THERE are no plans to close Lampeter university campus following the recent decision to end undergraduate tuition there, University of Wales Trinity Saint David has said.
In January, Lampeter University students learned of the decision to cease to have any university education with its humanities courses transferred to Carmarthen, just days after more than 100 students and alumni took their battle to save the university to the Senedd, ending undergraduate education after almost 200 years in the town.
A petition to save the university has come close to collecting 6,000 signatures online and on paper.
On January 23, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) Chief Operating Officer Peter Mannion confirmed – in a letter to students – the decision to move current and future Humanities teaching and learning to the UWTSD campus in Carmarthen from September 2025.
Following that, a meeting to discuss the future of the campus site was held on February 27 in the University’s Arts Hall, chaired by Elin Jones, MS, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Elwen Evans KC and senior officers present.
UWTSD has now said there are no plans to close the campus, but the number of students enrolling at Lampeter had made undergraduate provision unviable.
“The number of students enrolling on Humanities courses across the UK higher education sector has reduced significantly over recent years. UWTSD has been impacted by this decline.
“With only 92 undergraduate students it is not viable to maintain the infrastructure of a university campus with all of its buildings and services.
“The university has therefore made the decision to move teaching of its Humanities courses to its Carmarthen campus from the start of the new academic year in September.”
It said a formal project was being established, including local politicians and councils, to “draw together and present viable proposals to the University for securing the future of the campus and bringing new opportunities to the Lampeter community,” with the first meeting expected later in March.
