ABERYSTWYTH University’s new campus on the paradise island of Mauritius has welcomed its first students.

Teaching began at the new campus on Friday, 16 October as the new building welcomed its first intake of undergraduates to its courses.

Aberystwyth University, which worked with Boston Campus Limited to build the modern campus which can cater for up to 2,000 students, has refused to say how many students formed the new intake.

Applications to study at the campus were still being accepted less than a week before the start of the development’s first term, sparking concerns that student numbers at the new venture are lower than expected.

The Mauritius branch offers undergraduate courses in Computer Science, Business, Accounting and Finance, and Law, and a postgraduate Masters degree in International Business.

Vice-Chancellor Professor April McMahon said: “The Government of Mauritius has ambitious plans to establish the country as an international knowledge hub and attract 100,000 students to study there over the next 10 years.

“At Aberystwyth University we are delighted to be playing our part in realising this vision.

“This development sits squarely with our strategic aims of ‘Creating opportunities’ and ‘Engaging the world’ by ‘pursuing collaboration nationally and globally’. “The Aberystwyth University Mauritius campus offers an excellent example of how we can enable those who value the quality of a UK degree to study at a regional hub or partner institution in a way that is affordable and accessible to them.”

Aberystwyth has become the third UK university to set up shop in Mauritius.

Middlesex University, which began teaching at its Mauritian campus at the beginning of 2010, has grown student numbers every year and now has 735 on its campus; while the University of Wolverhampton, which set up in Mauritius in 2012, currently has 123 students.

Dr David Poyton, Dean of Aberystwyth University Mauritius Branch Campus said: “This week has been a major milestone for everyone involved with the development of the new Aberystwyth campus here in Mauritius.

“The response from our first cohort of students has been excellent and I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this all possible.”

Boston Campus Limited, which paid for the build of the new campus near the capital Port Louis, will take a 50 per cent ownership stake alongside the university.

The fee income - of up to £6,000 a year per student - will be split equally between the two.

Plans for the campus were delayed for over a year, with university bosses originally wanting courses there to be up and running by September 2014.