Southampton wants 5,000 students at ‘comprehensive’ India campus

The first British university campus in India, set to open next year, will offer a “comprehensive” programme of courses in a bid to admit thousands of students over the next decade.

The University of Southampton received approval in August to establish a branch in the world’s most populous country, with a new campus planned for development in Gurugram, a city on the outskirts of Delhi.

Andrew Atherton, Southampton’s vice-president of international and engagement, said getting to this stage had been relatively quick.

Indian authorities published regulations outlining rules for foreign institutions looking to set up campuses in the country in November 2023. According to Professor Atherton, the university submitted an application in January 2024 and went through a “robust” interview process in April – the same month that India’s mammoth general election began.

“It was a tough process to go through, but they moved quickly,” he said. “Real hats off to India, because they put clear regulations in place. They took us through a robust process. Other universities went through it and didn’t get an approval.”

The university, which already operates a campus in Malaysia, has made opening new bases around the world part of its core strategy. It comes as stricter immigration policies hamper some UK universities’ overseas student recruitment, with many suffering financially as a result.

Speaking to Times Higher Education, Professor Atherton insisted that the new campus was not a money-making venture, with the India branch expected to focus on research as well as teaching, particularly into topics relevant to south Asia, including air quality and food security.

However, he said, while the campus was not expected to make money in the short term, over time “the numbers have to stack up”.

With a large youth population, a growing middle class and limited higher education capacity, India’s appeal to Western institutions is clear. Two Australian institutions – Deakin and Wollongong universities – have already opened teaching spaces in Gift City, a special economic zone in Gujarat, with others expected to follow.

Despite the financial incentives of setting up in Gift City, the university chose Gurugram for its amenities and infrastructure, Professor Atherton said, as well as for its proximity to Indian companies, start-ups and multinational organisations.

Campus resources on internationalisation in higher education

“One of the reasons we didn’t go for Gift City is because it’s more focused on financial services and financial services support,” he added. “So, our view is that the course portfolio was going to be a bit narrower.”

Southampton plans to launch its campus in 2025 with six courses and then to introduce more each year. By year 10 of operation, about two-thirds of the courses on offer at Southampton’s home campus will be available in India. Enrolment is expected to grow in line with this, with roughly 150 students admitted when the campus opens, growing to about 5,000 over the first decade.

“We want it to feel like a University of Southampton campus,” Professor Atherton said, “but what we don’t want to do is introduce lots of courses straight away. We want to phase them in so we can appoint the right academic faculty and professional services staff and have a good student experience as we go through.”

While Southampton will also continue to explore options for new campuses in other countries – it currently has a shortlist of five locations, with a plan to open two additional campuses by 2030 – for now the focus will remain on launching smoothly in India.

“It’s not just about getting the approval,” Professor Atherton said. “That’s when the real work starts.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com