Combined Universities in Cornwall

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The Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) is a project to provide higher education in Cornwall, one of the few counties in the United Kingdom not to have a university within its boundaries, and also one of the poorest areas of the country in terms of GDP per head. Developed in the early 2000s with funds from the European Union Objective One and the South West Regional Development Agency, the CUC serves to fight the "brain drain" of students to the rest of the United Kingdom. Historically most Cornish students have had to leave the county to obtain higher education, and then never returned to contribute their knowledge and skills to the Cornish economy. The establishment of CUC is itself a contribution to the expansion of the Cornish economy, and all proposed developments within the CUC umbrella are required to show how they will contribute to Cornish prosperity.

Like a number of other recent projects in UK higher education, CUC involves collaboration between several institutions, but it is probably unique in the number and range of institutions involved. It is conceived on a "hub and spokes" model, with different institutions offering different kinds of provision in different locations.

There are in fact two "hubs". One is the Tremough campus, originally developed for the then Falmouth College of Arts (now University College Falmouth, UCF). Here degrees are offered by UCF and by the University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus; the University of Exeter has international standard research teams located here. Halls of residence are provided, and the campus attracts students on a national and international basis, though it is also intended to be attractive to local students. The second hub is the "health spa" at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske site, which provides facilities for the Peninsula Medical School (a joint operation of the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth, and the National Health Service in Devon and Cornwall), and for the Institute of Health Studies of the University of Plymouth, which teaches nursing and other subjects allied to medicine.

The "rim" consists of a number of further education colleges, particularly Cornwall College and Truro College, which in addition to their subdegree work offer higher education courses (chiefly for foundation degrees) under franchise from the University of Plymouth. These are chiefly aimed at students resident in Cornwall who commute to classes, though there are some residential students.