New Delhi: The University of Liverpool’s upcoming Bengaluru campus will initially offer courses in five key areas, including innovative fields like game design, with the fee structure to be determined based on “local context”, the institution’s Vice Chancellor Tim Jones told ThePrint Monday.
The University of Liverpool, ranked 165 in the QS World University Rankings 2025, is the second UK-based and also the second international university to receive approval from the Union ministry of education to establish a campus in India under the University Grants Commission’s 2023 regulations for foreign higher educational institutions, in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Union Ministry of Education handed over the Letter of Intent to the university Monday.
Last year, the University of Southampton, also based in the UK, had received similar approval. Its Gurugram campus is expected to begin operations by August.
The University of Liverpool’s Bengaluru campus is scheduled to start functioning in August 2026.
“We’ll start with computer science, artificial intelligence, data science, along with business, accounting and finance, biomedical sciences, and also game design, which is quite unique, and something we’re strong in at Liverpool. I think that will be very attractive in Bangalore,” Jones said in an interview with ThePrint.
Highlighting the differing socio-economic demands of countries, he said that the university will be working on the details over the next few months before announcing the fee structure. “But yes, we’ll definitely be looking at the local context. There will be scholarships on offer as well, though details will follow,” he said.
Looking ahead, he outlined the university’s growth plans. “Our plan in 10 years’ time is to have 10,000 students on the campus—5,000 in five years, 10,000 in 10 years,” Jones said.
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‘Global’ plans for Bengaluru campus
Jones further said that the university aims to develop its India campus into a global institution, drawing inspiration from its 20-year-old campus in China. Its campus in Suzhou, China was established in 2006.
“Twenty years ago, the university established a joint venture campus in Suzhou, China, called XJTLU (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University), which now has 27,000 students. It’s widely regarded as one of the most successful international joint venture campuses, having grown in size, scope, reputation and quality. It’s a very high-quality institution, so we do have a strong history of doing this, which is very important,” he added.
Emphasising the intention to make the Bengaluru campus “truly global” institute, he said, “While the majority of students will likely be local, I very much hope we’ll attract students from around the world as well. Fundamentally, universities should be full of global talent, because the interaction of people from different backgrounds and countries creates a rich intellectual and cultural environment—one of the key reasons why global universities are such special and successful places.”
Handling over the letter of Intent to the University of Liverpool Monday, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also said, “I am confident University of Liverpool’s campus in Bengaluru will be a global campus that will push the boundaries of research and innovation, and foster scientific temper for contributing to global welfare and prosperity.”
‘Bengaluru was natural choice’
The vice chancellor emphasised that the degrees offered at the Bengaluru campus will be identical to those awarded in Liverpool, following the successful model established in China. “To uphold these standards, the university will appoint a provost responsible for ensuring that academic and degree program quality matches exactly what is offered in Liverpool. We have total commitment to ensuring that the quality and standards are the same,” he said.
The university’s India campus will have a mix of faculty, both from India and the UK. “We’ll have some UK faculty teaching, but we also want to recruit local staff, which I think is really important. Over time, there will be far more local staff than UK staff, and I believe that’s crucial,” Jones said.
According to him, opening a campus in Bengaluru was a “natural choice” because the University of Liverpool already has several collaborations with educational and research institutions in the city..
“We already work with several organisations, including NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in Bengaluru, where we’ve had a 20-year partnership across various research areas that’s been highly successful. More recently, we’ve established collaborations with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), particularly around biosciences and life sciences,” he said.
“We also appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit here, where young people want to set up their own companies—something we also encourage in Liverpool.”
Additionally, the institution also has partnerships with Delhi University and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where it launched an initiative last year to tackle head and neck cancer.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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