Three British boarding schools to open campuses in India

Mumbai: Three boarding schools from the UK are considering campuses in India with an aim to capitalise on the growing market, which has now a record number of students wanting to pursue better, quality education. 

Wellington College in Berkshire, Harrow School in Greater London, and Millfield School in Somerset are set to open campuses in Pune, Bangalore, and Mumbai, respectively. 

“Now that India is opening up to international campuses, these institutions have shown interest in building their base in India,” said Namita Mehta, President, The Red Pen, an independent education consultancy, which hosted admission directors from leading British boarding schools last month in cities across India. 

Though there’s no specific timeline on when these schools will be fully functional, formal announcements regarding the same would be made this year. 

The move to India marks the latest entry in the growing foothold of British boarding schools in Asia. While Wellington College currently has six schools with two partners in China and Thailand serving over 5,000 students, Harrow School has branches in cities such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai, and other Asian cities. 

Millfield School, which is considered the largest co-educational boarding school in the UK, owes its roots in India to build major plans in the country. 

“Millfield was founded by Jack Meyer in 1935 after he brought back with him sons of Maharaja of Dhrangadhra in Gujarat, who were later taught in the school. So we have a history with India which has made us develop future plans in the country,” said James Postle, Deputy Head (Enrollment and Outreach), Millfield School.

With the plans possibly coming to fruition in Mumbai, Millfield is in talks with potential partners to build facilities for the branch.