Editing Post-1992 university (section)

== Formation ==

Following the 1992 Act, 33 polytechnics in England, the [[University of Derby|Derbyshire College of Higher Education]], the Polytechnic of Wales and three Scottish central institutions were the first to be granted university status, alongside another trio of central institutions in the years following.
Many of these Polytechnics had roots in the middle 19th Century.
All the categories of university award their own [[academic degree]]s, but universities created in England and Wales since 2004 may only have the power to award taught degrees, because the power to award research degrees has been removed from the criteria for university title. The Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, which became the [[University of Gloucestershire]] in 2001, was the only institute to become a university in England between the polytechnics in 1992 and the relaxation of the criteria in 2004. Two new universities have subsequently been established in Scotland, where the old criteria still apply: [[Queen Margaret University]] (2007), another former central institution, and the [[University of the Highlands and Islands]] (2011).