The new school will offer NCUK’s International Foundation Year and International Year One, and also partners with the Collège de Paris network.

Launched in June, The Royal Colosseum offers foundation, bachelor and master courses accredited by universities from UK, France, New Zealand and Australia, and aims to help students access global higher education opportunities.

In late 2020, NCUK announced a significant partnership with Education New Zealand to enable students in more than 30 countries to access education at the country’s eight universities while borders remain closed as a result of the pandemic.

Former NCUK chief executive John Brewer noted at the time that the organisation’s qualifications “provide students with the flexibility to start their education journey in their home country and then choose when they travel to study at any one of New Zealand’s world leading universities”.

Stuart Smith, who took over as NCUK chief executive officer in July 2021, visited The Royal Colosseum campus in June as the new partnership was formalised.

“Visiting Pakistan and joining the staff from The Royal Colosseum as well as other representatives from higher education for these launch activities has been a great honour and I would like to thank everyone for the hard work and efforts that have gone into making this a success,” he said.

“It was wonderful to join in person and I’m looking forward to how our partnership develops.”

The consortium has also revealed a new pre-university qualification to allow students to gain entry to business programs at the University of Kent and Leeds Beckett University.

In 2021, the Learning Resource Network partnered with Extreme Commerce Magna Carta College to offer UK qualifications in Pakistan, while testing providers OET and Pearson opened test venues in 2019.

Education agency IDP announced centres in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi that same year.

“The Royal Colosseum has worked hard to ensure that our partnership is a success”

HESA statistics show that UK universities hosted 12,975 students from Pakistan in 2020/21, up from 6,295 in 2014/15.

NCUK associate director for East, Southeast and South Asia Region, David Hodgson, added that with the “fit-for-purpose premises” set to begin being used by students in September, TRC has “gone above and beyond”.

“The Royal Colosseum has worked hard to ensure that our partnership is a success,” Hodgson noted.

“I foresee more great things to come and will be working with The Royal Colosseum along with other NCUK colleagues to achieve our goals and support more students from Pakistan in achieving their study abroad dream.”