Incorporation and independence 1989-1992
Since its designation in 1971, Birmingham Polytechnic had been part of Birmingham LEA's provision. However, on 1 April 1989 the Education Reform Act made all polytechnics independent corporations with charitable status.
The same year saw Birmingham School of Music being renamed Birmingham Conservatoire, with Sir Simon Rattle as the Conservatoire's first President.
University status 1992
On 6 March 1992, the Further and Higher Education Act gave all polytechnics the power to adopt the title of 'university'. The new name, 'University of Central England in Birmingham', was approved by the Privy Council on 16 June 1992.
Also in 1992, work commenced on a new building for the Birmingham School of Jewellery, which was opened formally in March 1995 and is the largest School of Jewellery in Europe.
During the summer of 1995 the University merged with the Birmingham and Solihull College of Nursing and Midwifery, and the West Midlands School of Radiography.
In 2000, the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) was created from the former Faculty of Engineering and Computer Technology. The next year it moved to the new Millennium Point campus and the Faculty of Education took up TIC's old premises at Perry Barr. TIC was later renamed the Faculty of Technology, Engineering and the Environment and then, in 2014, the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.
In 2001, The Defence School of Health Care Studies joined the Faculty of Health. Working with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, the School is the sole provider of Pre-Registration Education in nursing, operating department practice and radiography for the Defence Medical Services in the UK.
Birmingham School of Acting, which was founded in 1936, became part of the University in 2005, and a year later moved to a purpose-built facility at Millennium Point.
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