A FUTURE University of Cumbria' moved a step closer this week with the stamp of approval given to plans that could see a massive cash injection of £54 million pumped into the county's education system, reports Andy Bloxham.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England has accepted the business model that will lay the foundations for the future university and will now start working with a group of the county's major stakeholders to bring the university to fruition.

More than £50 million will need to be invested into the county to make the scheme become a reality and the higher and further education institutions, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Cumbria Learning and Skills Council, Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Vision will be working together to see that it happens.

The university's main centre will be in Carlisle but it will be linked to a number of network institutions including Kendal College, Furness College and St Martin's College of Higher Education that has a campus at Ambleside.

C hief executive of Rural Regeneration Cumbria Kate Willard said the proposals for a University of Cumbria would help retain home grown talent and attract young people to the county. She said it would help grow the county's economy and would help shrink the skills gap.

"This is an opportunity for Cumbria which must not be wasted," she said. "The next three to five years will be crucial as all stakeholders continue to work together to achieve a University of Cumbria with all the benefits that it will bring to Cumbria's economy."

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP and shadow education secretary Tim Collins said that, although the university's existence was not guaranteed, an important hurdle had been overcome.

"I would hope that within no more than five years, youngsters who are thinking about their future will have a really viable option of going to a University of Cumbria."

Instead of a traditional single campus, the university will be a network of linked institutions, each a centre of excellence' in different subjects, although there will be a student centre in Carlisle This would lead to small groups of students in, for example, Kendal, Barrow and Lancaster, studying together in a virtual' classroom taught by a tutor over a live Internet broadcast.

Taught subjects will be linked directly to the expertise and industry characterised by the area of each satellite' institution, such as the environment at Penrith, engineering in Barrow, tourism in South Lakeland and nuclear decommissioning on the West Coast.

Coun Joan Stocker, Cumbria County Council's portfolio holder for education, said the size of the county meant it was vital that learning opportunities were brought closer to communities, and technology could help achieve that.

This was what snared the HEFCE's approval and its chief executive Sir Howard Newby said: "Closer collaboration between the universities and colleges will considerably enhance the learning opportunities for all students in Cumbria."

However, even with the hurdle of HEFCE acceptance overcome, there remains a lot of work to be done before the first students can register planning alone is scheduled to run until 2010.