Calling Now: Join Us as a Founding Professor!

Become a Founding Professor at University.co.uk

An invitation from William Hill

I started University.co.uk with a question that would not quite leave me alone:

Why is so much of the best thinking in the world still behind gates of money, geography and culture when so many people could benefit from it?

I’m William Hill. I’ve spent the past few years moving between medical schools, charities, mental health organisations and a school in rural Uganda. I’ve been a visiting lecturer, a trustee alongside doctors from Oxford and Harvard, a strategic adviser to Student Minds, and a co-founder of Brave Kids Academy.

On paper, these roles are quite different. In reality, they all pointed to the same quiet truth: education changes what people believe is possible for their lives and access to good education is still uneven and fragile.

University.co.uk is my attempt, with a small team, to do something practical about that. And this is an invitation for you to become one of our Founding Professors.

Who we are

A few years ago I met David Newns, a fellow entrepreneur from Blackpool. David has built and sold companies in regulated industries and spent years inside FTSE 100 boardrooms. Not long after, I met Robert Pickersgill, a mathematician from St Andrews who started a successful digital marketing business while still a student.

Together, the three of us began to explore what a new kind of university might look like. We went a long way down that path – thinking about accreditation, degree structures and regulation under the banner of “The School of Innovation”.

We were later joined by David Few (Senior) and David Few (Junior) from Jack StudyAbroad, who brought decades of experience helping students from across Asia access British universities. They reminded us what British higher education looks like from the outside: powerful, but often distant and expensive.

Then the Office for Students paused new degree-awarding powers applications.

It was a moment of clarity. We could spend years focused on process and paperwork – or we could change sequence and focus on the learners and professors first.

So we chose a different order.

Instead of starting with accreditation and buildings, we would start with courses, professors, learners and community – and let the institutional piece follow.

That decision became University.co.uk.

What we are building

University.co.uk sits somewhere between the lecture hall and a premium streaming platform.

• Courses are around four hours long.

• They are taught by professors from British universities.

• They are filmed to a high standard, but the heart of it is still the teaching.

• They are designed for curious adults: professionals, lifelong learners, and people who have never seen themselves as “degree material”, but who would like to explore serious ideas.

  
  

Our commitments are straightforward:

• Champion and celebrate British universities, rather than replace them.

• Protect academic freedom, giving space to honest, careful thinking.

• Conserve at-risk knowledge, especially in subjects under financial pressure.

• Democratise access, making university-level teaching available far beyond campus gates.

• Design for everyone, including neurodivergent and disabled learners.

  
  

We are aiming to launch in early 2026. Before we do, we want to work with a small group of professors who will help set the tone.

What is a Founding Professor?

A Founding Professor is one of the first ten professors to create a course for University.co.uk.

You will:

• Be one of the initial faces and voices of the platform.

• Help shape the standard for what a University.co.uk course feels like.

• Hold the title of Founding Professor on the platform – a status that will remain as we grow.

In practical terms, it means collaborating with us to design and film one flagship course, in your area of expertise, that you believe would speak to a global audience of curious learners.

Why we are asking you

British universities are under pressure. Departments are closing. Certain kinds of knowledge, often the most quietly important, risk being squeezed out by funding formulas, league tables and short-term metrics.

At the same time, there are people across the UK and around the world who would never normally sit in your lecture theatre, but who would benefit immensely from hearing you explain the subject you’ve spent your life studying.

We’re building a space where you can:

• Teach the course you’ve always wanted to teach, without worrying about module handbooks, credit frameworks or recruitment targets.

• Reach learners far beyond your campus, including those who will never attend a traditional university.

• Preserve and share your field, especially if it is niche, under-resourced or at risk of being cut.

• Speak freely, in an environment that is politically agnostic and guided by scholarly standards, not soundbites.

• 
  

If you care deeply about your subject and about teaching, this is for you.

How it works: practicalities

We want this to be simple and respectful of your time.

1. One filming day in Manchester

We will invite you to Manchester for a single filming day.

• We’ll work with you beforehand on structure, pacing and visual approach.

• On the day, you’ll work with a small production team used to filming academics and experts.

• Expenses are subsidised, so you’re not out of pocket.

  
  

2. Support with course design

You bring the subject and the intellectual backbone; we help with:

• Breaking a four-hour course into clear, engaging chapters or “episodes”.

• Structuring explanations for a broader, international audience.

• Light scaffolding such as reflection prompts or simple comprehension checks, if you wish.

  
  

We are not here to tell you what to say; only to help you say it in a way that travels well.

3. Revenue share and lifetime royalties

Your course will be offered on a paid basis to learners around the world.

• We operate on a revenue share model.

• You will receive a lifetime royalty on each sale of your course.

  
  

The idea is simple: if your course continues to be watched and valued, you should continue to share in the benefit.

What you gain as a Founding Professor

Beyond the immediate practicalities, there are deeper reasons to consider this.

• A lasting contribution: Your course can continue to teach long after a particular timetable, department or funding line has changed.

  
  

• A wider audience: You can teach people who would never otherwise cross your path.

  
  

• Professional visibility: As one of the first ten professors on the platform, your work will be prominent in our early story and materials.

  
  

• A new model of academic work: This is a chance to explore what it looks like for professors to have an additional, independent channel for their teaching, one that sits alongside, not in conflict with, their institutional roles.

  
  

And, perhaps most importantly: you will help set the culture of a new space for British university-level teaching.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for professors (and in some cases senior lecturers) at British universities who:

• Care deeply about teaching

• Have a subject they can imagine explaining clearly in a four-hour, self-contained course.

• Are open to trying something a little new, with a small and thoughtful team.

  
  

Across disciplines, from philosophy to physics, history to economics, law to computer science, we are less interested in which department you are in, and more interested in your relationship with your subject and your students.

If this speaks to you

If this resonates, I’d love to hear from you.

You do not need a fully formed course idea to start the conversation. A subject area, a sense of what you wish more people understood, and a willingness to explore the format together is more than enough.

Please get in touch at William@University.co.uk with a short note about:

• Who you are

• Your current role and institution

• The subject you might like to teach

• Why this idea interests you

  
  

We’ll set up a call, answer your questions and see whether it feels like the right fit on both sides.

We cannot fix higher education alone, and we are not trying to.

But with the right professors, we can build one concrete thing that helps: a place where serious British university teaching can travel further, reach more people, and outlive the constraints that often hold it back.

If you’d like to be one of the ten people who help us begin, I’d be honoured to speak with you.