Coventry University Group is planning to open a second campus in Kazakhstan, this time in Almaty, following the strong performance of its first campus in Astana, DKNews.kz reports.
Coventry University Kazakhstan officially opened in 2024, becoming the first British university in the capital city. Since then, student numbers have grown rapidly, and the university has set an ambitious goal to educate up to 3,500 students in the country.
The new campus in Almaty will once again be developed in partnership with Primus Education LLP. The initiative received full political backing from Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education, Sayasat Nurbek, during his visit to Coventry University’s main campus in the United Kingdom.
“We opened the first branch campus of Coventry University in Kazakhstan in 2024, and it has been a major success,” the Minister said. “The university has attracted strong international interest, with applications coming from Uzbekistan, China, France and Russia. We fully support the opening of a second campus and were impressed by the level of investment in engineering education in Coventry.”
Minister Nurbek also highlighted that Kazakhstan is among the first countries participating in OpenAI’s Education for Countries initiative, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence into national education systems to support both students and academic staff.
During the visit, the Minister toured Coventry University’s industry-standard engineering facilities, including full-motion flight simulators, a wind tunnel, Power Wall technology and the iconic Harrier Jump Jet used in teaching and research.
Why Almaty
According to Dr Miras Daulenov, President of Coventry University Kazakhstan, Almaty was chosen due to its industrial strength and regional connectivity.
“Almaty is more industrial than Astana and has strong links with China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,” he said. “This will allow us to support key areas such as electrical engineering, construction management, artificial intelligence and civil engineering. Our ambition is to establish a leading British university focused on engineering and AI in Central Asia.”
In just 21 months, Coventry University Kazakhstan has expanded from 95 to 428 students. Notably, 95% of current students had offers from foreign universities, but chose to study in Kazakhstan instead.
“Our faculty is growing rapidly, with international academic experience and strong research backgrounds. We are also preparing to register our first patent at Coventry University Kazakhstan,” Daulenov added.
Beyond the Almaty project, the university is also considering further expansion in Astana, aiming to become the only university in Kazakhstan with campuses in two major cities.
Strengthening Global Education Partnerships
Professor John Latham CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University and Group CEO, emphasized the importance of the partnership with Kazakhstan.
“It was a pleasure to welcome the Minister to Coventry and build on the strong relationship we already have with the Kazakhstan government,” he said. “Opening a second campus will allow even more talented students to benefit from our high-quality education as we continue creating better futures across the globe.”
The expansion of Coventry University reflects Kazakhstan’s growing role as a regional education hub, with a strong emphasis on engineering, digital transformation and artificial intelligence — areas seen as critical for the country’s long-term development.
