Title tussle

Vice chancellors were expected to meet the Secretary of State for Education and Employment yesterday (Thursday) to discuss the thorny issue of giving colleges of higher education the title of "university". Until now the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals has opposed the idea, but Gillian Shephard is known to be keen to find a new solution. Colleges have proposed their own, whereby institutions which award their own degrees or are validated by a university, would be allowed the title.