Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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11 Jun 2012
Plans to put students at the heart of the system were announced by Ministers today, as they set out their response to the Higher Education White Paper.
Red-tape barring some smaller specialist institutions from being awarded the title of university will be ditched. Previously, institutions needed 4,000 students to become a university, but from today this limit will drop to 1,000 - sweeping away an arbitrary piece of regulation that was preventing excellent institutions using the title.
The change will come into effect immediately.
There will also be a review into how existing quality assurance arrangements affect alternative providers, including further education colleges offering higher education.
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Press notice: Reforms to higher education sector announced today