Dyson Institute is now able to award its own degrees

THE Dyson Institute has been handed powers to award its own degrees, becoming the first under recent legislation designed to encourage new and innovative universities.

Sir James Dyson set up the institute four years ago after becoming frustrated at the shortage of British engineers as well as the “appalling” levels of debt that students take on by going to university.

Undergraduates at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology do not pay any tuition fees but are paid £18,000 a year instead to do a full-time job in research and development alongside their academic studies.

At the end of their degree, students who have met all the requirements of their course and work are offered a job by Dyson but are not under any obligation to take it. The Dyson Institute’s degrees are currently accredited by Warwick University but now the institute will be able to award its own.