ABERYSTWYTH University’s failed exotic venture of building a campus on the paradise island of Mauritius lost the institution over £1m in a little over two years, the Cambrian News can reveal.

As the university embarks on another two-year cost-cutting exercises against a backdrop of “huge financial pressures”, the institution’s accounts for 2016/17 show that the Mauritius failure chalked up losses of £1,017,587 between 2015 and 2017.

The university’s accounts for 2015/16 showed that the campus brought in just £173,000 in tuition fees - of which the university received just £40,887 due to their partnership with Boston Campus Limited on the project.

With staffing costs, Aberystwyth University incurred a net expenditure that year for running the campus of £375,000.

While last year an Aberystwyth University spokesperson told the Cambrian News that the Mauritius campus was a “long-term investment” and that the project was “on target and being delivered within a planned budget”, the project has been canned after posting a loss of £642,587 in 2016/17.

The university said last year that it “will continue to build on these sound early foundations and expect in the years ahead to see a return on our investment not only in financial terms but also levels of student success and satisfaction”.

Just 12 months later and the university has decided not to accept enrolment in March and will only continue to operate until all existing students have graduated.

Built to accommodate 2,000 students, it enrolled just 146 students over its first two years.

Despite the Mauritius campus bringing in £484,443 in tuition fees in 2016/17, the university’s arrangement with its partner Boston Campus Limited saw it take just £12,571 of that, the accounts show.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday