Member Article

London School of Marketing unveils global plans

The London School of Marketing (LSM) has responded to the Government’s change in immigration policies by unveiling plans to open over 310 international study access points for their portfolio of British qualifications.

LSM is already the largest supplier of professional marketing courses in the UK, and now plans to become Britain’s first global higher education provider by opening an access point in almost every country in the world within the next five years.

Students can interact directly with British academics and gain a quality learning experience very similar to the one that they would have gained by travelling into the UK, but at a fraction of the cost.

The move follows the implementation of stricter immigration controls by Home Secretary Theresa May, which included tightening up visa procedures for overseas students travelling studying in the UK under Tier 4 student visas.

The plans will see the LSM become one of the largest educational institutions in the world with more overseas campuses than any other UK Higher Education Institution.

The school currently offers courses to more than 5,000 students, the majority of whom come from overseas, in particular South East Asia and the Middle East with growing markets in Africa and Americas, whilst catering for European markets from their base in London

They plan to increase this number to 12,000 in four years, with each student paying between three and five thousand pounds.

They have already opened 35 centres overseas, including hubs in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Dubai, UAE.

They now plan to roll out a further 275 centres over the next four years with a further 35 opening this year, 70 in each of the following two years and a further 100 in 2017.

These Local Access Points (LAPs) allow students from every continent to obtain a British qualification without having to travel to the UK.

Anton Dominique CFO at London School of Marketing said: “You cannot underestimate the power of a British qualification.

“Degrees from the UK are internationally renowned for their quality and integrity, I would go as far as saying it is one of the country’s greatest assets.

“It was extremely important for us that we work with the Government’s policy and not against it. Some universities have set up campuses in a couple of countries around the world, however no institution in the UK is doing it on such a large scale as us.

“We often hear about exporting British education but far too often it means students have to travel to the UK to get it. That’s not what ‘exporting’ means in my dictionary.

“Also not everyone can afford to pay for a qualification – with many universities charging in excess of £10,000 per year from international students - and move here at the same time.

“Many of our students are working at the same time in their own countries, so to expect them to leave their job is unthinkable. The majority of our students are professionals in work who are looking to expand their career prospects by gaining further qualifications.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .