need a University as it will bring students into the county, or even worse into Shrewsbury and the shops wont like that.
Report abuse
they tried this years ago and it was thrown out, god knows why. we have needed a university in shropshire for along time. i hope it will be based in shrewsbury as i think the town has so much more to offer
Report abuse
Devon - a town does not need a cathedral to become a city. And anyway, as the Proud Salopian, I would not support such a move of the county town becoming a city… Shrewsbury should be a first rate town, not a second rate city!
Report abuse
Devon: There is a Uni at Telford and a cathedral in Shrewsbury on Town Walls.
Report abuse
lucy i suspect the existing cathedral is r/c. i agree with the comment it is better to be the country’s premier town but with so much royal history to the town and not forgetting the town was to be created a city in the middle ages by royal warrant at the kings court in shrewsbury i thought it was time again for the town. when i see mickey mouse cities like wolverhampton and brighton being created, it makes me envious given the towns glorious past and great future. ok i can live with the premier town.
i am also a proud salopian, having been born within the isthmus of the river severn.
Report abuse
who on earth is going to want to spend their student years in Shrewsbury, its hardly Cardiff, Manchester or Sheffield is it. No live music (after 11), hardly any pubs left open and the blue rinse brigade complainig as soon as anyone puts a foot out of place.
Report abuse
Any new university needs to offer top quality science and engineering degrees, not simply yet more business/marketing/tourism degrees. That way we might just manage to create some real jobs in Shropshire.
Report abuse
Having a cathedral does not automatically make a place a city. Nor is having one necessary to become one. Birmingham became a city in 1888 but it didn’t get a cathedral until 1905. Wolverhampton is a city without one. Besides, Shrewsbury is hardly city like, its more a museum piece frozen in time.
I liked the blue rinse brigade comment btw.
Report abuse
i do not think we should talk our 6 form colleges down, one of the finest in the country is in ludlow and the students there would i am sure welcome a uni somewhere in salopia. the salopia university has a ring to it
Report abuse
how are the ‘people’ of shrewsbury going to accept all the necessary changes that having a university will mean when they can’t even see the sense in having £60Million come into the town for FE? Don;t forget that there aren’t any traffic problems, students in the town centre are the only reason that there are sandwich shops and without the ability to drive right through the middle of town no-one would want to come to Shrewsbury anyway! (all views expressed are not those of the author but of those Shrews (or should I say ‘Shrows’) people who love things - just the way they are)!
Report abuse
surely any uni will not be built in the centre of town but on thre outskirts near an existing park and ride. when building the uni in say north of shrewsbury the planners might complete the towns northern bypass
Report abuse
Why should it necessarily go in Shrewsbury? The university should have two campuses, one built in Craven Arms and the other in Baschurch… just for a laugh. Two expanding towns (okay, Baschurch is still a village… but not for long!) eager to expand their horizons!
Report abuse
Judging by the lack of proper punctuation, capital letters and apostrophes in the above posts promoting a university in Shrewsbury what your town needs more than anything else is an elementary school.
Report abuse
“Devon Salopian” writes: “one of the finest [6 form colleges] in the country is in ludlow”
There’s not a shred of truth to that claim.
For the record…
Academically, Ludlow College is actually the second WORST sixth form colleges in the whole of Shropshire, and it is in the bottom 10% of sixth form colleges in the whole of England.
If anyone wishes to confirm that for themselves, they should examine the 2008 Secondary School league tables, sorting the rows according to average A/AS-level points achieved per student…
Here are some raw facts, taken from that 2008 table..
Concord College (independent) achieves a student average of 1022.1 points at A/AS level..
Shrewsbury High (independent) achieves a student average of 876.9 points at A/AS level..
William Brookes (state) achieves a student average of 874.3 points at A/AS level..
Shrewsbury Sch (independent) achieves a student average of 873.3 points at A/AS level..
Ludlow College (state) achieves a student average of 671.2 points at A/AS level..
The average for students in Shropshire schools (both independent and LEA) is 738.7 points at A/AS level..
The national average is 731.1 points at A/AS level..
Ludlow College is clearly well below par.
Perhaps “Devon Salopian” would like to tell us about his background, and his involvement in Ludlow College since he has been making these false claims about the college for some while now…
Report abuse
We have got enough new “Mickey Mouse” universities
already!!!
Report abuse