Page last updated at 10:49 GMT, Friday, 30 May 2008 11:49 UK

UK university opens in Australia

Adelaide University
UCL is to open a campus in Adelaide

University College London is to open a department in Australia. It is thought this will be the first UK university campus in the country.

The School of Energy and Resources will begin work in Adelaide, South Australia next year.

Globalisation and the growing international demand for higher education has seen UK universities setting up overseas.

The University of Nottingham has already opened a campus in China.

UCL, which signed an agreement with the government of South Australia this week, says that the new department in Adelaide will teach 60 students on a two-year masters degree.

'Transnational'

The director and core academic staff will be appointed by University College London, which promises academic standards and monitoring "identical to the rest of the university".

While there has been a growth in overseas students coming to the UK, another trend in an increasingly global higher education market has been for UK universities to open branches in other countries.

These bring English-language, UK-accredited degrees to students in their own countries.

The University of Nottingham has campuses in Ningbo in China and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

“Transnational education is changing the way that students and professionals now study and develop their skills," said UCL's Vice-Provost, Michael Worton.

This latest venture sees a UK university opening in Australia, which has been seen as a rival in the international student market.

The premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, welcomed the arrival of a prestigious UK university as expanding Adelaide's appeal to overseas students.

"The numbers of international students studying in Adelaide have grown from a modest 6,000 in 2000 to 23,327 last year," said Mr Rann.

"With the attraction of UCL to Adelaide, it has now achieved even greater momentum. With climate change probably affecting Australia the most, UCL's expertise in energy, science, resource management and climate change is the perfect fit at exactly the right time on our history.”




SEE ALSO
UK university to open in China
24 Mar 04 |  Education
UK and China sign e-learning deal
24 Sep 07 |  Education
UK learning exports 'worth £28bn'
18 Sep 07 |  Education

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