With about two dozen London campuses opened by UK universities in the past 15 years, it is fair to wonder whether the market is becoming oversaturated – a challenge De Montfort University is hoping to overcome.
Its new outpost in the east of the capital is just a stone’s throw away from similar offerings from the universities of Coventry and Northumbria – while Nottingham Trent is even based in the same building.
The universities of Liverpool, Newcastle and East Anglia have all previously launched campuses in the city, only to close a few years later – while the buildings have been labelled by unions as “vanity projects”.
But speaking at the official launch of the Whitechapel site, Katie Normington, DMU vice-chancellor, told Times Higher Education that several demographic factors are in the institution’s favour.
“If you look at Ucas data, 5 per cent more undergraduates applied to London this year, against 1 per cent in East Midlands, so we’re still seeing that growth of demand.
