Everything Aberystwyth

With huge bidget cuts and rising fees on the cards, it comes as no suprise that Welsh Universities are forming partnerships and collaborating more closely.

With the recent announcement that Trinity St David’s, Swansea and UWIC will form the University of Wales, Aberystwyth is now looking to form new partnerships.

Although not looking to merge with other universities, Aberystwyth is looking north to Bangor for collaborative support.


At present the universities work closely in a number of key areas, and as such are looking to build on those links in order to create a stronger more effective partnership.


Another reason behind the new strategic alliance is that under new plans for higher tuition fees, universities must show that they are willing and able to work in close partnership with one another before they can charge the higher increases.


Although Aberystwyth is roughly 80 miles from Bangor, making a merger impractical, the two universities have already worked on the setup of the Mid and North Wales Centre for Teacher Education amongst other things.


Both universities see the higher tuition fees as vital to their survival in the coming years as funding is slashed from their budgets, and this collaboration will certainly go a long way to helping with not only their future survival, but also their development as institutions of educational excellence in Wales.