G5 (universities)

The G5 is a grouping of five English public research universities that was established in early 2004. The members are Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London. The members of the G5 initially formed the grouping in order to co-ordinate bidding for an increased share of any extra monies made available in the government's summer spending review. The objective was to secure extra state funding above the £3,000 student top-up fees planned in England from 2006 to cover the full costs of home and European Union undergraduates on their courses. This has been attributed to the universities stating they are offering no cheap courses, and that they would have to reduce their intake of UK students without the additional income. The grouping called itself the G5 and its existence was first reported by the Times Higher Education in February 2004.