PURPOSE-built colleges will provide most of the accommodation for students coming to Hereford's new university.

The New Model in Technology & Engineering (NMiTE) aims to open its doors to the first 300 students at a new city centre campus in Hereford in September 2019.

The project recently received £8m in start-up funding from the government and project leaders are secure in the knowledge that further funding is coming.

And students coming to the city will be required to live in ‘colleges’ for the three years they are studying, rather than in private rented housing.

Karen Usher, co-project leader, said: "All will be purpose built at this point to ensure that they will meet the standards of students and their parents.

"There are one or two existing buildings that could possibly house accommodation, but we are looking to build in colleges of 350 beds, so there are not many buildings that are big enough to convert."

She said they would welcome approaches from anyone interested in investing in approved NMiTE student accommodation.

Karen added: "There are three reasons that we decided to build. First and foremost there is very limited rental space in the Hereford city area.

"Other colleges and an assessment of the rental market indicated that even now it is hard to rent - imagine if we added 300 students (in year one) and 300 more (in year two), etc., to an already crowded market.

"Second, more and more universities are housing their students and students and their parents seem to be preferring university provided housing - easier to find, easier to monitor, safer.

"Finally, there are pedagogical reasons to house students together, particularly when they are going to be studying as intensely as they will at this uni - remember we're also teaching for 46 week of the year."

They are working with partners at Olin College of Engineering, Warwick University and the Lassonde School of Engineering to further develop the curriculum so that it is ready by spring next year.

A senior leadership team is being identified and recruited and will be in place by the autumn.

They are also working on branding for the new university and hope to release a complete new name and brand in September.

For more information go to www.nmite.org.uk