By the middle of 1888, the widespread demand for increased provision for higher education across the North of England had been strongly demonstrated. Equally, the strength of opinion against the detailed proposals from Owens College had been highlighted. In this position, it was hard to see how the Government would be able to accept any proposal to establish a University of Manchester. Instead, debate centred upon the form of a federation among colleges. After prolonged argument, a solution was found, based on the establishment of an entirely new entity, the Victoria University.