The UK is quickly expanding its TNE footprint in India
- Foreign enrolment in UK higher education programmes delivered abroad is now almost as large as the onshore enrolment at universities in the UK
- Asia accounts for more than half of UK transnational enrolments
- The UK’s activity in India is ramping up, with both individual universities setting up branch campuses and major third-party providers opening hubs for institutions to operate in
- GEDU Global Education is the largest of these third-party companies, with a major hub already in place and another one planned for 2027/28
As universities in the Big Four (Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US) face more immigration-related challenges in recruiting international students, UK universities are moving quickly to build on their already impressive transnational footprint in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. What’s more, they have the firm support of their government, especially in the key market of India.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first official visit to India in October 2025 included a major focus on expanding educational ties between the two countries, and it followed his recent approval of Lancaster University and University of Surrey setting up branch campuses in India. Prime Minister Starmer said:
“More Indian students will be able to benefit from a world-class British education, strengthening the ties between our two countries while pumping millions back into our economy.”
Other UK universities with branch campuses in India include Aberdeen, Bristol, Coventry, Southampton, Liverpool, Queens University Belfast, and York. Including Lancaster and Surrey, all UK universities operating or approved for branch campuses in India are in the 2026 QS top 600 rankings, and more than half of these are in the top 200. Those rankings illustrate the calibre of education now available to Indian students through UK branch campuses in their country.
High-level agreements support the UK’s transnational expansion
The UK has always been the world leader in delivering transnational education, but it is cementing its position by capitalising on India’s 2020 decision to allow branch campuses to operate in the country and a new bilateral agreement called India-UK Vision 2025. This agreement sets the stage for the two countries to partner in areas including trade, transnational education, technology and research, green energy, and defence and security.
For the UK, expanding its footprint in India will serve to generate millions more in export revenue and to extend its soft power in Asia. For India, UK branch campuses will help to solve its supply-demand problem with higher education capacity. By 2035, India is expected to need 70 million places in higher education for its students. Educational partnerships with the UK will also help India to develop its economy, global competitiveness, and participation in cutting-edge research initiatives.
Mitigating risk
The Starmer government’s strong support of transnational education recognises the risk accompanying tighter immigration and compliance settings that make it more challenging for UK universities to recruit overseas.
There were 732,285 international students in UK higher education in 2023/24, representing a modest dip (-4%) from the year before, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Not coincidentally, the former UK government announced that dependants of most international students would no longer be able to come to the UK on a visa in June 2023. That policy came into effect in January 2024.
More changes that will also likely depress demand are imminent, including the reduction of the Graduate Route timeframe from 24 months to 18 months in 2027 for undergraduate and master’s students.
The transnational educational footprint of the UK, meanwhile, is growing so quickly that transnational enrolments are expected to surpass onshore international enrolments in the years ahead. In its report on the scale of UK transnational education released this fall, Universities UK noted:
"From 2022/23 to 2023/24, the UK … saw +7.8% growth in UK HE TNE students. If the same growth/reduction rates were to continue for another academic year, the number of UK HE TNE students would overtake onshore international student recruitment to the UK in 2024/25."
It seems clear that the Starmer government is keen to increase the share of transnational income in the total export revenues provided by international students. Of the £32 billion (US$42.5 billion) of revenue generated by international students in 2022, almost £1 billion came from branch campuses. The government’s goal is to see 2022’s income rise to £50 billion. Given that the strategy is to reduce net migration – including by limiting international student numbers in the UK – it follows that transnational education is meant to become a much bigger segment of total income derived by international students.
The UK government has said of its branch campus push: “Deeper engagement with India offers a sustainable funding stream for UK higher education institutions, bolstering their financial resilience.”
Third-party activity
It is no easy feat to set up branch campuses, not least because of complex regulatory and infrastructure rules in host countries, India included. This offers an opportunity for third-party companies to step in and set up structures that enable universities to open branch campuses without the headache of compliance and other rules.
One such company is UK-based GEDU Global Education, which currently operates in 15 countries including India. The company has already invested £25 million in India and plans to add another £200 million in the next three years. So far, GEDU has three campuses in India, with the largest being its campus in GIFT City in Gujarat. Queen’s University Belfast has just opened a campus there and Coventry and University of Surrey are scheduled to open in 2026 or 2027.
GEDU’s new investment will fund its planned GEDU Global Education City near Delhi, which is meant to begin enrolling its first students in 2027/28.
How do other major destinations measure up in India?
Australia currently has two operational branch campuses in India, both in GIFT City. Four other Australian universities have been approved to set up campuses over the next couple of years. The US has none, but the Illinois Institute of Technology has been approved to open in 2026. One Italian and one Malaysian institution have been approved. Canada has none.
Writing on the Universities UK blog recently, Dr David Pilsbury, chief development officer at Oxford International Education Group, said:
"TNE is moving from the periphery to centre stage in higher education … What was once a niche activity has become a strategic imperative for universities and nations alike. The UK must urgently shift focus away from just students coming to the UK, to a more universal approach that embraces TNE in all its forms. If we fail to seize the opportunity now, the UK risks losing its chance to remain an international leader in this field – a chance that, arguably, will not come again."
Suffice to say, the UK is not sleeping on this opportunity.
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