An innovative cross-channel university project is to link academics in southern England and northern France.

The "Transmanche University" will be jointly funded by education departments in France and the United Kingdom, as part of a �1.4m education accord signed on Tuesday.

The project, described as a "transfrontier higher education network", will connect the University of Kent, three universities in Lille and the University of the Littoral, based at Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk.

It is expected that the university's first students will begin courses in autumn 2004, with both English and French languages being used.

The UK Education Secretary Charles Clarke signed the accord as part of a meeting in Le Touquet between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Jacques Chirac.

The University of the Transmanche will not only be a "virtual" institution, says John Reilly, director of academic administration at the University of Kent.

It will be a "real" university, with its own students and courses and an administrative centre, he says.

And with the Channel Tunnel rail link meaning that Ashford and Lille are only an hour apart, he says that the new university will serve a distinct region, which happens to be divided by an international border.

Shared history

"The university's title emphasises that this is a region which has a shared history and culture, shared economic concerns and a huge amount of inter-change," he says.

The Transmanche University will mostly support postgraduate and research programmes, says Mr Reilly, in areas such as the environment, health and social policy.

The University of Kent says that it will contribute to the economic development to regions on both sides of the English Channel.

And it is intended to "provide an international focus for higher education co-operation between Britain and France".

The education agreement will also include a pupil exchange programme which will encourage visits involving 17,000 students and 1,500 teachers.

London and Paris exchanges

The first pilot scheme will involve setting up partnerships between schools in London and Paris.

There will be a later scheme linking rural schools in England and France.

The sharing of ideas between Charles Clarke and his French counterpart, Luc Ferry, will also address problems with pupil behaviour and the type of curriculum offered in secondary schools.

Mr Clarke was also interested in the possibility all student teachers being required to learn a modern foreign language.

Last month, it was announced that academic staff from France are to help with language teaching in English primary schools, in an effort to improve standards.

This is expected to lead to around 200 schools in England using French teachers and teaching assistants.

Language teaching is to be expanded in primary schools in England - but a White Paper published last month paved the way for studying languages to become optional in secondary schools after the age of 14.