Focus on student accommodation as Magee project enters ‘critical phase’

A working group will be established to deliver the accommodation needed to help Ulster University’s campus in Londonderry expand to its target of 10,000 students, the economy minister has said.

Caoimhe Archibald was speaking as the Magee Taskforce, the group working towards the target, said they were entering a “critical phrase” in their plans.

The Derry campus, formerly known as Magee, currently has a record 6,500 students but student accommodation has been one of the largest obstacles to further expansion.

Archibald said the university now has all the land it needs to make up the 3,500 shortfall in the ambition for10,000 students.

“Since the executive was restored in 2024 my department has prioritised investment in Magee and student numbers have increased by 22% since then to over 6,500,” she said.

“We have also secured all the land needed to meet the target of 10,000 students.

“This is significant progress and it has been achieved by the community coming together in the taskforce under a common plan.”

Taskforce chairman Stephen Kelly said it was essential that the funding and structures for a £400m capital programme were put in place to facilitate the expansion.

The university’s vice chancellor Paul Bartholomew previously warned that further student growth was dependent on new teaching space and student accommodation.

Last October, a senior university official warned that a “chronic undersupply of student accommodation” posed a risk to Ulster University’s expansion plans.

Gareth Kennedy, interim director of campus life at Magee, also said there was a “substantial” waiting list of students seeking accommodation in Derry.