Golden Rain Tree

by | Feb 6, 2018 | Medium Trees

How Can We Help?
You are here:
< Back

The London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) is a university in Whitechapel, London.[4] LIS was founded in 2017 and was the first new institution in the United Kingdom since the 1960s to hold degree-awarding powers from its opening.[5][6] The school offers undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees, as well as professional courses. LIS admitted its first cohort of undergraduate students in 2021,[7] and accepted its first cohort of master's students in 2022.

Organisation and administration

Status

LIS was registered at Companies House in 2017.[8] An order by the Office for Students, the UK's regulator of higher education, in 2020 gave LIS the power to award the specific taught degree of BASc (Hons) in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods from 27 September 2021 to 31 December 2024.[9] This regulatory approval also allowed students to pay fees using the national student loan scheme.[10] An amendment to this order in 2022 added the power to award Master of Arts and Science (MASc) degrees in Interdisciplinary Practice, and a further amendment in 2023 added the MASc in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods.[11]

As a teaching-focused institution, LIS stated that it intended to participate in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) but not the Research Excellence Framework[1]. However, it did not take part in the 2023 TEF.[12] While it holds taught degree awarding powers, it is not a university under British law.[12]

The institution has raised money from philanthropists and investors including the founders of Innocent Drinks and the peer-to-peer funding platform Funding Circle.[10][1] It was required to demonstrate financial security for at least five years as part of regulatory approval.[13] It also receives public funding via the Future Fund, supported by the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.[5]

Founders and leadership

LIS was co-founded by a handful of educationalists and entrepreneurs in 2017. The CEO, Ed Fidoe, was a manager at McKinsey & Company until leaving to co-found School 21 in 2012. School 21 is a London-based primary, secondary and high school that focuses on disadvantaged students and emphasises multi-disciplinary education and communication skills.[14][15][1] The Chair, Christopher Persson, is an entrepreneur who co-founded the online restaurant reservation service Bookatable.[5] Carl Gombrich, the Academic Lead, was a professor of Interdisciplinary Education at University College London and created its Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree.[1][14] Also, Alan Wilson acts as the institute's Director of Research and its Board Observer.[16] LIS has announced a strategic collaboration with emlyon, a French grande école, that will see emlyon investing in LIS.[17]

LIS has a Board of Directors providing oversight, an Academic Council, and an Executive Group which is responsible for operational issues.[8] The board members include Andrew Mullinger, co-founder of Funding Circle; Mary Curnock Cook, former CEO of the national university admissions service UCAS;[3] and formerly included writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik.[18] There is also an advisory group which includes corporate leaders and the Chief Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police and formerly included Daisy Christodoulou, author of Seven Myths about Education.[19][14]

Finances

Since opening in 2021, LIS has made operating losses of £2.2 million in 2021, £2.9 million in 2022 and £4.1 million in 2023. These have been offset by a share issue in 2023 that raised £13.4 million.[20].[21] In September 2033, emlyon took a shareholding in LIS.[22]

Academic profile

Course content and design

The curriculum for the BASc degree is designed around interdisciplinary problem solving, in contest to the traditional subject-based approach. [19]

Fellowship and external networking structure

The LIS fellowship programme beings in interdisciplinary practitioners to give at least one lecture annually at LIS. Notable fellows have included; social philosopher Steve Fuller, psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, artist Jasmine Pradissitto, ballerina and quantum physicist Merritt Moore, and biomedical engineer David Edwards.[23]

MASc students' complete Capstone Projects with external reviewers from industry or academia.[24][25]

LIS has internship[26] and industry connection schemes[27] with a variety of others. Notable partners have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NHS, John Lewis, TfL, UK Health Security Agency, KPMG, JamJar, Entrepreneur First, and emlyon.[27]

Reputation and rankings

LIS was given a quality and standards review by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in 2020. This looked at a range of issues, including course design, staffing, student involvement, and transparency. The report stated that the institution met all the criteria that were assessed, with high confidence.[8]

Paul Ashwin, Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University, has observed that the approach of the LIS has precedents in interdisciplinary polytechnic education and in the "new universities" created in the 1960s. He contrasts LIS' "coherent and carefully designed" approach against other attempts at interdisciplinary education that combine unrelated modules or which focus on generic skills. According to Ashwin "the underlying educational approach [of LIS] looks sound" but some elements of its marketing appeal to perceptions of "elite" higher education which themselves reinforce social inequality.[28]

The philosopher Tom Whyman approves of the goal of a polymathic education to prepare students to address complex problems, but questions whether the LIS will be truly polymathic. Whyman stresses that these problems have a political dimension and that solving them might involve radical changes to existing institutions such as major corporations or the police. Hence, he argues, students face a conflict of interest when the same powerful institutions they could be reforming are involved in their education and work placement.[29] Alex Beard, author of Natural Born Learners and director of the non-profit organisation Teach For All, says that the institution's choice of teaching staff "pitch[es] it firmly in the academic and rigorous, yet progressive and new space, which means it’s got a great chance of succeeding with students and policymakers alike."[19]

The World Economic Forum characterised LIS as an "innovative new concept in higher education" which "is taking a new approach to teaching and learning, with a cross-curricular focus on tackling the most important problems facing the world."[30] A leader in The Times observed "a familiar lament that the education system is too narrow for employers who need people who can solve complex problems that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries" and described it as "encouraging" that corporations are supporting the LIS in its polymathic approach.[31] "The Evening Standard has described LIS as a "revolutionary London university which aims to tackle real world problems".[15] Forbes argues that the multidisciplinary approach championed by LIS is more relevant to today's world than traditional higher education, which was designed for the industrial age: "The number of companies backing the venture highlights the desire for employees with a very different skillset to that produced by universities today."[14]

Admissions

Prospective undergraduate can apply through the university admissions service UCAS, as well as directly to LIS. Admissions to LIS are competitive, and decisions are not focused solely on grades but on each applicant's "background, circumstance and talent", though GCSEs and predicted A-Level grades or equivalent will still be taken into account. Every applicant is interviewed by a panel.[19][13][15] LIS give out conditional, contextual offers which take into account each applicant's starting point in life.[32][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Staufenberg, Jess. "You've set up a successful school. What next? Start a university, of course". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Meet the LIS Team". The London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Meet the LIS Team". londoninterdisciplinaryschool.org. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Student Life & Campus". London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Coughlan, Sean (29 October 2020). "New college opening with degrees with no subjects". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. ^ Bennett, Rosemary (1 March 2019). "Polymaths wanted at London Interdisciplinary School, Britain's first new university in 40 years". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. ^ Woolcock, Nicola (ed.). "Polymaths at the London Interdisciplinary School plan to teach universities a thing or two". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Quality and Standards Review for Providers Applying to Register with the Office for Students / London Interdisciplinary School Ltd / Review Report" (PDF). qaa.ac.uk. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. May 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "The Power to Award Degrees etc. (The London Interdisciplinary School Ltd) Order 2020". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 18 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b Jack, Andrew (11 November 2019). "Pioneering UK interdisciplinary university to open next autumn". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Degree awarding powers: orders made by the OfS". Office for Students. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  12. ^ a b "The London Interdisciplinary School Ltd". The OfS Register. Office for Students. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b Hazell, Will (27 November 2019). "The new university for polymaths which is planning to abolish traditional subjects". inews. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d Gaskell, Adi (2 April 2019). "Reinventing Education For The Future Of Work". Forbes. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Speare-Cole, Rebecca (21 September 2019). "London Interdisciplinary School: Applications set to open for new revolutionary university tackling today's real world problems". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Sir Alan Wilson - Faculty - LIS". The London Interdisciplinary School. The London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Stories | Announcing a strategic collaboration between London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) and emlyon business school". www.lis.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  18. ^ "People - THE LONDON INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOOL LTD". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Jenny (31 January 2020). "A new UK university focuses on "interdisciplinarity" to prepare students for the real world". Quartz. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  20. ^ "The London Interdisciplinary School Ltd Report and Annual Statements 31 July 2023". Companies House. 3 April 2024.
  21. ^ "The London Interdisciplinary School Ltd Report and Annual Statements 31 July 2022". Companies House. 14 March 2023.
  22. ^ "emlyon takes share in the London Interdisciplinary School". emlyon. 13 September 2023.
  23. ^ "The LIS - The Fellowship". The London Interdisiplinary School. The London Interdisiplinary School. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Master's Degree MASc - UK - LIS". The London Interdisciplinary School. The London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Master's Open Event Video - 2024". Zoom. The LIS. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Internships and Careers". The LIS. The LIS. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  27. ^ a b "LIS - Stories". The London Interdisciplinary School. The London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  28. ^ Ashwin, Paul (6 November 2020). "How radical is the educational offer of the London Interdisciplinary School?". HEPI.ac.uk. Higher Education Policy Institute. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  29. ^ Whyman, Tom (4 March 2019). "The world is in a bad way. Students need the skills to fix it". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  30. ^ Whiting, Kate (13 May 2019). "The first new university in the UK for 40 years is taking a very different approach to education". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  31. ^ "The Times view on the arrival of the London Interdisciplinary School: Fresh Thinking". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  32. ^ "Admissions". London Interdisciplinary School. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
Cite error: A list-defined reference named "course-content" is not used in the content (see the help page).

External links

51°31′01″N 0°04′03″W / 51.5169°N 0.0675°W / 51.5169; -0.0675

Categories
Table of Contents