ESOFT Metro campus has been in partnership with the UK’s top ranking Kingston University, London since five years offering Engineering degrees to students here. In this intake, five IT degrees are being launched, giving an opportunity to the students to get a British IT degree from a top ranked UK university at an affordable cost. Out of the UK universities operating in Sri Lanka, Kingston University of London holds the second best rank. The university’s strong elements are the IT faculty and Engineering faculty which offers world class globally recognised degree programmes. The five IT degrees offered will be catering to the sectors of IT field such as networking, software engineering, multimedia, data analytics and cyber security. 

Students can choose the area, on their interest, passion and according to the future employment goals. Also to the students who wish to transfer to UK, they have the option to do so as a part of the course, during the second year or in the final year. The first few semesters could be done in Sri Lanka where the students get the ability to acclimatize to the degree and then transfer, which will benefit them. The cost if the degree ispursued in UK will be much higher, but in ESOFT, students have the ability to obtain the same degree as offered in UK, with the same curriculum and recognition, at a much affordable cost which is one tenth of the cost if done in UK. The lectures are carried out by well qualified, subject specialists and there would be guest lecturers from Kingston University too.

Since this is the first intake for these five degree programmes, the Kingston University, London is granting 50% scholarships for 50 students. The eligibility depends on the Advanced Level Examination results and extracurricular activities of the student. They would be selected according to a selection criterion, and the minimum qualification a student should possess, is 3 Cs in any stream. This scholarship is offered only at ESOFT Metro Campus Head office in Colombo. The campus is equipped with best in class facilities, computers and software to train the students to meet the industrial requirements. Special attention is paid to ensure that the students are provided with the necessary skills to face the challenges and overcome them, succeeding in the IT industry.

The specialty of these degrees offered by Kingston University is the compulsory six month industrial placement after the second academic year. Through this, students are exposed to the IT industry to face the real challenges and get a taste of the first hand experiences. The final year could be completed by having the lectures on weekends, and this is a facility offered by ESOFT, so that students can continue their studies along with the employment. ESOFT offers these degree programmes at a very affordable cost where they grant the students the ability to make the payments in a monthly installment basis. Kingston University, London also offers Engineering Degree programmes; Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Students who have done Advanced Level in Maths stream can pursue these degrees directly and the students from other subject streams will first have to complete the foundation programme by ESOFT and then join the Engineering degree programme. 

The goal of ESOFT Metro Campus is to create entrepreneurs who bring value to the industry of information technology. Practical approach is given by ESOFT which ultimately affects their employability. Since ESOFT owns their own software company, they are constantly connected with the industry and these platforms are used. The research and development division of the software company updates the trends in the new evolving technology. So they ensure to cater to the skill development of the students.

HiruniDasanayake