STUDENTS past and present took to the streets of Lampeter on Friday in a bid to save Wales' oldest university.

Former and current students were joined by local residents at the protest in Lampeter, where almost 200 years of higher education are under threat from plans by University of Wales Trinity St David’s (UWTSD) to relocate remaining humanities courses to its Carmarthen campus in September.

Alumni travelled to Lampeter from as far away as Orpington, Kent, to join the demo, while others unable to attend sent simultaneous emails of protest to the university.

Organisers from the Lampeter Society, an alumni group, estimated that more than 100 people attended the demonstration.

Protesters assembled at Lampeter Rugby Club with a banner and placards declaring messages such as: 'Save Lampeter Campus’ and 'Cofiwch 1822'.

They then marched along pavements to the college entrance adjacent to the former porters’ lodge, where speeches were given before the protest ended with the singing of Dafydd Iwan’s classic, Yma o Hyd.

Speakers claimed such a momentous closure decision could not be left to the university alone and Welsh Government intervention was needed.

“It has national implications,” said one speaker, Adam Price, Senedd member and former leader of Plaid Cymru.

“We need a plan for this university, for Lampeter and indeed the whole of Wales where the higher education sector is feeling itself under huge pressure.”

“The fight here for Lampeter is a national struggle.”

The demo came as a Society petition, which calls on the university and Welsh Government to create a ‘viable, sustainable plan for the long-term future of the Lampeter campus, came close to collecting 4,000 signatures online and on paper.

It needs 10,000 signatures to raise the possibility of a debate over the proposals in the Senedd.

The petition can be found here.

University of Wales Trinity Saint David said when announcing its plans to move courses to Carmarthen, said: “The context to the proposal is that in its 2022-23 Financial Accounts the university posted a deficit of £11m.

“Despite a range of innovative ideas to develop new courses to attract a larger number of students to our Lampeter campus these have not delivered, there has been a steady decline in the number of students being taught in-person.

“We now have a total cohort of 197 full-time students, 92 of which are undergraduates, being taught on campus in Lampeter, with 112 core staff and a number of casual staff associated with the Lampeter campus. This is not a sustainable situation, and the University must take action.

“In addition, there is also a large number of buildings that are not fully utilised.

“Operationally, the Lampeter campus costs us about £2.7M per year to run and the backlog maintenance and compliance costs for the campus are estimated at £33.5M (which is subject to inflation).

“The university is, however, committed to retaining the main Lampeter campus estate and finding alternative ways of delivering education-related activities that would give this campus a new lease of life and a more secure future."