There is an ongoing tension across tertiary education – seen particularly in merged or federated further education college groups over the past couple of decades – between a desire for geographical coverage (good for local economies and good for local access), and the economies of scale you get from operating big, multidisciplinary city campuses.
So when its partnership with a large healthcare provider in India took over the campus and the 800-bed hall of residence at the former Crewe campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, one of the questions surrounding the University of Buckingham’s plans for a new medical school 120 miles from home was whether (and when) it would hit ambitious student numbers goals to fund any financial commitments entered into as part of the deal.
