Three hundred applications have already been received for a place at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens medical school in Cyprus, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Wednesday.

Michaelidou was speaking after a meeting of the cabinet, which approved the registration of the university as a branch in Cyprus.

The minister said that already there have been 300 applications for the 60 positions offered by the university, which will be offering undergraduate programmes in Greek and English.

Last year, the government had regulated the framework for its strategy to open up the island for foreign university branches.

The Kapodistrian university is the first to set up a school in Nicosia and possibly Larnaca will follow.

The minister said the aim was for the school to open by the end of October, which was why the cabinet approved the procedural part on Wednesday.

However the problem remains of finding suitable premises to meet that target. Various buildings have been proposed for the university branch in Nicosia and they are currently being checked for suitability, Michaelidou added.