Predecessor institutions In 1865 the
Cardiff School of Art opened in the
Old Free Library Building,
St Mary Street. The School of Art moved to the Technical Buildings in Dumfries Place in 1900, then The Friary in 1949, then to a new campus in Howard Gardens in 1965. In 1940, Cardiff College of Food Technology and Commerce opened at Crwys Road. The Cardiff College of Food Technology and Commerce moved to a new Colchester Avenue Campus in 1966, home to management, business, leisure, hospitality, tourism and food students. In 1950 Cardiff Teacher Training College opened at Heath Park. Llandaff Technical College opened in 1954 at Western Avenue, home to health sciences, design and engineering students. In 1962 the college moved to Cyncoed, now home to the schools of Education & Social Policy and Sport & Health Sciences .
Merging of the colleges In 1976, the four colleges merged to form
South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education. The name changed to
Cardiff Institute of Higher Education in 1990, in preparation for Incorporation. In 1992, the Institute joined the University of Wales as an autonomous body. The first Teaching Degree Awarding Powers were granted by the Privy Council in 1993. The institute was given the power to award its own degrees in August but placed the powers in abeyance, choosing instead to strengthen their links with the University of Wales. In 1996, it was granted University College status within the University of Wales and named the
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC). In 2003, UWIC became a constituent institution of the University of Wales, and considered merging with the
University of Glamorgan. 2004 saw the launch of the FE2HE-UWIC Consortium: a partnership between further and higher education institutions established with Barry, Bridgend, Coleg Glan Hafren and Ystrad Mynach further education colleges, with
St David's College joining in 2009. Tony Chapman became Senior Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Wales. In 2005 the university entered into and then ended merger talks with the
University of Wales, Newport. A vote of no confidence was passed by the staff in the Vice Chancellor Tony Chapman.
London School of Commerce became an Associate College in 2006. In October 2010, the new building for the Cardiff School of Management opened in Llandaff with the closure of the Colchester Avenue campus. In June 2011, the new Learning Centre on the Llandaff campus was officially opened. Merger talks with Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity St David universities were discussed.
Split from University of Wales UWIC formally ended its association with the University of Wales, and was renamed Cardiff Metropolitan University in November 2011. From 2004 to 2007, Cardiff Metropolitan University's Vice Chancellor,
Tony Chapman, was the Senior Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Wales, whilst also holding the post of Vice Chancellor at UWIC.
Pressure to merge with other HE institutions In December 2003, UWIC withdrew from merger talks with the
University of Glamorgan, stating that it was not in the 'best interests of UWIC and the students'. In December 2004, UWIC announced merger talks with
University of Wales, Newport, but withdrew from merger talks in July 2005 when the
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales stated they indicated that any proposed merger must also include the University of Glamorgan. On 4 July 2011, UWIC pulled out of merger talks with both
Swansea Metropolitan University and the
University of Wales Trinity Saint David, for a new University of Wales citing the fact that it was 'dissatisfied with a lack of attention to good governance, due process and administration (in the University of Wales)'. This was despite the fact that its own Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Robert Brown, was also one of the most senior figures in the University of Wales, serving as a member of the University of Wales Council. In December 2011 the newly established Cardiff Metropolitan University rejected the plans of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for the future structure of Wales' universities which proposed merging it with the universities of Glamorgan and Newport to form the UK's largest higher education institution. Pressure on Cardiff Met to merge continued to mount throughout 2011 and 2012, however, in line with
Leighton Andrews' controversial Higher Education agenda. This included a plan to create a new super-university of 45,000 students in the Welsh Valleys, involving the
University of Glamorgan, the
University of Wales, Newport, and Cardiff Metropolitan. Newport had already agreed to merger plans put forward by Glamorgan, although it was described as a 'bilateral arrangement' with neither institution technically taking precedence. This merger plan left open the possibility of a third university becoming involved, which was recognised as a reference to Cardiff Met's position. Cardiff Metropolitan continued to oppose a merger with its neighbours, citing the lack of a business case, concerns that the new institution (which would be the largest campus university in Britain) would simply be too big to manage properly. In response to their efforts, Leighton Andrews (a strong supporter of the mergers on any terms) threatened to forcibly dissolve Cardiff Metropolitan and hand its assets over to the university formed by Glamorgan and Newport's merger. , more time had been granted to consider a three-way merger, but Cardiff Metropolitan still demanded more evidence before committing to further talks. Cardiff Metropolitan has described the existing plans as high cost and high risk, and have threatened to refer the matter to spending watchdogs, including the
Auditor General. However, Cardiff Metropolitan stressed that it retained an 'open mind' on the subject of a merger, and has ruled out moving to the private sector. On 6 November 2012, the threat of dissolution was removed when the Education Minister made a statement to the
Senedd that he had taken the decision to cancel the previous consultation on the proposed dissolutions because of a request from the chairs of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. ==Campuses==