“Fast, frenetic, exciting”: Uni of Southampton on Indian TNE journey

At The PIE Live India 2025 in Delhi last week, The PIE’s CEO Amy Baker spoke to vice-president international and engagement at the University of Southampton and India Business Group CEO Amarjit Singh.

Atherton and Singh were both instrumental in the University of Southampton’s plans to open a campus in the Gurgaon, located near Delhi, later this year. The new campus was revealed in December, making the institution the first of a slew of UK universities to explore TNE opportunities in India of late.

Atherton revealed that, despite only submitting an application to open the campus in early 2024, the University of Southampton’s India campus is set to open in August of this year. The campus has already received over 300 applications, he said, with around 200 of those being accepted.

While many of these students have already paid their tuition deposits, some have even paid for their program in full, Atherton noted.

The majority of applicants are looking to study undergraduate programs, with this cohort making up two-thirds of prospective students to one-third who will be postgraduate students. And the campus is attracting attention from international students, with applicants from Nepal and the Gulf among other countries, he said.

Atherton said the process to open the new Southampton campus had been “fast, frenetic [and] exciting” from start to finish.

Now having identified the location of its campus, the University of Southampton is focusing on recruiting more students and staff, as well as transferring programs and course materials to India.

It’s been pretty full on for the last 12-15 months
_{^{Andrew Atherton, University of Southampton}}

“It’s been pretty full on for the last 12-15 months,” he told The PIE News.

Meanwhile, Singh said it had been “a pleasure” for India Business Group to support the University of Southampton in “really helping to build meaningful partnerships… [how] the university being here can support and grow the research and innovation ecosystem in India”.

Elsewhere at The PIE Live India, over 300 delegates gathered together to hear about other TNE opportunities and India’s growing ambition to become a hub of international education in the region.

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