Didsbury Campus of South Manchester, though these never came to fruition. By 1970 student numbers had increased significantly, to 1,550. Didsbury became part of Manchester Polytechnic in 1977, renamed Didsbury School of Education. The merger was met with some opposition by students, who considered the polytechnic to be "quite different" to the college. The City of Manchester College of Higher Education merged with the polytechnic in 1983, and in 1992 it gained university status, becoming Manchester Metropolitan University. In the same year it merged with Crewe and Alsager College, which became the university's Cheshire campus. As part of a university, Didsbury was
Didsbury and many of the listed buildings in the area are grouped into the St. James' Conservation area. , which is centred on Wilmslow Road, just south of Didsbury Village. The United Kingdom Census 2001 recorded Didsbury as having a population of 14,292, of whom 87% were born in the United Kingdom. A large majority of residents, 88%, identified themselves as white, 8% as Asian, 2% as mixed ethnicity, 1% black and 1% Chinese or other ethnic group. The under-16s accounted for 17% of the population, and the over-65s for 15%. The population density in 2001 was 5,276/square mile (2,037/km²). As