GSM London (formerly Greenwich School of Management (GSoM)) was a private provider of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

based in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, south-east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and Greenford, west London. Founded in 1973,Sean O'Hare
Greenwich School of Management guide
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', 7 July 2011 it offered business-specific courses at

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

levels alongside other specialist training, and catered to a large number of

international student International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

s. As of 2019, GSM London had educated over 20,000 students. It was owned by the

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

Sovereign Capital. On 30 July 2019, GSM London was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

, and ceased all teaching and student support services by the end of November 2019.

Courses

GSM London offered two-year accelerated courses alongside standard three-year study periods, depending on the course chosen. Foundation-level courses were also available as part of an extended degree programme.UCAS website
/ref> It operated three annual intake periods in February, June and October. Its courses catered to undergraduates, postgraduates, professionals, international students and those looking to improve their

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

skills for business or further education. GSM London's specialisms included

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

human resource management Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize e ...

, travel and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

, as well as LL.B. and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degrees.

Campuses

GSM London operated three campuses across London. Its headquarters was at Meridian House in Greenwich, part of the former Greenwich Town Hall complex. The building has a distinctive brick clock tower and was built in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style in 1939. Another campus opened in Greenford in the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in London, England. It comprises the districts of Acton, London, Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall. With a population of 367,100 inhabitants, i ...

, equipped with technologically-focused amenities. It also operated at the

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

Study Centre in the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...

, close to Borough Underground station and

The Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey mixed-use development supertall pyramid-shaped skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that for ...

Partnerships

GSM London’s degrees were validated and awarded by the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

between 2006-2019. The college had no connections with the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along wi ...

, also based in Greenwich.

Panorama investigation

In November 2017 a BBC ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' investigation uncovered how the third party agents, Future Leaders Academy (FLA), working with GSM, were recruiting bogus students so they could claim student loans they were not entitled to. The investigation also alleged that the agents supplied fraudulent qualifications, offered to sell coursework and were able to "fake attendance". In reaction to the BBC investigation which was broadcast on 13 November 2017, GSM announced that it had immediately suspended their contract with FLA and had instructed external experts to assist the college in an investigation of the matter.

Administration and closure

GSM had

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

injections totalling approximately £22m between late 2016 and summer 2019. However the college was not able to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of students to generate enough revenue to be sustainable. On 30 July 2019, GSM London was placed into

. All teaching and student support services ceased by the end of November 2019. Existing students were offered the option to transfer to other universities to complete their studies.

References

External links

* *

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...

Reviews and investigation reports for GSM London
{{coord, 51.4781, -0.0109, type:edu_region:GB, display=title Educational institutions established in 1973 Education in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Higher education colleges in London Business schools in England Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom 1973 establishments in England