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The University of Essex has announced it will close its Southend-on-Sea campus by August 2026 due to financial challenges, affecting 400 staff and 800 students.
The University of Essex first opened its doors in Colchester to 122 students in 1964 for its very first academic year.
Over the next five decades close to 100,000 students from more than 140 countries have graduated.
In 2008, it opened a campus in Southend-on-Sea, but the university has now announced it is closing that one down due to financial challenges.
Here is everything we know about the campus closing.
Why is the university closing its Southend campus?
The university said the "incredibly difficult decision" would help it respond to "significant financial challenges facing the whole of the UK higher education sector".
A university spokesperson said: "This decision has only just been taken, and we are telling you as quickly as possible."
They said they were taking decisive steps towards a sustainable future by concentrating research and education on two campuses instead of three — its other campus being in Loughton.
It also said international student numbers at Southend had fallen by 52% since 2021-22.
When will the campus close?
The Southend-on-Sea campus will be closing at the end of August 2026.
Where are all the courses taught in Southend moving to?
The institution says all courses - including 800 students - will transfer from Southend to Colchester and students would be supported so they could continue their studies.
To drive up the A12 to the Colchester campus from Southend-on-Sea takes about an hour while public transport takes just under two hours.
Loughton offers different courses to the ones taught in Southend, aside from the East 15 drama school, so moving to the nearer campus was not an option.
What will happen to the building?
Labour councillor Daniel Cowan, leader of Southend City Council, said the closure was "one of shock and disappointment".
He said he was told about the closure on Monday and wished the university had told them about the plans earlier.
However, he said the building could be used by another university or could be used as a conference building.
"There are alot of options for the overall estate," he said.
"The most perfect outcome would be for another university provider to take over the campus and we will do everything we can to attract that."
What about East 15 students?
The university said it was going to be creating new spaces for East 15 students at Colchester, but more information on this will be shared at a later date.
The course remains available at the East 15 Loughton Campus for the October 2026 intake.
But there will now be a Certificate of Higher Education intake in January 2027 at the Colchester Campus.
The Cert HE Acting for Stage and Screen courses will be running at both the Loughton and Colchester campuses in 2026-27.
The Loughton and Colchester courses will have different term dates and arrange their teaching a little differently from one another.
However, the same modules are taught on both courses and both courses contain exactly the same number of teaching hours overall.
Students are welcome to start the course in Loughton in October 2026 instead of January 2027 at Colchester if they would prefer.
All of the Southend BA East 15 courses will be moving from the Southend Campus to the Colchester Campus from October 2026.
The university said the tuition fees will be the same.
What does the university have to say?
The closure of the Southend campus means 400 full-time job cuts.
Vice chancellor Prof Frances Bowen told BBC Look East: "This is a extremely sad and difficult situation for our colleagues. We are trying to navigate this with as much involvement and dignity for everybody."
Ms Bowen, who took on the leadership role in August, said the university had put a package in place to give students practical and financial support to study in Colchester.
"There are limits around with what we can do with that, but we've been in touch with students concerned with what we can do," she said.
She added there was "an element of compensation for distress and inconvenience" but did not go into detail about how much money students could get.
What do the students think?
Beth Rawlinson, 20, is in her second year studying a BA in acting and community engagement and said the news would not change a lot for her.
"It will bring positive change and it will be a new area," she said.
"I don't think it will change much for us, [but] I think it will affect a lot of the staff here.
"People were pretty upset."
But she said she felt sorry for the staff who were losing their jobs and said: "It feels like a plaster on a massive wound. I don't think they've really thought about the 400 staff they are going to let go."
Preslav Hristov, 21, is a third year student and said the news was surprising, but there were mixed feelings among undergraduates.
He said he was sad having made a lot of friends during his studies, but added: "Actually, some of them are excited that they're going to the bigger campus in Colchester."
What do the unions say?
The Royal College of Nursing said it would support members facing redundancy or relocation.
Sharon Crowle, senior regional officer, said: "Our thoughts are with all our members at the Southend campus affected by this announcement, whether they are students or dedicated teaching staff educating future generations of nurses."
Unison's eastern regional officer Caroline Hennessy said: "The university can't recover from cuts on this scale.
"Making a fifth of staff redundant, so soon after voluntary job losses, will seriously damage workers' ability to deliver a first-class education.
"It means misery for those losing their roles, as well as the staff left to pick up the pieces."
According to the university website, it employs more than 2,644 academic, research, senior support and general support staff.
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