Newcastle Polytechnic: BINARY

By far the most far‐reaching development in Newcastle's total educational provision has been the designation of three of its further education colleges as a polytechnic. This has led to a total reorganization of further and higher education in the city, which owes a great deal to the foresight of its city and educational planners. By the publication date of the polytechnic White Paper in May 1966, the city had already spent five months preparing the ground work for what was then envisaged as a low‐ and high‐level FE consortium. Such a consortium, sharing a common campus and facilities, was mooted as long ago as 1945 and was included in the 1948 development plan. The Smith effect, as one might call it, catapulted the idea into reality — and building began on a large site next to and part of the new city centre. The development of this campus was rightly viewed as an essential ingredient of the recipe for the urban and civic renewal of the city.