HC Deb 22 February 1966 vol 725 cc70-1W
Mr. Alan Williams

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he accepts the terms of paragraph 392 of the Robbins Report as the basis for his present policy on the granting of university status to colleges of advanced technology.

Mr. Prentice

All of these colleges will achieve university status. As the paragraph referred to by my hon. Friend makes clear, the form which this can take varies and will depend on the particular circumstances of each individual case.

Mr. Alan Williams

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) which of the colleges of advanced technology which have been granted independent university status are situated within towns or cities which already have another university institution; and what is the relative size of these neighbouring institutions;

(2) what is the present number of students at each college of advanced technology; and which of these colleges have already been granted independent university status.

Mr. Crosland

None of the colleges of advanced technology has yet received a charter as an independent university. One of the Scottish central institutions has received its charter as the Heriot-Watt University; it has 962 full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students, compared with 8,292 in the neighbouring University of Edinburgh. The other Scottish central institution in this group—the Scottish College of Commerce—is now merged in the University of Strathclyde. The following table shows the provisional number of students taking undergraduate and postgraduate full-time and sandwich courses in the colleges of advanced technology, as at October, 1965:

Battersea 1,605
Birmingham 2,059
Bradford 2,277
Bristol 1,001
Brunei 885
Chelsea 924
Loughborough 1,671
Northampton 1,826
Salford 2,294
Wales 996

Northampton and Chelsea colleges are in the London area. Two other colleges at present in the London area—Brunei and Battersea are planned to develop in Uxbridge and Guildford, respectively. Bristol College is to develop at Bath. The relevant university populations for the last part of the Question, are, there-for, London, 26,454 and Birmingham, 5,677.