Press Release
FRANCO-BRITISH STUDENT ALLIANCE SECOND ANNUAL SUMMIT
London & Oxford, 14-16 December 2006
Higher Education in Global Competition: are the French and British systems ready?
Around 300 British and French students, and 40 leading speakers, will meet at the Said Business School in Oxford on Friday 15 December to debate the merits of the French and British university systems in an international education marketplace. The debate is the central part of the second annual summit of the Franco-British Student Alliance (FBSA), which was founded in 2004 at the Château de Breteuil to mark the centennial celebrations of the Entente Cordiale. Uniquely, the Alliance has been granted the patronage of Her Majesty The Queen and the President of the French Republic.
The FBSA includes leading students, academics and young alumni of six universities and
grandes écoles (HEC, Sciences Po Paris, Polytechnique, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the London School of Economics and Political Science). T h e Alliance's aim is to galvanise positive Franco-British relations and to encourage joint initiatives between students and alumni by meeting regularly to address key contemporary issues such as higher education, poverty and development, security and defence, the environment and climate change.
The summit will be preceded on Thursday 14 December with a Christmas lunch at Westminster, and an opening gala at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Speakers at the gala and the 15 December summit will include: the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw, Lord Butler, Sir Christopher Mallaby, Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Sir Howard Davies, director of LSE, Professor Sir Roderick Floud, Vice-Chancellor of London Metropolitan University, Dr Bahram Bekhadnia, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, Prof. Colin Mayer, Dean of the Saïd Business School, M. Gérard Errera, French ambassador to the UK, the director of Invest in France M. Philippe Favre, John Thorhill, Europe editor of the Financial Times, etc.
Background
The First Franco-British Summit was held in Paris in October 2005. Students said: “I felt I was taking part in the students' Davos” (Richard, 3rd year undergraduate at Cambridge); “An incredibly stimulating event.” (Laura, post-graduate at Oxford).
‘Europe only works successfully when France and Britain see eye-to-eye and cooperate constructively. I hope that your discussions will lay the foundations for future partnership between our great countries.’The Rt. Hon. The Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of the University of Oxford
‘The Alliance allows students to share views on important topics such as the internationalisation of universities; funding, education and employability; and the role of universities in the French and British systems. We are looking forward to another summit of stimulating debate.’Yves Djimi, Founding president of the FBSA
‘The FBSA intends to honour its reputation for excellence and forward-thinking with its Second Summit in the oldest English-speaking university in the world. Under the guidance of leading academics, politicians and business leaders, the brightest students from six world-class institutions will be invited to think out of the box, and find innovative solutions to answer the challenges of our knowledge-based economies. Oxford was founded after Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, and it is now time, a century after the Entente Cordiale, to make Oxford home to a seminal Franco-British student summit on the future of higher education.’ Berny Sebe and Simon Day, Summit Organ
For a full programme, visit
To reserve a media place at the summit, please contact:
• Naomi Scherber-Ball (FBSA Oxford Press Officer) 07884430727 /
• Carole Magnaschi (FBSA Press Officer LSE branch) 0794 2027 330 /
Other contacts: Yves Djimi (Founding President): 0774 826 8214 / ; Berny Sèbe (Executive President): 0791 485 6691 / ; Simon Day (Oxford Summit President): 0780 0571 984 / .