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The Institute of Education (IOE) and University College London (UCL) have yesterday agreed to enter into a formal strategic partnership to assess the potential for a step-change in the institutions' contributions to education and social science, in London, nationally and globally.

A joint steering group, which will be co-chaired by a senior member of staff from both institutions, has been established to oversee development of the relationship. It will report regularly to each Council on progress, with a view to making recommendations on options for the long-term development of effective relationships by March 2013.

The relationship will initially focus on five areas:
• Research Development:  extending collaboration between already established research activities and centres in order to develop secure synergies and extend quality, impact and reach;
• Research Innovation: developing new work in areas where each organisation already has strengths in order to develop innovative and significant programmes of research;
• Teaching innovation and development:  consolidating teaching quality, developing pedagogy and opening new areas of work nationally and internationally;
• Developing a highly distinctive model for education in a world city by establishing a formal framework for school improvement and teacher development. This could include the creation of a London Education Trust, operating across Central London as a vehicle for broadening the scope, range and quality of educational provision across the capital;
• Developing coherent and unified administrative and professional services in order to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

Professor Chris Husbands, Director of the IOE, said: "The potential synergy between our two institutions is enormous. UCL is a world-leading university and one of the UK's leading institutions of higher education, and the IOE is a world-leading centre for research and teaching in education and social sciences. Our geographical proximity, complementary missions and range of intellectual and academic resources offer rich opportunities for collaboration. We are keen to develop a truly strategic partnership that respects and builds upon the vibrancy and unique strengths of both organisations."

Professor Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of UCL said: "This is a truly exciting initiative. There are many areas in which both of our institutions are world-leading and already enjoy close collaborative links, such as in population studies, quantitative social sciences and educational neuroscience. We envisage that the proposed partnership will not only build on these, but open up wholly new themes and opportunities.

"The role that education plays in developing well-functioning and healthy societies is universally acknowledged, and we at UCL believe that our responsibilities extend well beyond our own walls, hence our newly opened UCL Academy, the first ever to be wholly sponsored by a university. It is providing its students and staff with a close engagement with UCL staff and students, and exposure from an early age to university life, challenges and opportunities. We look forward to building more widely on this experience in a unique partnership with the Institute of Education."

Notes for Editors

About the IOE

The Instituteof Educationis a college of the Universityof Londonthat specialises in education and related areas of social science and professional practice. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise two-thirds of the Institute's research activity was judged to be internationally significant and over a third was judged to be "world leading". The Institute was recognised by Ofsted in 2010 for its "high quality" initial teacher training programmes that inspire its students "to want to be outstanding teachers". The IOE is a member of the 1994 Group, which brings together 15 internationally renowned, research-intensive universities.  For more information please contact Diane Hofkins in the IOE press office, on 020 7911 5423, d.hofkins@ioe.ac.uk   www.ioe.ac.uk Follow us on Twitter@IOE_London

About UCL (University College London)

Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxfordand Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL currently has 24,000 students from almost 140 countries, and more than 9,500 employees. Our annual income is over £800 million. For more information, contact Dominique Fourniol on 07881 833 274. www.ucl.ac.uk  Follow us on Twitter @uclnews.