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New uni campus plans as 200 years of teaching ends

Aled Scourfield
BBC Wales
BBC A general view of the Lampeter university building, a grand stone building with a curved archway above the entrance door and a row of ornate windows on the first floor. Benches and hedges flank the entrance with a stone walkway leading up to the door, with lawns on either side. BBC
Undergraduate teaching will end at Lampeter with courses being transferred to Carmarthen in September 2025

Plans are being explored to develop post-16 vocational training at the University of Wales Trinity St David.

Despite protests in Lampeter and at the Senedd, the university confirmed in January that 200 years of undergraduate teaching would end in the Ceredigion town, with humanities courses being transferred to Carmarthen in September 2025.

The university previously said it was "not viable" to maintain the infrastructure of the campus with just 92 undergraduate students.

But plans for skills training at the site have been described as "very, very exciting" by the leader of Ceredigion council.

Both University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) and the council have confirmed they are in the "early stages of scoping opportunities" to develop skills and vocational provision at Lampeter.

UWTSD said in November 2024 that the Lampeter campus costs £2.7m a year to run and the backlog maintenance and compliance costs for the campus were estimated at £33.5m.

Almost 6,000 people signed a petition calling on the university to provide a "sustainable future for the historic campus" after it announced plans to move undergraduate teaching.

Since March it has been meeting with stakeholders, including the council, to discuss "viable proposals" for the future of the campus.

No details have been revealed about what kind of vocational training could be offered.

Emlyn Dole looks at the camera, with the university blurred in the background. He has short silver hair and glasses, and is wearing a blue suit jacket, white shirt and red checked tie.
Emlyn Dole, chairman of the university's council, confirmed the university would retain ownership of the Lampeter campus

In a joint statement, Bryan Davies, leader of the council, and Emlyn Dole, chairman of UWTSD council, said the work to develop the project was "ongoing".

"This represents an exciting opportunity to explore how the university's Lampeter campus can continue to make a significant contribution to the regional economy and to the wider Lampeter community," they said.

Bryan Davies looks at the camera. He has short grey hair and is wearing a blue tweed blazer with a striped blue shirt underneath. He is standing on a grass lawn with the university building behind him. In the background stone steps lead up to the black door of the stone building.
Ceredigion council leader Bryan Davies confirmed the "very exciting" plans were focused on skills and vocational training and not on providing academic courses

Mr Dole confirmed the university would retain ownership of the Lampeter campus.

He said: "Regionally, it is vital, and it's important that we're front and centre."

Mr Davies said the proposed centre was not designed to provide academic courses.

"If you're going to draw students in to here it's going to be good for the local economy and for the young people who are perhaps going out of county for their vocational training," he added.

A drone picture of the university. It shows the entrance of the historic stone building next to a large grass mound, with the inner courtyard behind. The town of Lampeter can be seen on the right hand side.
Undergraduate teaching at Lampeter stretches back to 1822 when it was founded as St David's College

The local authority and UWTSD have not revealed any further details about the project, but council cabinet members were asked on 3 June to back the purchase of a "strategic asset" funded through a loan from the Welsh government.

The details of the asset have been kept secret and it is not clear whether this relates to the announcement about proposed vocational provision at Lampeter.

A report presented at the meeting by Clive Davies, cabinet member for economy, regeneration and carbon management, said "the asset would form part of a wider development, for which a full integrated impact assessment will be produced and considered".

Members authorised the purchase of the asset and agreed a further report be received following completion of the legal agreement to purchase it, to provide the public with more detail.