Specialist postgraduate university Cranfield and King’s College London (KCL) have signed a merger agreement aiming to bring together the two universities by August 2027
Cranfield University specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management, and the signing of this agreement is the first step in the merger process of becoming part of KCL.
One of the aims of the merger is to grow engineering and technology as the national research agenda shifts towards the eight technologies and the industrial missions.
The merger will build on the existing individual strengths of each institution to support national capability and resilience across sectors, including Engineering and Technology. With a focus on aerospace, advanced manufacturing, AI and robotics
“It will allow us to offer students a far more expansive, industry-woven experience through Cranfield’s extensive and deep industry connections. These opportunities would be difficult for King’s to deliver from our current position with our current estate and investment capacity, so the merger enables a step-change for the institution,” said KCL.
In turn, as a specialist university Cranfield will benefit from the interdisciplinary breadth and scale of KCL.
“This merger is an exciting proposition for Cranfield, aligning our deep specialisms in engineering, technology, and management within King’s College London. It is an intentional step, which brings Cranfield University’s outstanding applied research, nationally important facilities, sovereign capability, and long-standing industry links to King’s, creating enormous potential and continuing our mission to tackle real-world issues,” said chief executive and vice-chancellor of Cranfield University Professor Dame Karen Holford.
It is not yet clear if or how students and staff will be expected to travel to Cranfield campuses based in Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire.
For those working on projects or research with KCL or Cranfield, once the merger is complete, there will be some operational changes and potential rescoping of projects. It’s too early to say how this will affect individual projects.
Previously awarded qualifications will remain fully recognised and unchanged, and there are currently no plans to close any departments or facilities.
KCL stated they are keen to preserve the unique nature and identity of both Cranfield and KCL alumni communities and will be thoughtful about how they could, and if they should, be integrated and want to ensure that alumni of both institutions can feel and enjoy the benefits of the new institution.
KCL have highlighted that at this point there will be no changes to the day-to-day running of courses, cohorts, or alumni associations.
