Education

British Elite Schools Expand into India Amid China Market Slowdown

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

A 473‑year‑old British public school opened its first all‑girls international campus on the outskirts of Chandigarh in Punjab, India, earlier this year. The new campus, called Bedford School Mohali, features modern purpose‑built academic blocks and a red‑brick clock tower that reflects the school’s British heritage. Bedford School Mohali is the latest addition to a group of at least half a dozen British public schools that have established campuses across India, including Harrow School in Bengaluru, Shrewsbury School in Bhopal and Wellington College in Pune. Other schools such as Millfield and Queen Elizabeth’s School are reportedly planning satellite campuses.

India has long hosted boarding schools modeled on the colonial British public‑school system, but the market has expanded as newly wealthy Indian families seek global exposure for their children. Harrow’s Bengaluru campus offers an all‑through Cambridge curriculum, a global education framework used by 10,000 schools worldwide. Harrow and Bedford are among the few Indian schools that follow this curriculum from primary through to A‑levels.

Harsimran Singh Kocchar, who runs a chain of schools in India, said he chose Bedford Mohali for its holistic focus on character development, confidence and equal treatment of all students. He noted that the school does not have a “VIP culture” and that children of ministers and bureaucrats receive no special privileges.

The schools also serve non‑resident Indians who have returned from abroad or who remain in the UK or Middle East and wish to connect their children to their roots. Sixty per cent of Harrow’s Bengaluru staff are international, and the campus retains many British traditions, such as calling teachers “Beaks”, wearing Harrow hats and uniforms, and holding the Long Ducker cross‑country race. Local customs are also incorporated, including singing the Indian national anthem each morning and celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi.

The expansion into India is partly driven by a slowdown in China. Half of the 151 satellite campuses operated by 50 UK schools were in China and Hong Kong, but regulatory changes, increased scrutiny and a 2024 Chinese law requiring patriotic education in all subjects have curtailed growth. A 2025 study by the UK‑based Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) noted that many planned campuses were cancelled in China, prompting schools to look elsewhere.

Britain’s 2024 Autumn Budget introduced a 20% VAT on private school fees, prompting schools to seek overseas markets. Naomi Atkins, founding principal of Bedford School Mohali, said the VAT has forced many private schools to look abroad. She noted that while India offers opportunities, the market is competitive, price‑sensitive and has lower per‑capita income than China, Korea or Vietnam. As a result, Bedford Mohali has set its fees at roughly half those of other British schools.

Between 2011‑12 and 2022‑23, British schools’ satellite campuses generated £152.4 million in profit, according to PEPF. Growth in India is expected to be slow and steady rather than explosive, but the legacy institutions’ colonial roots and new wealth in India provide a significant business opportunity, even if it does not immediately offset the loss of the Chinese market.