A Word from Our CEO, Murray Norton, June 2024

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned this but, is there some merit in Jersey having its own university?

A quick trawl of that written on the subject would suggest that there are clearly academic benefits to tailoring our own on-island faculties to provide for the labour-hungry sectors we have in the island, be that the visitor economy, financial and legal services, or our agricultural industry. And indeed, I acknowledge we do have some providers.

It appears that university towns have other benefits economically too, with increased local spending, added skills to the workforce, greater innovation possible corporate partnerships and greater diversification.

Were we to look at overseas students, I wonder if potential students around the globe, of International Financial or Legal services or as hospitality professions, would opt for a place that has a reputation of excellence in Financial and Legal Services, stunning local produce and restaurants, an hour from London or Paris – if we had the flights there – with more sunshine, beaches and bars/restaurants than most UK options. My guess is that Jersey would be a serious contender.

And for those local students, there must be some benefit and study locally grant upsides to retaining our future skilled workforce.

There is also the challenge that our hospitality sector has, whereby we currently seek out and fly in staff from the Caribbean, Kenya, the Philippines and other far-flung places. As far as I’m aware, many past students at Uni have done their bar/restaurant stints as a good income source and I’m certain that many venues would be keen to avoid the flight/recruitment/accommodation cost levels they currently have. Could we solve some problems here too?

I hear your – ‘Ah yes, but…’ arguments and the first of these must be where do we put a Uni and all these students? A good question and whilst I don’t have the immediate answers, is it worth us at least exploring the challenges to attract the youthful energy, cultural vibrancy and economic impacts that the University of Jersey could bring? If the focus was bringing in international students, you might like to read this 2021 report. Feasibility Study for Guernsey International University - Oxentia

To quote the Policy Centre Jersey research University education on-Island (policy.je)   :

‘The Oxentia report on Guernsey is relevant… In the Jersey context deciding on the location of a university could also prove to be an insurmountable hurdle.

However, in the longer term a “University of Jersey” should not be ruled out, but it would have to be built on a significant and well-established local institution or institutions already offering university-level education. The majority of UK universities started their lives as something other than a university and progressed to university status.’

So, if you were to build on the four existing higher education options (University College Jersey, BPP International Finance, The Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies and the Institute of Law Jersey) and attract new students to make it pay, all may stand or fall on where you put it. I see there are different plans for the unused white dome place above St Helier. Either way, just like tunnels, maybe we need another conversation on this soon.