University of Essex International College launches

The first students to join the University of Essex International College helped celebrate its official opening.

The International College is a partnership between Kaplan International Pathways and the University of Essex offering degree preparation courses for international students.

Based at the University’s Colchester Campus, the International College has already welcomed more than 100 students and expects to grow to more than 200 by the end of the academic year with ambitious growth targets set for the coming years.

University of Essex Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster and Kaplan International Pathways Senior Vice President Andrew Thick joined students to officially cut the ribbon to open the new International College.

The University has invested £1m in refurbishing the Grade II listed former coach house which is now home to the International College. The building is just next door to the historic 18th century Wivenhoe House, the neighbouring four-star hotel, which was famously painted by John Constable.

Professor Forster said: “I am incredibly excited to be launching this ambitious partnership which will further extend the reach of this University.

“Many of these students will choose to move on to study for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees here at Essex so the success of the International College will support the success of the University as a whole.

“We’ve shown the importance of the International College to us by investing £1 million into this building to create wonderful learning spaces for our students.”

The refurbishment was led by the Estates team and delivered by Rose Builders and Phelan Construction.

Professor Forster added: “I would like to celebrate the fact this is the latest stage of a very successful partnership which we have forged with Kaplan, thanks to the work and vision of our Partnerships team.

“Since we joined forces 10 years ago to launch University of Essex Online we have continued work with Kaplan to innovate internationally. We’re delivering a growing range of Essex courses through Kaplan Singapore and now this extends our portfolio of partnerships even further."

Our existing Essex Pathways will continue to offer pathway programmes tailored for UK and EU students at Foundation level. Essex Pathways will also offer pre-sessional English for direct entry until this moves across to Kaplan for delivery in summer 2019.