[5] The term was later used to refer to universities gaining their status in the 1960s, such as the former colleges of advanced technology, which were converted to universities following the 1963 Robbins Report on higher education, and the plate glass universities, which were already in the process of being established at the time of the report.
[1][6] Following the 1992 Act, 33 polytechnics in England, the Derbyshire College of Higher Education, the Polytechnic of Wales and three Scottish central institutions were the first to be granted university status, alongside another trio of central institutions in the years following.
All the categories of university award their own academic degrees, but universities created in England and Wales since 2004 may only have the power to award taught degrees, because the power to award research degrees has been removed from the criteria for university title.
The new title also assisted recruitment of foreign students (a lucrative market sector which was not always sure what a "polytechnic" was).
As a result of their roots under local government, most employees of those polytechnic post-1992 universities are members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme, rather than the Universities Superannuation Scheme.