The Privy Council looks set to be asked to endorse Anglia University as the new name for the last UK institution to include the word "polytechnic" in its title, writes Paul Hill.

David Tidmarsh, vice-chancellor of Anglia Polytechnic University, revealed that 900 responses had been received as part of a consultation about changing the name of the institution. He said that Anglia University seemed to have won most support.

But Professor Tidmarsh said that the validity of any objections to the new name would be considered carefully before the Privy Council was asked to approve the change.

The final decision is unlikely to be made until after the general election.

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Two alternative names that were proposed at the beginning of the consultation process in January - Anglia Ruskin University and Anglia Metropolitan University -gained much less support than Anglia University.

The deliberations about APU's name coincide with a review of the university's links with its 20-plus partner further education colleges across the Eastern region.

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Professor Tidmarsh said that the relationship between the university and some colleges could change - with some operating under an APU franchise and others offering distance-learning facilities.

"There is no way that we would want to walk away from a partner, but there may be different, better ways of working together," he said.