From February, the central London university will start to be known as ¡°King¡¯s London¡±, it was announced on 16 December.

The name-change follows consultation with staff, student and alumni over the past 18 months and is designed to remove confusion among prospective students and parents over whether King¡¯s is a college or university, a spokeswoman said.

In an email to staff and students on 16 December,?King¡¯s principal Ed Byrne calls the rebrand ¡°a very modest change similar to how several other large London university institutions are now presenting themselves¡±.

But students have been quick to denounce the plans.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Since news of the name change broke on 15 December, more than 6,000 people have signed a in less than 24 hours, calling the rebrand ¡°bizarre¡± and ¡°ridiculous¡±.

The cost of the redesign ¨C which has been put at an estimated ?300,000 ¨C is also labelled in the petition as ¡°an obscene amount of money¡­which could be spent on improving student life at King¡¯s¡±.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

¡°Not only does this undermine almost 200 years of tradition, as well as sabotaging a worldwide reputation built on the name King¡¯s College London, but it serves as a huge and unnecessary expense,¡± said the petition¡¯s founder Emily Braddock, a second-year theology student.

The petition also dispute claims by King¡¯s and its students¡¯ union that it had consulted with students about the rebrand, saying ¡°it seems as if the majority of the student population at King¡¯s College London have only just heard about such a move¡±.

Various commenters on the petition also criticised the wisdom of removing the college moniker, with Reece Warren claiming that ¡°King¡¯s London sounds like more like an aftershave than a credible university¡±. Martijn Wallage agreed, stating that ¡°the proposed new name lacks a noun to indicate that this is a university¡±. Reehan Aslam claimed that ¡°Kings London sounds more like a train station than a world renowned university¡±.

Professor Byrne said the university would keep King¡¯s College London for legal documents, academic citations and the awarding of degrees, but that ¡°introducing the new brand is one part of a process of incremental change at King¡¯s to improve our performance in both education and research as we aspire to be universally recognised as one of the world¡¯s great universities¡±.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

¡°King¡¯s College London, often abbreviated to ¡®KCL¡¯, is well known to the academic community and to most students in the UK,¡± he said.

¡°However, our research conducted over the last 18 months with potential students, parents, staff, students and alumni, revealed that our current name was causing considerable confusion: is King¡¯s a residential college, is it an academic college akin to the colleges of Oxbridge,?or is it an educational institution of some other type such as a further education college?

¡°Internationally, there was further misunderstanding because ¡®college¡¯ is not a widely understood term in many countries,¡± he added.

Professor Byrne, who took over at King¡¯s in August, admitted that many staff and students had an emotional connection to the term ¡°college¡±, but he believed that ¡°in today¡¯s highly competitive global marketplace, King¡¯s needs to be bold about its ambitions and shout about its many achievements¡±.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

¡°The purpose of a very modest repositioning is to deal with these concerns sensitively and constructively,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com