University plan wins £12.5m grant

More than 3,500 students will be taught on the new campus

A £12.5m grant to help fund proposals for a Suffolk university has been approved by the government.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is providing the money to create the University Campus Suffolk (UCS).

Suffolk County Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England have already pledged £28m.

The £12.5m will fund local learning centres and an Ipswich campus aiming to attract 7,500 students from across Suffolk over the next eight years.

Joint venture

Prof Bob Anderson, pro-vice-chancellor and chief executive of UCS, said: "We are delighted that the government has approved EEDA's £12.5m contribution to UCS.

"This funding means that we can now push forward with the waterfront development in Ipswich, including the master plan for the whole Ipswich education quarter.

"This is a major stepping stone in the creation of UCS and we are very grateful to EEDA for all the help and support they have given to the project so far."

At the moment, only 1.77% of people living in Suffolk are in higher education, below the national average of 2.26%, and it is the only English county with a population of more than 0.5 million without a university.

UCS is a joint venture between Essex University and the University of East Anglia.