Exeter and Pearson have announced a new international partnership to develop online degrees and international research collaboration.

University of Exeter and Pearson announce partnership to pioneer online degrees in UK

The University of Exeter and Pearson today announce a new international partnership to develop new online degrees and collaborate on international research. 

The partnership, an innovation in UK higher education, includes developing and launching new degree programmes which can be studied online.

Exeter and Pearson are currently researching the potential to deliver online post-graduate degrees in a variety of subjects. It is intended that courses will start as early as September 2016 and will involve a mixture of weekly interactive online teaching sessions with faculty, as well as digital content through the university's learning management system which will allow students, many of whom are expected to be studying around full-time jobs, to access resources at a time and place that suits them.

Students will experience high quality teaching from Exeter faculty and would be expected to meet the same exacting entry standards as students who take their courses in person.

Exeter and Pearson will also work together to research some of the biggest long-term issues affecting British higher education, including:

  • Degree Apprenticeships
  • Learning Gain in higher education
  • Current progression routes in to the higher education sector with a specific focus on BTEC (the vocational qualifications provided by Pearson)

Professor Janice Kay, Provost of the University of Exeter, said: “I am really excited by the possibilities that this new partnership offers both for Exeter and the wider sector. We will address some of the key topics under debate in both the UK and global higher education in parallel.  The University is already well-known for its innovative approach and global ambitions, and this initiative will help us realise our goals more quickly and effectively.

“Given the focus on widening access and participation within higher education identified by the Minister for Universities and Science in a recent speech, particularly for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people within society; this global leading partnership between the University and Pearson demonstrates how universities can innovate their education offer in the 21st Century digital age”.

Mark Anderson, UK Managing Director of Pearson said:  “The UK has one of the world’s best higher education systems thanks to great institutions like Exeter.  As digital technology revolutionises education, there is an opportunity to make the UK’s highest quality courses far more widely available. 

“Pearson has already successfully helped power online degrees across the US and in Australia.  We are very excited to be working with Exeter to keep the UK at the cutting edge of global higher education.”

The University of Exeter is positioned amongst the top one per cent of universities worldwide. In the latest influential Times Higher Education World University rankings, Exeter has broken into the top 100 for the first time, ranked 93rd,placing it among the very best institutions across the globe. Earlier this year, the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2015, which offers key insights into the scientific performance of 750 major universities worldwide, ranked the University sixth in the UK, eighth in Europe and top 40 in the world.

Pearson provides online services to approximately 40 universities in the United States including Arizona State University, and has recently begun to do the same at Monash and Griffith, two major Australian universities. 

In total around 200,000 students are enrolled in online degree programmes supported by Pearson around the world.

Date: 1 October 2015