OXFORD Brookes University confirmed today it will begin to withdraw all of its teaching facilities from Wheatley from next year.

As revealed by the Oxford Mail earlier this month, teaching facilities - including the 2,500-student business school - will be relocated to Headington.

In a statement this morning, the university added it expected to have completed the move by 2022.

Vice-chancellor Professor Janet Beer said: “I am immensely proud of the vital role the university plays in the local community, providing a significant proportion of the county’s highly skilled workforce.

“In order to continue to fulfil this vital role, it is essential the university can continue to provide the best possible experience for its staff and students.

“This means we need to invest in our facilities over the coming years and I am confident the 10-year plan, agreed by our board of governors, is the best way to achieve this.”

The 10-year plan announced involves pulling its schools of business and technology out of Wheatley, although student accommodation, which financially sustains itself, is expected to stay.

Buildings at Harcourt Hill and the Gipsy Lane campus, in Headington, will undergo refurbishment to serve as the new homes of the relocated departments.

It was also confirmed this morning that the university hopes the plan will result in no compulsory job losses.

University UNISON branch chairman Jon Appleton told the Oxford Mail that union representatives had already met with university management over the proposals.

He said: “We have known this was a possibility for some years, but we have only recently been told about this decision.

“We will be looking for more clarity as early as possible on this, but I think at the moment they have not sorted exactly when in 2016 and 2017 that this will take place.”

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