The University of Southampton, UK, is set to establish a campus in the NCR and begin its academic programmes in July 2025, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate courses, making it the third foreign university to set up a campus in India. The University is ranked 81st in the QS World University Rankings 2024, and 97th in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024. The University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the University at an event on Thursday, making it the first foreign university to be issued such an LoI under the UGC’s regulations on setting up Indian campuses of foreign universities, which were notified in November last year. In keeping with the NEP 2020 recommendations that foreign universities be facilitated to set up operations in India and Indian universities be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries, two Australian universities – Deakin University and the University of Wollongong – have already set up their campuses at GIFT City in Gujarat, and IIT Delhi has set up a campus in Abu Dhabi, while IIT Madras has its campus in Zanzibar. The University of Southampton has campuses in Southampton and Winchester in the UK, and in Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Education, the university has submitted a “10-year projected course rollout plan.” In its first year of functioning, it will offer BSc (computer science), BSc (business management), BSc (accounting and finance), BSc (economics), MSc (international management), and MSc (finance). While BSc (software engineering), BSc (creative computing), and MSc (economics) will be offered in the second year, LLB and B Eng (mechanical engineering) will be offered in the third year.
