University mergers: will others follow the Welsh model?

By Will Ham Bevan. Will Ham Bevan looks at whether vice-chancellors are right to fear mergers. Over the past half century, the UK’s higher education landscape has been shaped to a great extent by university mergers and acquisitions. According to Lancaster University research, some 30% of higher education institutions went through the process between 1994-5 and 2009-10. This year will see a significant addition to the tally, when the University of London’s Institute of Education (IoE) surrenders its status as an independent institution to become the newest and largest faculty of University College London (UCL). More...