The University of Buckingham, in partnership with an Indian healthcare provider, has bought Manchester Metropolitan University’s Crewe campus.

The private university will redevelop the 40-acre site as a health science campus and offer biomedical and podiatry degrees.

Apollo Buckingham Health Sciences Campus, a partnership between Buckingham and Indian healthcare conglomerate Apollo Hospital Enterprises, will open in September 2019, after Manchester Metropolitan’s last students leave in the summer. The deal also involves Crewe-based Unique Childrens Community Interest Company.

MMU announced that it would be leaving the site in 2016, saying that the campus was “no longer academically or financially sustainable”.

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Under the banner of University of Buckingham Health Sciences, students will take either a two-year biomedical science degree or a two and a half year podiatry degree. Third-year students will be offered 36-week placements in hospitals and GP surgeries across the north west. The campus will also provide one-year medical foundation degrees.

In a statement, the University of Buckingham said that the project would create 500 new jobs, with the goal to reach the site’s 5,000-student capacity by 2024. 

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Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, said that he was “excited” the university was extending north.

“Crewe is an incredibly promising town with huge potential. If we are able to play a part in the rejuvenation of the town and its surrounding areas, as we plan to do, we’d be delighted,” he said.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com