The new centre will provide guidance on enrolment, administration, moving recommendations, student mobility programs for students, researchers and institutions participating in a mobility project.

It was inaugurated with a ceremony whose speakers included by the ambassador of France to the UK Jean-Pierre Jouyet, general director of Campus France Béatrice Khaiat, UUKi director Vivienne Stern.

“I am certain that [France] will continue to grow as a top destination for international students”

“I am delighted that Campus France is opening a London-based office. This reflects the growing demand of the British youth which, more than ever, is interested in receiving an excellent university education in France. This office will serve as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all their needs and questions,” Jean-Pierre Jouyet, ambassador of France to the UK said in a statement.

“France has always been an attractive place to study, and I am certain that in the future, it will continue to grow as a top destination for international students.”

Beyond advancing the new internationalisation strategy Choose France, one of the strategic priorities for the new UK centre was support for the UUKi Go International: Stand Out campaign, which aims to double outward mobility rates for UK students by 2020, by encouraging more UK students to study in France.

“We are delighted to welcome campus France to the UK. Our missions are aligned, particularly around our commitment to encouraging more UK students to study, work or volunteer abroad, and we look forward to working together,” UUKi director Vivienne Stern told The PIE News.

We have to double the number of British students to study abroad we want Campus France to help us achieve this goal said @viviennestern director of Universities UK I during the inauguration act of @CampusFrance UK…. it’s a deal ! answered back @BeatriceKhaiat CEO @UUKIntl pic.twitter.com/z47nXUAuAX

— Olivier Chiche (@OlivierChiche) May 10, 2019

In a statement, Campus France explained that there is room for improvement in encouraging UK students to study in France, as the flow of students between the two countries is unbalanced: while France welcomes about 4,000 British students each year, more than 12,000 French students study in the UK.

The inauguration was also an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of the relationship between France and the UK in Higher Education and Research, with another strategic priority being support and guidance for the sector through and after Brexit, it added.