This is a short history of how University of Brighton came into being.
I first went to Brighton in 1960 and enrolled in The
Brighton Technical College (in Richmond Terrace).
At that time there was a feeder Institute the
Preston Technical Institute (in Preston Road Brighton) that produced HND and the Students joined the Brighton Technical College for higher education.
In 1962,
Preston Technical Institute assumed the title Brighton Technical
College, being responsible for all the non-advanced day and evening courses,
while
Brighton Technical College became the
Brighton College of Technology,
intended for more advanced studies than those offered by the technical college.
Brighton College of Technology opened on the site of school playing fields
in Lewes Road in 1963. The ten-storey Cockcroft Building was followed in 1976
by the seven-storey Watts building, named after the college’s first principal.
Mithras House, erected at Lewes Road in 1966, has been used since 1977.
In 1970 the School of Art and Brighton College of Technology merge to form Brighton
Polytechnic.
Margaret Thatcher signs the certificate to confirm the former colleges’ new
polytechnic status.
The Teacher Training College merges with Brighton
Polytechnic, giving the university a further campus at Falmer.
The East Sussex College of Higher Education, including the
Chelsea School, merges with Brighton Polytechnic spreading the polytechnic into
Eastbourne.
In 1992 along with many other polytechnics
Brighton is granted university status and becomes the University of Brighton
