Press release

15 February 2000

Major project launched to develop higher education on the internet.

The first steps are being taken to establish a new way of providing higher education programmes through web-based learning. The project's working title is "e-University".

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), working in partnership with the other UK higher education funding bodies, is launching a collaborative project designed to give UK higher education the capacity to compete globally with the major virtual and corporate universities being developed in the United States and elsewhere.

The project will help expand the UK's share of the overseas higher education market, and increase the range of continuing professional development and vocational courses in the UK.

The key characteristics of the project are:

It will establish a new vehicle for delivering higher education programmes through web-based learning.
That vehicle would be jointly owned, established and operated by a consortium of higher education institutions, working with private sector and overseas partners. The project is not designed to set up a new, self-standing HE institution, but will draw on the expertise of existing HE institutions.
It will focus on meeting expanding demand for HE programmes both in the UK and overseas.
It will be established on a scale that will enable it to compete internationally.
It will be established with a central core of founder members, but also involving other HE institutions who wish to take part and who can demonstrate that they have a high quality contribution to make.
It will be identified as a provider of the highest quality, both in its programmes and in the student support structures that underpin them, maintaining and enhancing the international reputation of UK higher education.

Brian Fender, Chief Executive of the HEFCE, said:

"The UK has a strong track record of world-leading initiatives in the use of new technologies in higher education. This project is designed to harness the potential of the whole of the higher education sector in providing high quality courses in these new markets".

"Many individual higher education institutions are seeking to develop web-based applications on their own or in groups. By working together in a partnership, we can pool the resources and expertise needed to exploit more fully than any single institution can the huge possibilities offered by new technologies and the internet in particular to establish a world class provider with global reach".

ENDS

For further information, contact Philip Walker (0117 931 7363) or Julian Burnell 0117 931 7431 at HEFCE.

Notes

1. The HEFCE is writing to all HE institutions with further information about the project; that information is available on the HEFCE website.

2. The launch of the project was welcomed by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett, in a speech given at the University of Greenwich on 15 February; for details contact Kate Omrod, 0171 925 5373 kate.omrod@dfee.gov.uk

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