Higher education corporation

FOIA Schedule I includes:

• 53 - (1) The governing body of—

• (c) an institution conducted by a higher education corporation,

• (2) In sub-paragraph (1)—

• (a) “governing body” is to be interpreted in accordance with subsection (1) of section 90 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 but without regard to subsection (2) of that section,
• (c) in paragraph (c), “higher education corporation” has the meaning given by section 90(1) of that Act, and

Section 90(1) defines a higher education corporation to be:

a body corporate established under section 121 or 122 of the Education Reform Act 1988, including those sections as applied by section 227(4) of that Act (application to Wales), or a body corporate which has become a higher education corporation by virtue of section 122A of that Act

Section 121 is about the initial establishment of HECs for LEA-run institutions. Section 122 is about creating new HECs from LEA-run institutions, and section 122A is about turning FECs into HECs. All of these are done by order.

Many HECs are also universities by virtue of section 77 of the 1992 Act, which states that any HEC with "university" in its name is a university unless "university" is immediately followed by "college" or "collegiate".

On WhatDoTheyKnow, HECs are filed under hei, university, and university_college.

Section 121

The main order under this section appears to be SI 1988/1799, which incorporated:

• Bath Spa University (as Bath College of Higher Education)
• Birmingham City University (as City of Birmingham Polytechnic)
• University of Bolton (as Bolton Institute of Higher Education)
• University of Brighton (as Brighton Polytechnic)
• University of the West of England (as Bristol Polytechnic)
• Bulmershe College of Higher Education
• Coventry University (as Coventry Polytechnic)
• Bournemouth University (as Dorset Institute of Higher Education)
• Thames Valley University (as Ealing College of Higher Education)
• Edge Hill University (as Edge Hill College of Higher Education)
• Essex Institute of Higher Education
• University of Hertfordshire (as Hatfield Polytechnic)
• University of Huddersfield (as The Polytechnic, Huddersfield)
• University of Lincoln (as Humberside College of Higher Education)
• Kingston University (as Kingston Polytechnic)
• University of Central Lancashire (as Lancashire Polytechnic)
• Leeds Metropolitan University (as Leeds Polytechnic)
• De Montfort University (as Leicester Polytechnic)
• Liverpool John Moores University (as Liverpool Polytechnic)
• University of the Arts London (as The London Institute)
• Manchester Metropolitan University (as Manchester Polytechnic)
• Middlesex University (as Middlesex Polytechnic)
• University of Northampton (as Nene College)
• Northumbria University (as Newcastle Polytechnic)
• University of East London (as North East London Polytechnic)
• Oxford Brookes University (as Oxford Polytechnic)
• University of Plymouth (as Plymouth Polytechnic)
• University of Portsmouth (as Portsmouth Polytechnic)
• Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Sheffield Hallam University (as Sheffield City Polytechnic)
• Staffordshire University (as Staffordshire Polytechnic)
• University of Sunderland (as Sunderland Polytechnic)
• Teesside University (as Teesside Polytechnic)
• Nottingham Trent University (as Trent Polytechnic)
• West Midlands College of Higher Education
• University of Wolverhampton (as The Polytechnic, Wolverhampton)
• University of Worcester (as Worcester College of Higher Education)

We also have:

• Southampton Solent University (as Southampton Institute of Higher Education, by SI 1989/17)

Section 122

The following have been incorporated:

• University College Falmouth (as Falmouth School of Art and Design, by SI 1988/1801, amended by SI 1988/1888)
• Incorporated by SI 1988/2283:
  • Buckinghamshire New University (as Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education)
  • Anglia Ruskin University (as Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology)
  • University of Bedfordshire (as Luton College of Higher Education)
• SI 1989/2242
• SI 1989/2418
• Incorporated by SI 1991/1976 (but probably mostly renamed or dissolved since then):
  • Cardiff Institute of Higher Education
  • Gwent College of Higher Education
  • University of Glamorgan (as The Polytechnic of Wales)
  • Swansea Institute of Higher Education
  • The Welsh College of Music and Drama

Section 122A

• Norwich University College of the Arts (transferred, as Norwich School of Art and Design Further Education Corporation, by SI 1994/2017)
• Northern School of Contemporary Dance (transferred, as Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds Further Education Corporation, by SI 1994/2018)
• Writtle Agricultural College Higher Education Corporation (transferred, as Writtle Agricultural College Further Education Corporation, by SI 1994/2019)
• The Arts Institute at Bournemouth (transferred, as The Arts Institute at Bournemouth Further Education Corporation, by SI 2001/337)
• University College Birmingham (transferred, as Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies, by SI 2002/1136)
• Leeds College of Music (transferred by SI 2005/1792)