THE Arts University College at Bournemouth is expected to gain full university status by the end of this year.

Ten higher education institutions across the country are on track to become universities after Universities and Science Minister David Willetts recommended to the Privy Council that they had met the necessary criteria.

The qualifying threshold has been lowered from 4,000 to 1,000 full-time students and permission from the Privy Council is expected within the next month.

The AUB is one of the country’s top five universities for graduate employment with 97.7 per cent of last year’s graduates in work or further study six months after graduating.

The AUB recently secured another accolade after being voted the top creative university by students in the brand new Which? University website guide.

Professor Stuart Bartholomew, principal of the Arts University Bournemouth, said: “Specialist institutions like the arts university are amongst the longest established higher education institutions in the country and predate the majority of established universities.

“The issue of university title has more recently been associated with how big you are, but as with similar comparisons in everyday life, size is rarely a measure of quality.”

He added: “We represent very high quality higher education in the subjects we offer.

The decision to award university title allows us to compete on a more equal playing field in the international setting as well as at home.

“Whilst this has been a very long process, I am delighted that this important recognition has taken place and that both students and staff achieve full membership of the UK university sector,” the professor added.