Brighton University was at the forefront of higher education reform which saw the end of polytechnics a decade ago. Adam Trimingham charts its success and failures.

IT was a long journey for a group of colleges to become one of the most dynamic universities in England.

Brighton is now firmly established in the university league ten years after its time as a polytechnic ended.

Its roots go back to the resort's Victorian heyday when in 1858 the Brighton School of Art was founded in the Royal Pavilion.

The school went through several changes and moved to Grand Parade where the art faculty remains to this day, albeit now in a Sixties building designed by borough architect Percy Billington.

For a century, it was under council control, first Brighton and then East Sussex, before it was liberated by the Government in 1989.

Municipal backing first saved and then stultified it.

However, other changes had happened in the previous decade. In 1970, the college of art merged with the college of technology to form the polytechnic.

It expanded six years later by taking over the college of education and in 1979, absorbed the East Sussex College of Higher Education in Eastbourne.

By this time the polytechnic was a rival in many ways to its redbrick cousin in Lewes Road, the University of Sussex.

In 1992, under another Government change, Brighton Polytechnic became the University of Brighton.

Some thought the move was an expensive vanity with the emphasis more on ermine and status than innovation and opening up access to higher education.

Director Sir David Watson, who with university colleague Rachel Bowden has studied the changes, denied they sold out.

In The New University Decade published this week, they argue that if anything, it was the traditional universities that changed, trying to copy the best features of polytechnics.

There are still big differences.

Despite their rapid expansion, the former polytechnics have nothing like the research income of the old universities.

The new universities are also taking many more students from poor families and a much higher proportion of students who live less than 50 miles away.

Sir David also points out that financial management and stewardship has, if anything, been stronger in the new universities than in the traditional ones.

This was not expected because the former polytechnics, coming straight from council control, did not have big reserves or endowments on their side.

Sir David believes one factor was that vice-chancellors felt they would be bailed out by the Government while the new universities, used to council cheeseparing, had no such illusions.

In their report, Sir David and Rachel Bowden say: "Turning the polytechnics into universities represented a huge bet."

They believe, however, it has been amply rewarded by the results.

The question has been raised whether old and new universities should merge but this has been resisted.

Certainly in Brighton, the two universities get on well but there has been no suggestion they should form one super uni.

There will continue to be a tug-of-war between those who want to integrate the universities, old and new, more fully and others who want the former polytechnics to keep their edge.

Much will depend on leadership since most of the long-term polytechnic leaders, are now, not surprisingly, coming to the end of their careers.

Sir David provides some useful figures which show what a force Brighton has been both in the city and the university fraternity.

During the last ten years, student numbers have soared from just over 10,500 to more than 15,000.

Strengths include art and design, business and education.

This has been achieved even though the amount of public money per student has actually declined.

During those ten years, the amount spent on new projects at Brighton University has been more than £80 million.

While some of that has been on much-needed maintenance to the elderly technology buildings half way up Lewes Road, much has been concentrated on exciting development on the Falmer site, replacing ugly Sixties isolated buildings with a better designed and more unified campus.

Brighton University is a major player in the city and is one of the biggest spenders and employers.

Its expertise is being used to good effect in ventures ranging from new architecture to what civic leaders like to call the arts-based economy.

It will play a part in the new medical school and is likely to be crucial in the future of Brighton and Hove Albion since it owns part of the preferred Falmer site.

The last decade has seen some striking success but the opportunities could be even greater in the next ten years.