By Shruti Chaturvedi
New Delhi [India], January 31 : The first UK campus in India will open its doors as the University of Southampton begins operations in Gurugram in August 2025, said Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director India, British Council highlighting the UK's commitment to welcoming Indian students, with over 173,000 currently studying in the UK.
Speaking to ANI on Thursday, after a media roundtable in the British Council office, New Delhi regarding opportunities for Indian students in the UK, she also noted that the UK government has made it clear that it is eager to attract more international students, with Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, confirming that the "UK is open for international students."
Expressing her excitement about these advancements, she stated, "This is the best time to be supporting UK and India education because there are so many different, exciting, diverse partnerships happening. In August this year, we will open the doors to the first UK campus in India. The University of Southampton opens in Gurugram later this year."
"And we're seeing many other UK universities who are also planning to come into India and open campuses here as well. There are huge increase in the number of post-graduate and master's level courses that are being developed jointly by UK and Indian institutions. So it's a very exciting time," she added.
Barrett also highlighted the UK's commitment to welcoming Indian students and affirmed, "the Indian students are really welcome to the UK. We have over 173,000 students studying in the UK now. And our government and our Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, has made it very clear that the UK is really open for international students. And we're really looking forward to more students coming to study with us in future years."
When asked about Indian students' reason for choosing UK as their first choice for higher education, she pointed out the significant opportunity for international students to stay and work in the UK after graduation.
"UK also offers a great opportunity for students to stay in the UK and take the opportunity with study visa to work in the UK for two years for an undergraduate student or three years for a postgraduate student," she said.
"The UK is one of the highest quality higher education systems in the world. We have four universities in the top 10 globally, and hundreds more in the top 500. UK universities are some of the most international in the world, both in terms of faculty and students, but also the breadth and variety of subjects and courses that students can study," she added.
Further, Barrett highlighted several scholarship schemes that are available to international students, adding that she also pointed out that Newcastle University recently launched two new scholarship schemes specifically for Indian students.
There are many, many different scholarships available for the UK. The British Council administers and manages some of those schemes," said Barrett. "For example, we have the Commonwealth Scholarships, which is now in its 65th year, and the Chevening Scholarships, which is offered by the UK government and supported by the British Council." Barrett also mentioned specific scholarships for women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), creative artists, and language teachers, among others.
"So there are numbers of different scholarships. But it's also important that students look at the institutional websites because many institutions also have scholarships for Indian students. Yesterday, Newcastle University launched two new specific scholarship schemes for Indian students," she said.
Notably, the new campus, which will be set up within 60 acres of land inside the Tech Park, is set to be established by April 2025, with the first intake of students starting in August 2025, according to an official statement.