Earlier this year, a new international school for girls opened near Chandigarh in Punjab.
This campus has been opened by a 473 year old famous school of Britain. This is its first international campus for girls.
The main building of this school located in Bedfordshire, England, is built in Gothic style and attracts people's attention from a distance.
Its campus built in India is different and modern. Here, different buildings have been built keeping in mind the needs of education.
However, the tall clock tower made of red bricks is clearly visible here too. This is a recognition of the school's British heritage.
Bedford School, Mohali is the latest of at least six British public schools to open campuses in different parts of India.
In Britain, 'public school' refers to well-known private schools with a long history, where fees are charged for education.
The three oldest schools of Britain are also included in these schools coming to India.
The expansion of these schools in India is taking place at a time when the market conditions in China have become more difficult than before.
Along with this, VAT has also been imposed on private school fees in Britain from January 1, 2025.
Britain's famous Harrow School opened its campus in Bengaluru in the year 2023. Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had studied in this school in Britain.
Other British schools are also reaching different cities of India.
Queen Elizabeth's School opened its campus in Gurugram near Delhi in August this year. At the same time, Shrewsbury School has set up its campus in Bhopal.
Wellington College has chosen Pune. Due to its renowned universities and colleges, Pune calls itself the 'Oxford of the East'.
According to reports, Millfield and some other British schools are also preparing to open their campuses in India in the coming years.
There have been well-known local boarding schools in India for many decades, which were modeled on the British public schools of the British era.
Generally, children from rich and old rich families study in these schools.
But with the increase in the number of new rich families in India, this market has also expanded rapidly.
These families want their children to have more opportunities to connect with and understand the world.
"Our international curriculum attracts a lot of families," Caroline Pascoe, head of Harrow School in Bengaluru, told the BBC.
Harrow and Bedford is one of the few schools in India that offers the full Cambridge curriculum from primary classes to A-levels.
This is an education system recognized throughout the world. It has been adopted in about 10 thousand schools.
Harsimran Singh Kochhar's family members themselves run a chain of schools in India. Despite this, he decided to send his five-year-old daughter Parineet to Bedford Mohali.
He says that in this school the focus is not only on studies. Here emphasis is also laid on improving the character, self-confidence and overall personality of the children. This was the thing he liked the most.
He also liked that unlike many Indian schools, there is no 'VIP culture' here. Singh says, "All children are treated equally. Children of ministers and bureaucrats do not get much facilities."
Pasco says that apart from rich families of India, Indians living abroad are also a big market for these schools. These include Indians who have returned to India after staying abroad for a long time.
There are also Indians living in Britain or the Middle East who want their children to remain connected to their roots.
60 percent of the employees at Harrow School in Bengaluru have come from abroad. Like other British schools, Harrow has brought its unique traditions to the Bangalore campus. Here teachers are called 'Bex'. Students wear the traditional Harrow cap and uniform. He also participates in a long distance race called 'The Long Ducker'.
There is also a 'house system' here. This is a special identity of Britain's traditional education system. These traditions, which seem to be related to a particular area of Britain, have been mixed with the local customs of India. For example, the Indian national anthem is sung here every morning. Ganesh Chaturthi, the main festival of Hindus, is also celebrated.
India's growing economy and increasing number of new millionaires are helping the expansion of these schools. But the slowdown in China is also a reason behind this.
The bulk of British public schools' overseas expansion over the past decade took place in China and Hong Kong. Britain's 50 schools run a total of 151 campuses abroad. Half of these are in China and Hong Kong.
But after the change in rules, the expansion of these schools has slowed down. Britain's think tank Private Education Policy Forum (PEPF) had conducted a study in this regard in 2025. According to this, governments of different countries have increased surveillance on these schools. There have also been protests against them at some places.
A new law was implemented in China in 2024. Under this, it was made mandatory for schools to include patriotic education in every subject. According to PEPF, this made it more difficult for these schools to expand in China. Even plans to open some new campuses had to be cancelled.
After this these schools started thinking about other places like India and Vietnam.
Britain had decided to impose 20 percent VAT on private school fees in its autumn budget of 2024. Naomi Atkins, founder principal of Bedford School Mohali, says that because of this many private schools have had to look for opportunities abroad.
"They are in a very difficult situation," he told the BBC. "Schools that had never thought about expanding abroad before have suddenly become active in India."
However, Atkins admits that it is not easy for these schools to make their place in India. Most of these British schools have partnered with local investors or school running institutions in India.
According to Atkins, in other countries these schools could take about 10 percent of the total income as fees from their local partner or investor. But in some cases in India this fee has reduced to only one percent. He also says that the size of this market in India was somewhat overestimated.
About 25 crore children study in Indian schools. Looking at this figure, the education market here may seem very big. But English medium education in India is already very strong and a large number of local schools also exist. Therefore, British schools have to face tough competition from local schools in India.
Atkins says, "I have worked in Indonesia, Malaysia and China. But Indians are much more careful about prices. They like a good deal at a low price."
Keeping this in mind, Bedford Mohali has kept its fees almost half as compared to other British schools.
Campuses of British schools abroad have made good profits over the years. According to PEPF, between 2011-12 and 2022-23, these campuses made a profit of 152.4 million pounds. Their profits have increased significantly in the last few years.
But the picture may be different in India. Here the business of these schools is likely to grow slowly and steadily instead of growing very rapidly. India's old colonial ties and the increasing number of new rich people provide great business opportunities to these old and renowned British schools. But at least right now this market does not seem big enough to compensate for the losses incurred in China.
