The University of Sunderland has submitted a formal 'statement of intent' as an expression of interest in developing higher education facilities in the town.

Gillian Simmons, locality officer at Northumberland County Council, said: "The response to that statement of intent is expected in early October when we will know whether it has been accepted.

"We are hopeful it will be good news. Certainly, Berwick appears to tick all the right boxes for meeting the Government's criteria."
The Government announced last year that it was planning to create 20 new universities over the next six years in places where there is little or no access to further education.

Berwick is one of 27 areas to have submitted an expression of interest but it is unlikely the other candidates are so geographically isolated from higher and further education institutions.

Sir Alan Beith, MP for Berwick, has asked ministers to take a close personal interest in filling this gap.

Ms Simmons revealed that the University of Sunderland's initial bid included Berwick as one of four potential sites in the north east region.

If it receives Government support, a business case must be submitted by the end of March 2010 - three months later than originally planned.

"If it's successful it doesn't necessarily mean that whatever is provided in Berwick would be an off-shoot of the University of Sunderland," she revealed. "It would be the lead institution but there could be a number of other universities delivering services in Berwick."

Speaking to Berwick Town Council on Monday, she said: "We are not talking about a University of Berwick that will be delivering everything on day one but over time we could be looking to provide specialisms.

"There has been talk about the things that make Berwick unique and what would attract people to study here. Its conservation, heritage and built environment are undoubted strengths and there is also the marine nature reserve on its doorstep as well as its tourism potential."

She added: "If this bid doesn't succeed we have talked with Sunderland about putting in a single bid for Berwick by the December deadline and they seem happy with that."

The Berwick bid partners have taken particular care to ensure the town's proximity to the Scottish border doesn't count against it.
Ms Simmons said: "We asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England whether we could count people living north of the border as part of our catchment and they agreed.

"We then asked if we could deliver two different types of education from one facility - Scottish degrees and English degrees - and again after some deliberation they said yes, although they said it might also require some backing from the Scottish funding council."

The university initiative in this area was initially taken forward last summer by Spittal Improvement Trust which was interested in siting it at the long derelict Spittal Point, although this now seems unlikely with plans for housing having been drawn up.

Partners now signed up include Berwick Community Trust, Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council, Northumberland College, University of Sunderland, Berwick's Future steering group, Northumberland Strategic Partnership, the Learning and Skills Council, Open University and Berwick High School.