University of Portsmouth's London campus 'will not change commitment' to home city

Vice-chancellor Professor Graham Galbraith last week revealed the institution is planning a campus in Waltham Forest in a bid to attract young people aged 18-24.

The university has now insisted the plans, currently the subject of talks with a business case being put together, will not mean Portsmouth loses out.

Bosses say local students may also have more opportunities to study in the capital.

A statement said: ‘A campus in London will not change our commitment to Portsmouth. We will still be the University for Portsmouth.’

It added: ‘A London campus will be in addition to our Portsmouth campus, not instead of it.

‘We expect a London campus to offer opportunities to staff as well as students by enriching our Portsmouth programmes and offering collaborative opportunities in the capital.

‘Although more students are coming to Portsmouth from some parts of London, there are many more who may struggle to balance their studies with other commitments such as carer responsibilities, work and commuting.

‘A London campus will provide the flexibility and opportunity for such students in London to still achieve their goals with a degree from the University of Portsmouth.

‘We also expect a London campus to offer new opportunities to all our students, and make higher education more attractive to our local community, by enriching our Portsmouth programmes and offering collaborative opportunities in the capital.’

Announcing the talks last week, the university said it would create jobs in Waltham Forest, boost the borough’s supply chains and create degree apprenticeships.

It’s hoped the proposed campus will boost participation in higher education.

Latest accounts for 2019/20 show there are 16,400 full-time students across all years at Portsmouth, ‘despite an increasingly competitive external context and a continuing decline in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK population’.

A full business case is due to be completed by December 2021, and if all goes well students could start by 2023.

The move comes as Prof Galbraith wants his institution to be the top modern university in the UK, and in the top 100 in the world by 2030.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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