Calls for Wakefield to have its very own University this morning. Although the possibility of a link up between such an educational institution and Trinity may be hugely beneficial (See the Rhino's and the two Leeds Universities), wouldth a waste of money with numerous alternatives in the local area. Would it encourage the young people of Wakefield to go to University?

There are smaller towns and cities with Universities so why not Wakefield. I'm surprised we don't have one or at the very least better affiliation with neighbouring Universities (such as I believe Barnsley have) where a wider variety of degrees can be obtained locally.

While i agree anything that gains recognition for the city is a good thing generally, our existing universities are not full, so is there a need for another?
At some point the tax payer contributes to the pot for this kind of stuff, and if its not really needed, and when you consider some of the crackpot subjects that are on offer, then I'm not sure its necessary.
Get rid of the Beatles degrees etc, make the degrees worth while and of high quality, (unlike the rest of the education system) first before wasting more money on things.

I agree, however I think the useful degrees should be subsidised by the flowery degrees. If you want to study say engineering or nursing, then you pay less than someone who wishes to study art or The History of the Baked Bean.

The history of the Baked Bean!!!!!










Fist class!!!





I'm in!!!

This is exactly the set-up that Wakefield College DO have.

Indeed they offer degree accredited courses but only have limited places. Currently demand is outstripping supply so I think this is why the collage are pushing the council for coverting it into a University.

Yes we should have a university, it would be fantastic for the City and our youth, A unversity would bring extra income to the City, and open up more goverment grants to be had to up grade the area, I know people that after travel to Leeds/York/Sheffield and futher a field to get a place..
I think we would fill a university people can not get places when the others are full, you have to think a head too the population is growing at a fast rate, so new universitys would have to be built so why not Wakefield, lets have all the trappings that go with it...

Fantastic idea, i could then do my engineering degree without having to travel.

In todays climate it makes sense to have a University on your doorstep, where you can achieve the degree you desire. The tuition fees (which are outrageous in my opinion) are only half the battle as any parent knows. Accomodation or travelling can cost thousands (as to my cost I know!) so the nearer the Uni the better. I must admit I am a bit out of date as to what Wakefield College can now offer but it clearly is not enough at the present time hence students travelling afar!

This is another reason it helps cut students debts too

It would be great for the City bringing in new students and also help those who are put of by the thought of ,or expense of, studying away from home. However having attended Nottingham Uni myself the time is about a whole life experience so I would advocate living away study as far as students & their families are able. Having a son at leeds & Hudds universities at the moment , both living away from home I know only too well the hardships it entails but would not have it any other way. Student life is the best time of their life and is a great learning experience both academically & re life skills

Don't see why art should be in the same bracket as Baked Beans????? Art (& Design) covers a hell of a lot of today's professions.

I've got four kids currently at four different Universities across the country and I can tell you for certain that the cost is ridiculously high. To cap that off I'm in my final year as well and my youngest daughter getting set to start at University in the next couple of years.

A Wakefield University is a magnificent idea for too many reasons to list here but a boost to the economy is probably one of the biggest reasons to make it happen.

A city like Wakefield needs to have a few boxes ticked such as, a cathedral, a magnificent historical Town hall, a premier sporting team playing out of a state of the art stadium, an imposing court house (reopen Wood Street) and a University.

Make it happen!

I can't see any reason not to do it - if the College administration can make a business case and students could be attracted in sufficient numbers, then it seems like a no-brainer.

The Wakefield renaissance continues unabated!

I think it would definitely get the city much wider recognition around the country. Personally I'm tired of having to explain to every new person I meet at uni that Wakefield is sort of not far south of Leeds, and I'm at Bradford Uni! Also, I think Wakefield would be an attractive city to students as well, For a city of its size it has a brilliant night life, which would only get better with a university. This would in turn would create a larger Wakefield economy.

Also, from RL point of view, it would be much better trying to explain who the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are to a southerner. I'd much rather hear "Oh yeah! that university town" than "Wakefield....where???"

That's a matter of opinion...

Oh I know, its very subjective. A lot of people from the city don't like it that much, but for its size there is a lot of choice. It's infinitely better than Bradford's night life and Bradford is a much bigger city.

A university would probably create a separate night out in a different area as well, much like in Leeds and Bradford. Where do you suppose the students would all live? Most university towns/cities have large areas full of student housing, i suppose if Wakefield had a university there would have to be suitable accommodation to boot.

Yes if you're brought up in Wakefield, the night life is exciting for exactly 10 minutes when your about 16 but the fact is they ship coach loads in from all over the country to sample the delights of Wakey's nightlife. it's amazing how many people I've bumped into on my travels who when I mention that I come from Wakey, they've actually been here on a pub crawl.

Accommodation would be a huge problem, it's not something you can easily remedy not even by building halls of residence, of course this depends on the size of the University to start with. When I was at Uni in Hull, there was something like 23 thousand people in that City going to University and the amount of student housing was huge and spread all over the City, it would be very hard to do something similar in Wakefield even on a smaller scale.

I was referring to your assertion that an influx of students would make the night life 'better!'

I'm not really sure if Wakefield is still considered a good night out any more - it certainly was when I was of an age to be there on a regular basis and it was very much the norm to have a line of coaches at the top of Westgate dropping people off from all over the country. It was rammed from Thursday to Saturday, without fail, with another spike on Monday for 10p a pint night and latterly, the free drinks night across the road.

Thesedays, on the rare occasions I do go into Wakey, it's dead until around about the time I'm going home, when there appears to be an influx of already drunk teenagers; I gather the modern way of doing things is to get drunk at home on cheap supermarket booze, then go out later to a club that stays open til 6am or somesuch?

Kids today etc etc.

Can't blame them at the prices in town, even now I can't afford to go out on the lash in town every weekend far too expenisve, so no wonder the teenagers can't, £20 gets you nowhere.

Ooh you are a crotchety old knacker!!!

What makes you say that?

Well I can't argue there...being a student myself, most of the students I see on a night out could be described with words that aren't acceptable to use on here. I think a load of students were to move to the city, they wouldn't necessarily be going to places down Westgate though, there would probably be a small area around Thornes park or somewhere that would see a few bars springs up and the odd club maybe...a lot of students wouldn't feel very comfortable with a night in Wakey I don't think.

I know what you mean about the drunk teenagers turning up at home time, I'm often guilty of doing similar. Its much cheaper to go and have a few pints in the local then get a taxi into Wakey at about 12 when the average price is about £4 for anything in town and £2.50 a pint in the pub. I wish I had the chance to go out in Wakey about 10-12 years ago when it was really a good night (or so I'm told).

Also, on the student accommodation side of things, The biggest issue would be the student houses, about 3/4 of students live in rented student houses...I'm not sure there would be enough housing in the city to accommodate a university, unless it was very small....