Today we heard about the creation of the “first” super university, arising from the planned merger between the University of Greenwich and the University of Kent.

BBC reporting UK’s first ‘super-university’ to be created as two merge from 2026

The UK’s first “super-university”, stretching across an entire region, is to be created through the merger of the universities of Kent and Greenwich, the BBC has learned. Under the proposed name of London and South East University Group, the single institution will have one vice-chancellor from the academic year starting in autumn 2026.

The WonkHE perspective on the merger news.

The plan on the student-facing side is for each university’s identity to be preserved – with applications, and degree awards, kept separate – behind the scenes, the “super-university” (as the press release puts it) will have a unified governing body, academic board, and executive team, and a single vice chancellor: Greenwich’s Jane Harrington. Staff at both universities are expected to transfer across to the newly merged university – legally, there will be one entity, but the two “brands” will still exist as trading arms.

Degrees from the new super university will still be awarded in the name of Kent or Greenwich. I think that this is a wise move and needs to be supported, mergers don’t and shouldn’t always means the loss of institutional identities.

This is not the first higher education merger, the City St Georges merger happened last year. However, this is the first merger between two large universities. 

As the BBC notes, The plans unveiled on Wednesday are on a bigger scale, with two universities offering a full range of courses and spread over a wider geographical area.

It’s interesting to see the BBC call it the first merger, is there anticipation that there will be more mergers in the future.

The Department for Education welcomed the merger, a spokesperson said: “This collaboration shows how strong partnerships in higher education can help enable delivery of world-class teaching and research whilst maintaining the best interests of students.”

So is this the start of something, we will have to wait and see.

One question though might need asking, what about the other two universities based in Canterbury, what are they thinking?