Marking a significant milestone in India’s higher education landscape, the India campus of the University of Southampton was inaugurated at Gurgaon recently. The inauguration also commemorates five years of the government’s ambitious National Education Policy, a blueprint designed to change the face of higher education in the country.

The University of Southampton becomes the first foreign university to set up a campus in India under the University Grants Commission’s (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan said that this marks a momentous milestone towards internationalisation of education at home under NEP 2020, and also towards strengthening the education pillar of India-UK cooperation as envisioned in the India-UK Roadmap 2030. Nayab Singh Saini, Chief Minister of Haryana, reaffirmed the Government of Haryana’s commitment to positioning the region as a global education and innovation hub. Lord Patel OBE, Chancellor of the University of Southampton and Member of the UK House of Lords, and Lindy Cameron, British High Commissioner to India, also addressed the gathering and expressed their support for expanding UK–India educational partnerships.

The new Gurugram campus will offer globally recognised undergraduate and postgraduate programmes aligned with UK academic standards. Students may spend up to one year at the University’s campuses in the UK or Malaysia. Programmes commencing in 2025 include undergraduate (BSc) courses in Computer Science, Economics, Accounting & Finance, Business Management, and postgraduate (MSc) courses in Finance and International Management.

The first cohort at the India campus includes students from across India and from international locations such as the United Arab Emirates and Nepal.

The University is set to hire over 75 full-time faculty members who meet UK academic standards and will be expected to undertake the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. These faculty members bring experience from global academic centres in the UK, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Japan, and the United States. The University of Southampton has a global alumni network of more than 290,000 graduates, including over 1,700 from India. Many of these alumni are expected to support the India campus by serving as mentors and industry ambassadors.

The University received its official Letter of Intent on 29 August 2024, followed by a public announcement and formal launch on 13 September 2024.