Roehampton’s Vice-Chancellor speaks on panel at Develop Croydon Conference

• Friday, November 20, 2020

Roehampton's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard addressed a high-profile conference on the regeneration of Croydon, to outline the benefits of the University's new partnership with Croydon College.

Professor Ezingeard sat on panel for the Education Foundations: The next steps for Croydon’s skills sector session. Speakers on the panel remarked that the London Borough of Croydon has more young people than any other borough - 123,000 residents under 18 - and that it has been underserved from an educational perspective for many years. Professor Ezingeard responded that the borough is currently Roehampton's second largest source of students, and that the partnership will offer further opportunities to students of all ages wishing to stay local, offering them pathways to good jobs via degree courses. He emphasised that excellent teaching is one part of the story, the other being the support and pastoral care available to students, for which Roehampton is well known.  

Caireen Mitchell, Principal of Croydon College, told delegates that university applications were currently in decline among her students, a trend that pre-dates the pandemic. In her view, offering Roehampton degrees from within the college will be an appealing alternative to the major commitment of moving away to university, which can deter students from progressing to their full potential.

The partnership, which will begin with the launch of Roehampton's Adult Nursing BSc alongside Roehampton validated degree courses in September 2021, aims to help the borough meet the needs of the local community, economy and employers. 

This year the Develop Croydon Conference debated how the borough can continue to build future foundations to ensure it benefits both the environment, the economy, its residents and businesses. The event was held on Thursday 19 November, on Zoom.