Study Group Launches New Partnership with the University of Lincoln

Pro Vice Chancellor keen to attract more international students

The University of Lincoln today announces plans to launch its new International Study Centre (ISC) on the main Brayford campus in the centre of Lincoln. The ISC will tutor international students and provide them with a direct, conditional route onto pre-specified degree programmes at the university.

The University of Lincoln is one of the UK’s newest institutions, having only opened in 2001. After more than £100 million investment, it is now aiming to break into the upper echelons of the university league tables, and considers the addition of the ISC as key to this process.

Professor Scott Davidson, Pro Vice Chancellor at the University, commented: “We currently have a relatively small group of international students studying with us at Lincoln and are keen to see these numbers increase. Our overseas contingent consists primarily of postgraduates and we’re looking forward to adding an increased number of both undergraduates and postgraduates to the mix. We are now at the ideal stage of development, with outstanding facilities including the soon-to-be unveiled School of Engineering – a £37 million collaboration between the University and Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd (SITL) and a new Faculty of Business and Law building available to support and profit from the addition of world-class minds.

“We also realise that our domestic students will not only benefit, but in fact expect to be exposed to different skill sets, values and cultures, as they graduate into a globalised work environment. When we told our major stakeholders, including the local council and press of our international ambitions, we found the reaction to be overwhelmingly positive.”

Lincoln was awarded the highest possible rating in its 2003 Institutional Audit, and, in 2004 and 2006 achieved the same recognition in the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) review and Postgraduate Research Degrees review respectively. The university’s courses were rated among the best in the country for student satisfaction in the 2009 National Student Survey, with Accounting ranked number one overall. 

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mary Stuart comments: “I worked with Study Group at Kingston University where we introduced the first on-campus ISC in London, and I saw how well it worked. We considered other options but after the due diligence was completed, we decided on Study Group, whose ethos of academic advancement fits well with our University policy.”

Courses on offer to international undergraduates attending the ISC will include a Foundation Certificate in Engineering leading to a BEng (Hons) Engineering; and a Foundation Diploma and Diploma leading to direct entry to the 2nd year of a Business and Management, Computer Science, Forensic Science or Media Studies undergraduate degree programme. Postgraduates will be able to take a pre-masters programme before commencing on one of the University’s Business and Law Masters programmes which include MSc Marketing, MSc International Business, MBA Finance and MSc Human Resources Management.

James Pitman, Managing Director, Study Group Higher Education UK & Europe, commented:

“The University of Lincoln ISC will provide excellent courses for international students that are fully endorsed by the University itself. Students’ academic progression is closely monitored at all times to ensure they’re on track to complete the programme but also more importantly prepared to excel on their chosen degree course. The students are taught through a series of tutorials, seminars and lectures, closely matched to the learning environment in which they will study at the university.

“We are delighted to partner with Lincoln as it is a first class, rapidly developing institution that already excels in its core subjects. It is keen to increase the cultural diversity on campus as it recognises this will benefit both the domestic and international students. We see this as the beginning of a productive partnership focussed on delivering excellence.” 

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About Lincoln University

During the last decade more than £100 million has been invested in the University of Lincoln's Brayford Pool campus.

Students rated Lincoln’s courses among the best in the country for student satisfaction in the 2009 National Student Survey, with Accounting ranked number one overall.

The University of Lincoln achieved an increase in national research funding of more than 600 per cent following the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

The University has received the highest possible rating in its two recent Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) inspections.

The University was among the biggest climbers of any UK university in national university rankings published in the Independent, the Times and the Sunday Times in 2009.

The University of Lincoln is estimated to be worth more than £200m to the local economy and has created at least 3,000 new jobs, according to a 2008 government report.

In 2005 the University won the East Midlands Regeneration Award from English Partnerships for its work in developing its Brayford Pool campus in Lincoln.

In 2004 the University opened the Great Central Warehouse Library which won the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) East Midlands Regeneration Award in 2005.

More than 90 different nationalities are represented among the student population on the Brayford Pool campus.

The University accepts 97 per cent of its full-time undergraduates from state schools or colleges.

16 per cent of undergraduates come to the University from neighbourhoods with traditionally low levels of participation in higher education.

Lincoln's main campus was the first new city centre university campus to be built in the UK in 25 years - the first building opened in 1996.