Harper Adams University College is amongst 10 higher education institutions to have met the criteria to be awarded the title of university.

The ten colleges being put forward to the Privy Council for formal approval are: Arts University College at Bournemouth; Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln; Harper Adams University College; Leeds Trinity University College; Newman University College, Birmingham; Norwich University College of the Arts; Royal Agricultural College; University College Birmingham; University College Falmouth and University College Plymouth St Mark & St John.

Commenting on the announcement, Harper Adams Principal Dr David Llewellyn said: “The checks have now been completed and it is clear that we have met all of the criteria for the award of University Title and for the change of our name to Harper Adams University.  We await formal confirmation of the outcome by the Privy Council and look forward to receiving this news in the not too distant future.

“The award of University Title will be an historic event for Harper Adams.  Importantly, it will help to underline the quality of the education we provide for our students; the role of our graduates in providing the skills-base to improve the effectiveness of the UK agri-food and land-based sectors and address the challenge of global food security; and the unique contribution that our applied research makes to innovation, and the adoption of cutting-edge practices, in the agri-food industries.”

This will lead to the single biggest creation of universities since 1992. It follows the Government’s announcement in June that red tape barring some smaller institutions from being awarded the title of ‘university’ would be removed. Previously, institutions needed a minimum of 4,000 students to become a university. This has now been reduced to 1,000.

Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said: “These well-known and highly-regarded university colleges represent over 1,200 years of history between them. It is right to remove the barriers preventing high-quality higher education providers like these calling themselves universities simply because of their size.

The decision to advise the Privy Council to grant the institutions university title was made after careful consideration of their applications and advice from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Harper Adams University College will not become Harper Adams University until the Privy Council has given its approval.