The University of Worcester is a British university, based in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. It was granted university status in September 2005. In 1946 an Emergency Teacher Training College for the University of Birmingham was established in Worcester on the site of one of the former RAF bases used during the Second World War. In the 1970s the Council for National Academic Awards validated the degrees for the Worcester College of Higher Education. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire College of Nursing and Midwifery was absorbed in 1995. In 1997 the Privy Council affirmed the institution's degree-awarding powers and it subsequently became known as University College Worcester. In 2005 the Privy Council granted university status. The institution was renamed "University of Worcester" in September of that year. Since 2005, the University has expanded greatly and acquired many new sites across the city of Worcester. Its long term strategy includes building joint community and University facilities, and expanding to a 3rd campus.