OXFORD academics have launched a virtual university that will see students able to take lectures on their phone.

The founders of the new university, known as Woolf, have compared it to tech giants Uber and Airbnb and predict it will 'reimagine' the relationship between students and teachers.

It will use 'blockchain' technology, currently used for the digital currency Bitcoin, to record and verify students' payments, attendance and grades. 

Academics could earn up to £72,000 a year teaching on the platform while it may work out cheaper for students compared to taking a traditional university degree. 

Joshua Broggi, an academic in the philosophy department, told The Times: "Underemployment among academics and poor coordination with students is the intellectual equivalent of allowing the most expensive real estate in London of New York to sit empty. 

"In the same way that we saw Airbnb allow for a more refined allocation of real estate resources, we believe Woolf can make better use of academic resources."

Some 30 academics from Oxford will form the university's first college and accreditation is being sought to teach in the UK, US and Europe in the autumn.

Tutorials and lectures will be provided by video link with in-person lessons offered at partner universities. 

It is hoped the technology could allow students to study under US Ivy League academics and others at lower cost in the future.