Cardiff University - Cardiff Today

Cardiff Today

In 2002, ideas were floated to re-merge Cardiff with the University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM) following the publication of the Welsh Assembly Government's review of higher education in Wales. This merger became effective on August 1, 2004, on which date Cardiff University ceased to be a constituent institution of the University of Wales and became an independent "link institution" affiliated to the federal University. The process of the merger was completed on December 1, 2004 when the Act of Parliament transferring UWCM's assets to Cardiff University received Royal Assent. On December 17 it was announced that the Privy Council had given approval to the new Supplemental Charter and had granted university status to Cardiff, legally changing the name of the institution to Cardiff University. Cardiff awarded University of Wales degrees to students admitted before 2005, but these have been replaced by Cardiff degrees. Medicine, dentistry and other health-related areas began to admit students for Cardiff degrees in 2006.

In 2004, Cardiff University and the Swansea University entered a partnership to provide a four-year graduate-entry medical degree. An annual intake of around 70 post-graduate students undertake an accelerated version of the Cardiff course at the Swansea University for the first two years before joining undergraduate students at Cardiff for the final two years. All medicine/surgery graduates are awarded the degrees MB BCh. However from September 2009 Swansea University will be independently providing medical education in a revised 4-yr Graduate Entry Degree.

In 2005, The Wales College of Medicine, which is part of the University, launched the North Wales Clinical School in Wrexham in collaboration with the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham and the University of Wales, Bangor and with the National Health Service in Wales. This has been funded with £12.5 million from the Welsh Assembly and will lead to the trebling of the number of trainee doctors in clinical training in Wales over a four year period.

The university has a rivalry with nearby Swansea University, against whom every year they have a varsity match termed the Welsh Varsity.

The university also has a popular Centre for Lifelong Learning which has been teaching a wide range of courses to the public for over 125 years. In July 2009, the University announced it was ending the teaching of over 250 humanities courses at the centre making over 100 staff redundant. The University has since reintroduced a number of humanities courses for a trial period beginning in 2010.

In June 2010, the University launched three new Research Institutes, each of which offers a new approach to a major issue. They are the Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, the Sustainable Places Research Institute, and the Neurosciences & Mental Health Research Institute.