“In a city that still has ambitions to be a leading design and manufacturing centre, the notion that we should close such a prestigious art and design college is unthinkable.

“We have unacceptable levels of youth unemployment in Birmingham and it is their future the university should be concentrating on rather than foreign students.”

The new international college will see the university working in partnership with Australian education company Navitas, which already operates eight colleges in the UK.

A total of 325 overseas students will start in October as part of the ten-year agreement.

Prof O’Neil said transferring art and design courses to the new Eastside side campus had been long agreed, but many details of the international college venture “had to be kept confidential” as Navitas was a limited company.

He said: “We are not closing, we are changing the direction of the campus.

“Bournville is a great place to have the college because the students can develop their confidence. They are travelling from the other side of the world and we want them to learn in a safe environment.”