Glasgow International College will provide integrated academic and English language courses to set up students for undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in a range of disciplines, including management, engineering, science and social sciences.

After completing their studies at GIC, the students will be eligible to enter the second or third year of an undergraduate degree course, depending on the programme studied and providing they meet the academic standard required.

The college’s first intake of around 250 should start next September. By the time the college is fully established, in 2011, the intake figure is expected to be 800.

The project will be run by Kaplan International Colleges in collaboration with Glasgow University and will be located in a university building on Dumbarton Road.

Professor Andrea Nolan, vice-principal of teaching and learning at the university, said: “We want to prepare our students, whether from the UK or overseas, for the global marketplace. While we’re increasing opportunities for our students to study and work abroad, increasing our international student numbers is an ideal way to bring benefits to all our students.

“The university wants students at Glasgow International College to play a full part in student and campus life. Their presence, like that of all our international students, offers the potential to enrich the social, educational and future professional networks of students.

“Coupled with the Scottish Executive’s Fresh Talent scheme, it will also allow us to attract and retain the best people from around the world - which is of enormous economic benefit to the city and the country as a whole.”

The strength of the GIC arrangement is that it prepares students in the local environment, and in collaboration with the university, for eventual study as University of Glasgow students, she said. A major objective of the model was to facilitate integration and progression onto its degree programmes.

Charles Hall, the managing director of Kaplan International Colleges, said:

“We are delighted to be working with the University of Glasgow to create an international college in Scotland that will provide a tailored and flexible academic programme to international students. The university has a strong international brand and we are pleased to make available Kaplan’s growing global recruitment capability and experience of working with international students.”

The China connection

Aberdeen University has signed an agreement to work more closely with Wuhan University in China. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the universities will create joint undergraduate business degree programmes in management studies, entrepreneurship and economics at Aberdeen. Some 30 to 45 Wuhan students will study for two years in China, with links to Aberdeen staff, in preparation for a further two years residency in Aberdeen.