One year of University Centre London
News
Celebrating the first anniversary of the opening of University Centre
Tuesday, 18 March, 2025This year marks the first anniversary of the opening of University Centre in London, born out of a longstanding partnership between New City College and Bath Spa University. Situated in the heart of Hackney, it was opened by Turner Prize winner, Bath Spa University alum and local acclaimed artist, Veronica Ryan, OBE in January 2024.
The jointly operated University Centre, on Hoxton High Street, offers a combination of degree courses with professional development programmes and short courses. The Centre provides flexible studying, inspiring teaching and dynamic learning, reaching students from a broad range of backgrounds and creating new routes to higher education.
Reflecting on the achievements of the Centre in its first year, University Centre Director, Lucy Arnold-Courtney said:
“Since the launch of the University Centre we have achieved our ambitions of creating a jointly owned space within which both Bath Spa University and New City College students access higher education. It is a privilege to be able to work within an emerging and innovative tertiary education space.
“I am excited by the Centre's plans for the future which focus on flexible and modularised delivery and will create new routes to higher education speaking directly to national and local skills agendas. Most of all, I am delighted to be able to work in a space that draws from and values the expertise and experience of both further and higher education colleagues.”
This partnership continues to catch the eye of the sector, with the latest GuildHE think piece ‘Getting HE Partnership Provision Right’ putting Bath Spa University and New City College in the spotlight as an example of an innovative partnership between higher and further education.
In the article, Director of Policy and Strategy Dr Kate Wicklow, sets out the risks, opportunities and next steps for validated partnerships, franchised courses, joint degrees and transnational educational partnerships.
Dr Wicklow writes:
"Partnership provision plays an important role in widening participation and equality of opportunity. It also unlocks innovative and highly technical learning experiences for students. This is exemplified in examples from our members such as Bath Spa University who were the Sunday Times University of the Year for Social Inclusion 2024. Their partnership with New City College in the heart of Hackney, London, has created a brand new University Centre that offers a blend of degree courses alongside [...] short courses and professional development programmes. This broad, non-traditional offering aims to open access to higher education – and life changing opportunities – to learners from a wide range of backgrounds."
Reflecting on this recognition, Professor Georgina Andrews, Vice-Chancellor of Bath Spa University is quoted:
"We are very proud at BSU to be recognised for our efforts to drive inclusivity in higher education. This site is the culmination of these efforts over the past couple of years, resulting in a truly collaborative - and community-minded - university hub, offering access to high quality education to learners from all walks of life. This innovative new centre provides a blueprint for a more flexible and dynamic higher education offering that embraces and nurtures the different lived experiences of students.”