Frequently asked questions

The objectives of the Prospectus for Change proposals are to:

Deliver on our academic vision by co-locating our academic schools on single campuses. 
Create facilities for student learning and for staff which reflect the ambitions of a modern university.  
Create dynamic and accessible campuses that supports our goal of becoming net-zero carbon. 
Create an affordable estate for the long term.

Please find answers to common questions about the proposals below.

Staff colleagues can find specific FAQs on staffcentral.

FAQs for University of Brighton Students

The consultation took place between October and December of last year. In the consultation the University set out a bold and ambitious plan for the future of its campuses. The changes are designed to develop an estate and facilities that are fit for purpose, supportive of our academic vision and critically meet the needs of our students.

The proposals included the:
- Bringing together of the new School of Humanities and Social Science in Mithras House on our redeveloped Moulsecoomb campus, co-locating it from its current sites at the Falmer and City campuses by the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
- Consolidation of the new School of Sport and Health Sciences on our Falmer campus, moving the provision currently based at Eastbourne to Falmer by the start of the 2024-25 academic year. This has been enabled by the reacquisition of the long lease for the site at Falmer campus formally occupied by Virgin Active, and the redesign of those facilities to meet the University’s needs.
- Consolidation of the University on three campuses in Brighton, leading to the closure of Eastbourne campus and the Leaf Hospital from the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
As part of the consultation, students in the School of Humanities and Social Science, and School of Sport and Health Sciences were invited to meetings in their respective schools to hear more about these proposals and provide their feedback. Our students were also encouraged to submit their views via an online survey.
The consultation concluded on the 10 December. Since then, work has been undertaken to analyse contributions to the consultation and also to undertake an Equalities Impact Assessment. On the basis of the findings made in these reports, the University Executive Board has recommended to the Board of Governors that the proposals outlined in the Prospectus for Change be implemented. The Board of Governors has ratified this decision. This means that:
1. The University will no longer have a campus or the Leaf Hospital in Eastbourne as of the start of the academic year 2024–25. The School of Sport and Health Sciences will move to Falmer in time for the start of the academic year 2024–25.
2. The School of Humanities and Social Science will move to Mithras House for the start of the academic year 2023–24.
3. Some students already registered with the University will be impacted by these changes. This includes undergraduate students in the School of Humanities and Social Science who started in 2021–22, also impacted will be students who started foundation years and four-year courses in the School of Sport and Health Sciences in 2021–22. Postgraduate research students in both Schools will also be impacted.
For students joining courses in the two schools from the 2022–23 academic year onwards, the University will take the opportunity through the application process and associated published course information and communications to brief applicants about the agreed campus moves to enable them to make an informed decision about studying with us.
The University will now begin to plan in detail for these moves, this will include writing to those students who are impacted before the Easter vacation to explain how they will be affected. We will share all the relevant information with students about these changes, including how we will ensure that courses can continue to be delivered with equivalent access to physical resources as well as to teaching.

At that time we will also invite students to submit written comments and/or attend a course meeting so that we can ensure that their views help inform our detailed planning.

We will work with students as groups and individually to address any particular concerns moves might raise, for example from an equalities perspective.

Through this approach we are confident that we will maintain the quality of the student experience throughout.

FAQs for all stakeholders

In October 2021, the University published its Prospectus for Change for public consultation. In it, we set out a bold and ambitious plan for the future of our campuses, designed to underpin the delivery of our Brighton 2025 strategy by developing an estate and facilities that are fit for purpose and supportive of our academic vision.

Operating across four campuses (three in Brighton and one in Eastbourne) with a large estate that varies in age, quality and suitability imposes some very real constraints on our ability to deliver this vision. Following a period of reflection and analysis, it had become clear that some significant changes would be necessary.

The proposals we consulted on were to:
- Bring together the new School of Humanities and Social Science in Mithras House on our redeveloped Moulsecoomb campus, co-locating it from its current sites at the Falmer and City campuses by the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
- Consolidate the new School of Sport and Health Sciences on our Falmer campus, moving the provision currently based at Eastbourne to Falmer by the start of the 2024-25 academic year. This would be enabled by the reacquisition of the long lease for the site at Falmer campus formerly occupied by Virgin Active, and the redesign of those facilities to meet the university’s needs.
- Consolidate the University on three campuses in Brighton, leading to the closure of Eastbourne campus and the Leaf Hospital from the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
As well as facilitating over 40 meetings with University staff and students we received over 700 responses to the online consultation. The majority of these supported our proposals, while only one-in-five (21%) believed that the proposals would not allow the university to achieve its objectives.

The consultation concluded on 10 December 2021 and since then work has been undertaken to analyse detailed contributions to the consultation and also to undertake an Equalities Impact Assessment. On the basis of the findings made in these reports the University Executive Board has recommended to the Board of Governors that the proposals outlined in the Prospectus for Change be implemented. The Board of Governors has ratified this decision.
We met with our partners and stakeholders in Eastbourne during the consultation period to discuss the proposals in more detail with them and to understand the potential impacts.

We have reassured them that although the University will no longer have a physical presence in Eastbourne from the start of the 2024-25 academic year, we are committed to continuing to work with schools and colleges through our outreach activities and our sponsorship of the University of Brighton Academies Trust, and to support business growth, innovation and skills through our knowledge exchange and community engagement activities.

We have also had positive initial conversations with our NHS partners about opportunities for future collaboration.

As part of our detailed planning and implementation we are committed to continuing to work very closely with our external stakeholders and partners.
While we will not have a physical presence in Eastbourne in the future, the University of Brighton remains firmly committed to its role supporting business, innovation and skills across East Sussex and beyond.

We will continue to work closely with partner organisations such as Business East Sussex, Chambers of Commerce and local authorities to support regional policy and infrastructure programmes, develop and deliver programmes to support businesses and work with individual businesses to support innovation via successful programmes such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and the Green Growth Platform.
Over the last three academic years more than 1,700 school and college students from Eastbourne have taken part in our outreach programme and received information and advice about Higher Education.

We remain committed to continuing our relationships with schools and colleges in Eastbourne and across East Sussex as stated in our Access and Participation Plan 2020-25.

In addition, as sponsor of the University of Brighton Academies Trust we continue to be committed to supporting our academy schools, many of which are based in East Sussex, to share best practice to make lasting improvements for pupils, staff and communities.

We are also committed to strengthening progression and articulation pathways from college to the university.
We anticipate that the closure of our Eastbourne campus from the start of the 2024-25 academic year will include the closure of the Hillbrow Sports Centre.

We recognise the importance of the University’s sporting facilities for people in Eastbourne and, as part of any future sale, we will explore the possibility of maintaining appropriate elements of the estate for sporting use.
The Leaf Hospital is wholly owned and managed by the University of Brighton and provides podiatry services to both private and NHS patients.

The university’s current contract to provide NHS podiatry services comes to an end in July 2023, meaning that the hospital will continue from this date as a provider for private patients only.

As part of the changes the university is making, we envisage that the Leaf Hospital, as a base for any ongoing private podiatry services, will close from the start of the 2024-25 academic year.

We anticipate that some of our private provision will be relocated at that point, however any decisions on the ongoing provision of podiatry services will be subject to discussions with our NHS partners and colleagues at the university who are delivering this service.
We will soon start the process of redeveloping the site as part of the provision for our School of Sport and Health Sciences. We expect this process will take approximately 12-18 months, during which the site will remain closed.

While our focus in redeveloping the site is to support the academic ambitions of the University and to enhance the wider student experience, we may be able to provide some external access to the repurposed facilities in future. It is, however, too early to set out in any detail what that might be.

Members of the public are able to use our existing sports facilities, including at Falmer, through our limited community membership scheme.

Find out more at Sport Brighton.