IoE land-grab means UCL is now 2nd richest uni in Britain
Thousands of new students gain access to buckling Bloomsbury campus
Last night UCL became the second richest university in Britain by merging with the Institute of Education – but 8,000 students now have access to all campus facilities.
The deal was arranged by uni bosses earlier this year and boosts UCL’s annual income to an extraordinary £1.1 billion, overtaking Oxford as the second wealthiest university in Britain.
From today almost 10,000 staff and students from the IoE will gain immediate access to UCL study space, campus cafes and libraries.
The merger has srparked fears of overcrowding on campus for some: panicking Medicine students have already tried to restrict access to departmental space in preparation for exam time.
Alex Campbell-Harris, a fresher studying Spanish and Portuguese, says: “The merger is a joke, classic UCL shamelessly chasing the golden dollar at our expense.
Our university is already overcrowded, we don’t need thousands more students”.
Aanya Singh, a 2nd year Geography student, said: “Queues for the Print Room cafe are extraordinarily long as it is.”