St George’s University of London has announced plans to merge with Royal Holloway University, following a student-led campaign to keep the college in the University of London.

SGUL was approached by Surrey, Kingston and Royal Holloway universities with offers of mergers, but students banded together to make their voices heard after fears that losing University of London status would devalue degree certificates.

“We favoured the offer from Royal Holloway because they understood the importance of University of London status and proposed to invest in our campus,” SGUL Students’ Union President Jack Sugrue told London Student following months of negotiations with the University’s principal.

“We have worked alongside staff in making this decision, and will continue to do so as the partnership takes shape,” he added.

Royal Holloway University will consider the proposal later this month, with Principal Stephen Hill saying, “The merger presents exciting opportunities for Royal Holloway and St George’s, both of whom bring great strengths in teaching and research across a wide range of disciplines.”

SGUL Students launched a campaign on Facebook to warn of the consequences of a merger with Surrey or Kingston, writing on the website that this would mean “St George’s leaving the University of London, an academic institution whose degrees are recognised around the world as a mark of excellence”.

Student campaigners also feared that a division of medical teaching between two campuses would harm community spirit.

Sugrue told London Student that the choice to merge with Royal Holloway was partly motivated by economic considerations: “We want to make sure that in 50 years St George’s is still around.”

The merger will allow SGUL to maintain links with NHS trusts, creating a single institution with expertise across across biomedicine, science, social sciences, arts and humanities.

“At Royal Holloway they are carrying out tests on animals as part of research; at St George’s researchers will have access to human trials,” Sugrue said.

“The merger will also mean students can do an intercollegiate BSc, which is particularly important given the current emphasis on an interprofessional environment in medicine. Students will now have access, for example, to psychology and the social sciences at Royal Holloway.”

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