WALES: Five universities break away

In the old days, all Welsh higher education came under one umbrella. Now that unity has been shattered, writes Lucy Hodges for The Independent. On St David's Day, 1 March, the biggest five of the Welsh universities announced they were forming an alliance that would be strong in research and put Wales on the map.

The announcement was a shock to the other seven remaining higher education institutions left within the University of Wales who were planning to announce their own alliance.

The big five had stolen their thunder. Four of the five - Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea - had ceased to be part of the University of Wales and had made common cause with the fifth, Glamorgan, which was never part of the University of Wales anyway. All of the big five are universities in their own right and either award their own degrees, or have stated that they intend to do so.
Full report on The Independent site