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Wales’ biggest university has been criticised for “wasting taxpayers’ money” on a new satellite campus that attracted no students and shut down within a year of its launch.

The London Centre was unveiled by the University of South Wales (USW) last summer as a three-year project to extend its reach and tap into the lucrative financial district.

Based in the heart of London’s Docklands, the centre was designed to deliver a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional courses in the fields of law and financial services, and information security.

Changes in visa regulations

But the university struggled to drum up interest and less than a year after it opened doors, the London Centre has been closed and its resources shipped back to South Wales.

The university blamed new Home Office regulations for pulling the plug two years ahead of schedule.

A spokesman said: “The university explored a ‘proof of concept’ exercise that involved renting space under a hosted-facilities arrangement for USW’s own staff to teach its part-time courses in a small, highly-specialised range of professional disciplines.

“In part, the business case was predicated on recruiting international students. However, changes in visa regulations for universities recruiting to satellite delivery points introduced a level of complexity which impacted on the viability of the project.

“Therefore, withdrawing the London Centre project earlier than originally planned was a prudent decision taken due to changes in market conditions.”

Four staff employed

The spokesman confirmed that the centre did not recruit any students and four staff were employed for periods of between four and seven months in total.

He said the university did not pay any rent for its office space in the Docklands Academy, a private college established in 2009.

Shadow Education Minister Angela Burns she was “shocked” at the failure of USW’s London venture and “the waste of taxpayers’ money as a result of it”.

She said: “This raises questions about the decision-making involved in deciding to open a centre in London while the university is closing its Caerleon campus here in Wales.

“This is disappointing news in what is already an uncertain period for Welsh higher education.”