Source: Reuters

In an interview with King¡¯s student newspaper Roar, Ed Byrne said there are no plans to continue with the proposed rebrand, which was due to be phased in from next month.

It follows a fierce backlash against the plans by students, staff and alumni after they were publicised in November.

More than 12,000 people have signed a petition against the move, which led the university to reopen a consultation on the issue.

Speaking to Roar, Professor Byrne said the decision had been made to ¡°keep that name [King¡¯s College London] in every way, both as our official name and how we talk about ourselves¡±.

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¡°So no more King¡¯s London,¡± he added.

Professor Byrne, who took over King¡¯s in August last year, also said he would not seek to change the university¡¯s 22-year-old logo ¡°for quite some time¡±.

¡°I just want things to settle down and get on with the more important things,¡± he said.

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He said there had been ¡°unanimous support¡± from the King¡¯s college council to scrap the rebrand when he phoned them all individually.

Roar reports that Professor Byrne announced the U-turn in an email to students this week, saying King¡¯s had ¡°decided that plans to use the promotional name of ¡®King¡¯s London¡¯ will not go ahead¡±.

The change was proposed because King¡¯s claimed the word ¡°college¡± had caused ¡°considerable confusion¡± among parents and potential applicants, particularly from overseas, as they thought it may be a further education college.

¡°Internationally, there was further misunderstanding because ¡®college¡¯ is not a widely understood term in many countries,¡± said Professor Byrne in November.

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Although the plans proposed changing the brand name to King¡¯s London, the legal name of the university would always have remained King¡¯s College London.

In his email to students this week, Professor Byrne said the college¡¯s ¡°number one¡± priority was now improving student satisfaction ¨C for which King¡¯s came 111th out of 123 in last year¡¯s National Student Survey.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com