Norwich University of the Arts has defended spending more than £90,000 on creating a "new brand identity" rather than harnessing the talents of its students.

The city centre university splashed out £92,791 on the services of branding company North on a major rebrand which was revealed earlier this year.

The rebrand included a new website and logos created for the campus, as well as a move away from using the acronym NUA - which bosses say was to emphasise a closer association with the city itself.

It saw the rebrand specialists spend 12 months working with the university between autumn 2022 and autumn 2023, involving "deep engagement with students, staff alumni and stakeholder groups".

The London-based firm won the contract ahead of three local organisations and one national who were invited to tender for it.

However, critics have questioned whether the university was shunning the talents of its students by outsourcing the rebrand and missing an opportunity for them to build vital experiences to boost their future employment opportunities.

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The university offers a raft of design-related courses to its 3,000 students, including branding and graphic design.

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However, bosses said it would have risked undermining the creative sector if they had allowed students to take the lead on the rebrand.

A spokesman said: "Norwich University of the Arts plays a pivotal role in supporting the local economy, both directly and indirectly, contributing at least £60m annually to the local economy.

"It is important the university remains competitive and the rebrand was led by two former students - Jon Leonard and Sophie Brandt, alongside other graduates who work for North.

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"We teach both branding and graphic design, and it is important that we recognise the professional experience that is required to rebrand an enterprise of our scale and complexity.

"Further, it is vital that we do not undermine the sector in which our students will find their future jobs.

"Students participate in many projects across the university via research and delivery as part of our degrees and they played an integral role in the development and delivery of this project."