{"id":19214,"date":"2024-12-16T15:51:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/student-expansion-will-be-transformative-for-north-west\/"},"modified":"2024-12-16T15:51:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:51:48","slug":"student-expansion-will-be-transformative-for-north-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/student-expansion-will-be-transformative-for-north-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Student expansion ‘will be transformative’ for north west"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Increasing student numbers at Ulster University’s Londonderry campus by 2032 will help address regional imbalance and be “transformative” for the north west, according to a new report.<\/p>\n

It was published on Monday by the taskforce set up in March by Economy Minister Conor Murphy to develop an action plan to expand the Magee campus.<\/p>\n

The report said boosting student numbers in Derry from 6,000 to 10,000 would help create more than 4,600 jobs across Northern Ireland, with more than half of those in the north west.<\/p>\n

Key to the expansion was investment and addressing the shortage of student accommodation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The report stated that establishing a 10,000-student university would see the “investment return as soon as 2029 with a \u00a3258m annual return on this investment for each year beyond that”.<\/p>\n

The taskforce, chaired by Manufacturing NI chief executive Stephen Kelly, is made up of members from the community and voluntary sectors and from government and local government. <\/p>\n

The 10,000 student target was included in New Decade, New Approach (NDNA), which restored Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive in 2020.<\/p>\n

An interim report, published in September<\/a>, stated that about \u00a3700m is needed for new teaching blocks, research space and student accommodation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Kelly described the expansion of the campus as “the most important catalyst for the regeneration of the north west “, but said it had to be resourced and supported at all levels of government.<\/p>\n

“A sense of urgency must now accompany the delivery of this plan,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What’s in the report?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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