Sheffield Hallam to open London campus

Sheffield Hallam University is the latest UK higher education institution to announce that it is opening a London branch campus.

The university will open an outpost in the north-west of the capital as part of the £8 billion Brent Cross Town development, in partnership with Barnet Council and developer Related Argent.

Sheffield Hallam said the campus was scheduled to open in 2025-26 and would seek to recruit up to 5,000 students by 2030, offering degree-level courses in key subjects and skills that are in demand locally.

The new venture will also improve opportunities for Hallam students to undertake work experience placements and work-based learning in London, the university said.

“This new opportunity will allow us to build on our strengths in applied teaching, learning, work-based activities, consultancy, research and development,” said Sir Chris Husbands, Sheffield Hallam’s vice-chancellor.

“Sheffield Hallam is and always will be a university proudly rooted in South Yorkshire, with a long tradition of playing an active civic role…But we are also a university committed to engaging nationally and globally, and to raising the profile and impact of the city and the region more widely.

“This new development will create new opportunities for the university community, as well as for local and regional partners. While this new development will make up a relatively small part of our overall provision, it represents a vote of confidence in Sheffield Hallam and is further recognition for our award-winning approach to transforming lives.”

More than a dozen UK higher education institutions that have their main campus elsewhere maintain a presence in the capital, with Nottingham Trent University having announced its new Whitechapel outpost two months ago.

Many have sought to exploit London’s popularity with students, particularly the potentially lucrative applicants from overseas, with data from admissions service Ucas indicating that more than half of international students apply to at least one provider in London, compared with about a quarter of domestic learners.

Another study, conducted for the now-defunct Higher Education Funding Council for England, confirmed that the income benefits of running a London campus outweighed the increased costs of operating in the capital, although academic research has indicated that such outposts tend to offer teaching from less-qualified teachers and poorer facilities than universities’ main campuses.

Oliver Coppard, mayor of South Yorkshire, described Sheffield Hallam’s London campus as “really exciting news”.

“A Sheffield Hallam campus in London will extend not only the university’s but South Yorkshire’s reach and reputation. It will enable new connections and relationships with business, industry and public services, as well as exciting new opportunities for students and research,” he said.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com