King’s and Cranfield to form 47,000-student UK super-university by 2027

Highlights

• King’s College London will add about 5,000 students, reaching around 47,000 total.
• Merger keeps the King’s name, due summer 2027.
• Over a third of English universities made losses in 2024–25.

The government has already given its early approval for the merger, which is expected to be finalised by the end of summer 2027.

The new university will continue to be known as King's College London. Its current vice-chancellor, Prof Shitij Kapur, will stay on to lead the merged institution.

Cranfield University was set up after the Second World War, originally as a college of aeronautics. It has two campuses, one in Bedfordshire and another in Oxfordshire.

Over 90 per cent of its students are postgraduates, with courses focused on engineering, technology and management.

Kapur said the merger would open up "new educational possibilities for students" and described it as "a deliberate step to bring some of the best of the UK to compete with the best in the world."

Cranfield's vice-chancellor, Prof Karen Holford, called it "an intentional step" that brings "outstanding applied research, nationally important facilities, sovereign capability, and longstanding industry links to King's.

Sector under strain

The merger is taking place at a difficult time for English universities. The Office for Students, which regulates higher education in England, released its annual financial health check and found that 35.8 per cent of universities recorded a deficit in 2024-25.

That was better than the 43 per cent that had predicted losses, but the regulator still warned the sector against "persistent over-optimism."

Spending on redundancies and restructuring climbed 21 per cent to £218.2 million, with nearly a quarter of universities cutting courses or letting staff go.

Looking further ahead, the OfS flagged that a new government levy on international students, expected to cost the sector around £570 million from 2028, adds to the uncertainty.

Science minister Patrick Vallance welcomed the King's and Cranfield deal, calling it "an extraordinarily powerful university" and "a driver of innovation and growth" for the country.