Becoming a partner of the University of Plymouth

Information on how to become one of our higher education partners
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Collaboration helps provide opportunities for students, research and business development that no one institution can provide alone.
The University of Plymouth has a long tradition of working in partnership with other institutions to deliver Higher Education opportunities. While we welcome proposals from the UK and internationally to extend our range of partnerships, every year we receive many such opportunities to consider. Therefore, we can only prioritise a small number to explore in detail. The University is particularly interested in partnerships that combine teaching, research and enterprise components. Please see our Research and expertise section.
We work with established higher education (HE) partners (colleges, commercial, non-profit and specialist organisations) in the UK and internationally who share our ambitions, values and aspirations and for UK institutions. Potential UK delivery partners must be OfS registered. Our vision of collaboration is a two-way process providing mutual support to enhance opportunities for students, research and/or business development.
We don't require an exclusive relationship to become a partner institution. We believe that partnership arrangements should reflect the shared and unique mission, situation and strategic direction of both institutions. Plymouth Global and Partnerships (Academic Registry) works to ensure that both the University and partner institutions achieve high quality delivery and mutually beneficial long-term relationships.
 

Exploring potential partnerships

We operate various types of teaching delivery partnership model here, including:
  • Co-designed and co-delivered awards
  • Accreditation of awards designed by partners, with a contribution to the delivery from the University of Plymouth
  • Accreditation of awards designed and delivered by partners, with no access to University of Plymouth resources or systems. This is commonly used with specialist or niche providers and large scale or long-standing higher education delivery institutions.
The University provides a taxonomy for these arrangements, which you're advised to consider as a basis for pursuing any collaborative venture.

First steps

We've designed the initial enquiry form to help you, as a potential partner, identify institutional compatibility with the University. It provides an outline of the type of evidence we'd use to assess and prioritise potential partnership development. The document is required to allow a range of staff to consider your initial proposal. Please download and complete the form (PDF), then send it to articulations@plymouth.ac.uk.
When you contact us about a potential partnership, it'd be helpful if you outlined a narrative and supporting documentation indicating:
  • how your current HE activity or provision relates to the criteria outlined in the enquiry template
  • how your future HE aspirations relate to this profile
  • how research and/or business development opportunities add to the overall proposal. 
If you feel there isn't a complete match with the criteria, please indicate plans and timescales over which you'd anticipate a closer match being achieved.
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