Classes to begin in August at UK varsity’s Gurugram campus

The Indian campus of Southampton University located at the International Tech Park, Gurugram, Sector 59 will be admitting students in four undergraduate programmes

NEW DELHI: The construction of the Indian campus of the University of Southampton in Gurugram at par with facilities in the varsity’s UK campus, will be completed by the end of April and classes for the first batch of students will begin in August, Professor Andrew Atherton, vice-president international and engagement, University of Southampton said on Thursday.

In August last year, the UK’s University of Southampton received approval from UGC to set up a campus in India. (@unisouthampton | Official X account)

After becoming the first international university to receive approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) in August 2024, to set up a campus in India, the University of Southampton in October 2024 invited applications from Indian students for admission to four undergraduate and two postgraduate programmes at its Indian campus.

“We started inviting applications for our first batch in the middle of October 2024. We received over 300 applications from Indian students. We looked at their statement for admission, checked their academic qualifications, and made offers to over 200 students. We are looking to admit 140 students but will admit more than 140 students if they deposit the course fee because we have enough space to teach them,” Atherton told HT.

The Indian campus of Southampton University located at the International Tech Park, Gurugram, Sector 59 will be admitting students in four undergraduate programmes -- BSc Business Management; BSc Accounting & Finance; BSc Computer Science and BSc Economics and in two postgraduate programmes -- MSc International Management and MSc Finance. The fee for a year’s study of the three-year duration UG programmes is ₹13,20,000 and the fee for a one-year duration MSc International Management is ₹15,40,000 and ₹19,80,000 for MSc Finance.

Atherton said that the university is in the “final stage” of construction of the Indian campus having facilities at par with the campus in Southampton, UK. “We will complete the construction by the end of April 2025. We will begin the academic programmes for the first batch of students by the last week of August,” Atherton said.

Atherton said that the list of faculties will be announced in a week. “We have hired faculties who have academic experience of teaching in international universities. We will be having a mix of Indian and international faculties to make our Indian campus diverse,” he said.

Meanwhile, union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan met the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton Mark E Smith, along with Alison Barrett MBE, the country director of the British Council in India. Pradhan said the opening of the Southampton Delhi-NCR campus is a significant step towards internationalizing India’s education.

“Professor Smith briefed me about the progress of the University of Southampton Delhi NCR campus. As the global top 100 university and the first foreign university to open a campus in India, UoS Delhi-NCR campus will offer high-quality education driven by research, innovation and real-world applications to both Indian and international students. A significant step in our journey towards internationalizing India’s education, promoting Study in India and bringing global education standards at doorsteps, as envisioned in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020,” he said in a post on X.

In August last year, the UK’s University of Southampton received approval from UGC to set up a campus in India under the UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, notified in November 2023 which allow top 500 foreign universities to set up campuses in India. The University of Southampton is ranked 80 in QS World University Rankings 2025.

In 2023, Australia’s Deakin University and the University of Wollongong opened their Indian campuses in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). Both Australian universities received approval from the International Financial Services Centre Authorities (IFSCA) and do not come under the UGC guidelines.