Ulster University's Vice Chancellor is ‘confident’ to get the funding needed for the target of 10,000 students

Ulster University's Vice Chancellor is ‘confident’ the Magee Taskforce can acquire the funds to enable the campus to achieve 10,000 students by the end of the 2033 academic year.

The final report from the Magee Taskforce laid out the finances required to achieve this, with £149.84 million already in place; however, they still need to source £290.9 million to make it feasible to meet the ambition of 10,000 students at Magee.

According to the published report, there is a ceiling of 7000 students if the extra funding required is not acquired, but Vice Chancellor Paul Bartholomew is ‘optimistic’.

He said: “There is that number that represents what we are funded to do now, and as more and more things come on, that number will go up and up, so it represents the job to be done.

“From a capital point of view, it is changing dynamically to make what we can do, and so all working together, I think we can continue on that path, so yes, I am optimistic.”

The total resource cost of additional student places is set to become £35.4 million in the 2033 academic year, according to the report, with the current cost this year being £2.5 million.

Professor Bartholomew said: “Within Northern Ireland, students only draw from the Student Loan Company half the fees, and the rest comes from the Department for the Economy (DfE), so every time student numbers grow, it gives a bill to the DfE, so that was their bill this year to cover that, including those extra 500. 

“As you saw in the taskforce’s report, there that it was going up to £38 million, that is for the full tranche of additional students; that is how much it would cost per year to continue to pay that contribution towards student fees from the DfE.”

This is a major contribution by the DfE, which may see students contribute more towards the tuition fee in the future, something that the vice chancellor has supported in the past.

However, Professor Bartholomew did not confirm if this would be the case at the release of the final report.

He said: “It wouldn’t be for me to say.

“That is for politicians to decide on how they want them to pay that.”