Working as a white label alongside university partners, it will develop online degree programmes tailored for students around the world.

“Demand cannot be met by conventional supply alone”

In its first act, the company has promised a ‘multi-million pound’ investment into the UK’s higher education sector. It has already partnered with Coventry University and is delivering two online courses for them in management leadership and management and professional accounting.

Rajay Naik, recently appointed CEO of Keypath Education’s European operations, said through online learning, the UK can meet global demand for higher education and bypass immigration policy.

“Demand cannot be met by conventional supply alone,” he told The PIE News.

“We can’t build brick and mortar universities on this planet to meet the demand in Singapore, Shanghai and Sao Paulo and so we have to do bricks and mortar as well as clicks and mortar.”

He added: “I do think there is a massive opportunity for us to fight back among some of the markets where we might have lost a bit of ground in the last few years.

“The obvious one is India; we’ve lost a lot because of the visa situation but this is our chance to go back to the markets and say look, Britain is open for business.”

“This is our chance to go back to the markets and say look, Britain is open for business”

The firm was formed in 1989 as PlattForm, and has worked with over 4,000 universities to launch programmes, grow enrolment and support students, with a focus on the UK, US and Australian markets.

Through its online degree programmes, Naik said that its university partners will be able to tap into other student markets worldwide.

“Students around the world want to study in the UK, US and Australia,” said Naik.

“The challenge many of them have of course is they don’t have the money to travel, the ability to leave their home or their job and in some cases struggle to get a visa in the UK, for instance.”

For UK universities, using Keypath’s services, the company invests “around seven figures”, according to Naik.

Keypath develops the online content, markets it around the world, and recruits the students. It also provides continuous student support for those enrolled.

“I think 2013 was the year of the MOOCs, and I think 2016/17 will be the year for online enabling,” Naik said.