New City College and Queen Mary University enter new partnership

New City College and Queen Mary University of London have agreed a partnership that will open up opportunities to more local people to access high quality education.

Together, NCC and Queen Mary aim to open new pathways to education to learners irrespective of their backgrounds. In doing so, the partnership will help fill skills gaps locally, nationally and across the globe – ensuring that talent and ambition, wherever they are found, can be nurtured and developed.

The collaboration marks the beginning of what both organisations intend to be a long-term strategic partnership, built on their complementary strengths and closely aligned missions. Queen Mary’s 240-year ambition has always been to open the doors of opportunity through excellence to any student with the potential to succeed. New City College, meanwhile, is focused on widening opportunity, strengthening community impact, and deepening partnerships with higher education to support progression and aspiration.

Dr Alison Arnaud, Principal of New City College’s Tower Hamlets and Hackney campuses, said: “Further to many years of positive and productive work together, I am delighted that New City College and Queen Mary are now establishing this formal partnership. With initiatives designed specifically to benefit local people and open up opportunity across the UK and beyond, this partnership resonates firmly with our strategic aims and commitment to our local communities.

“New City College is the largest further education group in the country to be rated Outstanding by Ofsted and as such we are delighted to be formalising our partnership with the prestigious, Russell Group University, Queen Mary University of London.”

Dr Philippa Lloyd, Vice Principal for Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Queen Mary, said: “The signing of this memorandum of understanding is the first step in establishing a long-term, anchor partnership between Queen Mary and New City College, one of the country’s most influential further education groups. I am excited to see the partnership grow and help more people across East London and beyond reap the benefits of continuing their education.”

“The first step in this partnership will be to explore the development of a foundation degree pathway for UK students into Queen Mary’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Both organisations will also examine further areas where collaboration could bring meaningful benefits to learners, employers and the wider community.”

By formalising their relationship, Queen Mary and New City College are reinforcing a shared belief – that education transforms lives and drives economic growth. Through this partnership, more learners will be supported to progress confidently from further education into higher education and beyond, helping to build the skilled workforce of the future.

At the formal signing of the partnership were: Elvie-Jo Shergold, Director of Marketing and Widening Participation at Queen Mary, Dr Philippa Lloyd, Vice-Principal of Policy and Strategic Partnership at Queen Mary, Dr Alison Arnaud Principal at New City College, Dr Maggie Leggett, Director of External Relations at Queen Mary.