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Our research in Education Intelligence aims to provide an accurate analysis of underlying trends relevant to the internationalisation of education. Our suite of reports focuses on student decision making, international student mobility, country profiles, and the internationalisation of policies of specific countries.

Updates on the Higher Education sector

Indian government encouraging foreign universities to set up campuses

Frequently asked questions

1. What is British Council's advice to the recently announced proposal that foreign universities can now set up campuses in India.

This is still at a proposal stage, but is expected to be approved in the coming months.  It is a step in the right direction, but UK universities will need to carefully consider potential bureaucratic hurdles of setting up a campus, alongside the reputational and financial risks.

2. Are all Foreign Educational institutions eligible to apply?

  • No, the proposed UGC (Establishment & Operation of Campuses of Foreign Educational Institutions) Rules mandate that the Foreign Educational institute:
  • should be in the top 400 in one of three global rankings - Times Higher Education Ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranking or Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings.
  • must be set up as a not-for-profit Section 25 company
  • will offer programmes of study or courses to be of quality comparable to those offered to students in its main campus.
  • would be required to maintain a corpus of not less than Rs 25 crore (approximately 2.5 million GBP). The rules also provide for penalties ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore for FEP who contravene any provision of these Rules or UGC Act, and the forfeited of corpus fund.
  • degrees awarded would be treated as foreign degrees only and the same shall be subject to the equivalence accorded by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as per their system.

3.  Are there any UK universities looking to open campuses?

None, that we are aware of. However, some universities which have interest and existing ties in India are exploring models and options for a stronger presence. The preferred mode of operation continues to be partnership with local institutions to offer dual and joint degrees, and research collaborations, as the risks are much lower.

Reports on the Higher Education Sector

Find below reports on the Higher Education Sector with focus on South Asia in general and India in specific. Download to read the complete reports.

Research: Exploring the outlook for UK India Transnational Education partnerships

With the growing focus on internationalisation of higher education and increasing tertiary level international collaborations for mutual benefits, the British Council India commissioned research to evaluate the prospects and challenges for UK transnational education (TNE) in India, and how India’s New Education Policy and the UK’s International Education Strategy are impacting opportunities for its development.  Based on the analysis, the report sets out a series of recommendations for actors at policy and institutional level which may enable further development of UK TNE in India.  

This research was undertaken as part of our study UK initiative recognising that student mobility between India and the UK will include TNE as an integral part of future mobilities and the true potential of the India-UK education partnership can be achieved through this. The research used a combination of desk research and primary research involving interviews with senior UK and Indian stakeholders.  In addition, a group of prospective, undergraduate and postgraduate students were also engaged to understand their opinions and views on TNE, including barriers to them engaging in TNE in India.

The report also contains a catalogue of all UK higher education TNE in India and from other countries’ universities which are in partnership with Indian universities ranked in the National Institute Ranking Framework top 100.   The listing indicates the scale and extent of TNE being developed including the models being delivered in each partnership and where it can be further developed.

Study UK is a global campaign and is the UK’s only national campaign to promote the UK as a first-choice study destination for international students around the world. The campaign is about building awareness and consideration of studying in the UK. It is a destination marketing campaign, and promotes the whole of the UK HE sector.
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