LIVERPOOL was last night celebrating after entering the “premier league” of university education
The city has become just one of four in the UK to boast three “fully fledged” universities which award all their own degrees.
After 18 months of government scrutiny, Hope University has been granted research degree awarding powers already held by the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Ormskirk’s Edge Hill University.
Last night, city leaders said the development was proof Liverpool’s higher education provision was world class.
Previously, all of Hope’s research degrees, such as PhDs and Masters, have been awarded through the University of Liverpool.
But now, after 18 months of rigorous scrutiny of its provision by government inspectors, it can now do it itself.
Only Birmingham, London and Manchester also have three fully fledged universities.
Inspectors concluded the university “has a strong commitment to developing a research culture which is both traditional and realistic.”
Hope Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Professor Gerald Pillay, said the fact the university can now award research degrees in its own right was “the last piece in a jigsaw”
The award represents the culmination of rapid progress by the institution which successfully applied for university status in 2004.
Two years earlier, it was granted taught degree awarding power.
Prof Pillay said: “This is a great day for Liverpool Hope University. This is the last piece in a jigsaw that we have been putting in place for the last five years.
“It means that the university comes of age. It is not under the tutelage of any other institution. More importantly, it’s a sign of the university’s scholarly confidence.”
