International schools, International Baccalaureate (IB), India
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British schools
As of 2026
Hemali.Chhapia, August 5, 2026: The Times of India
Mumbai: In Gurgaon, a school carrying the name of Queen Elizabeth is preparing to open its gates. In Bengaluru, pupils already walk beneath the banner of Harrow. Pune has Wellington; Bhopal, Shrewsbury. In Hyderabad, Sagebrook, in partnership with Whitgift, has completed its first round of admissions. Another British grammar school, founded nearly five centuries ago, is now drawing up plans for Bengaluru. And Highgrove Education is going to Uttar Pradesh.
The British have returned to India. This time, through school gates.
There is no colonial officer at the blackboard. The new intermediaries are Indian education companies, real-estate developers and investment groups partnering with some of Britain’s oldest schools.
“The transaction is wrapped in the language of global learning, leadership, heritage and international exposure,” said an expert watching the sector. But what is being imported is not merely a curriculum. It is a name and the history, prestige and the social aspiration that come with it.
Queen Elizabeth’s School, established in Barnet in 1573, is scheduled to open its Gurgaon campus this month. The original institution is especially notable because it is a state-funded grammar school in England. But a school supported by public money at home will, in effect, lend its centuries-old heritage to a premium institution overseas.
It is a curious reversal of history.
Francis Joseph, India CEO of Dubai-based GEMS Education which operates schools in 10+ countries, calls arrival of British school franchises interesting, but says it carries an obligation. “Every global education brand entering India must remember one fundamental truth: schools are local learning communities, deeply rooted in culture, traditions, local languages and aspirations of the communities they serve,” he said.
Swati Popat Vats, director of Inspirenext Learning Foundation, points to colonial education’s long shadow. One of colonialism’s most enduring legacies, she said, was the belief that imported knowledge was inherently superior to indigenous capability.
Independent India has spent decades building confidence in its own education. “It would be unfortunate if education once again created a hierarchy in which foreign is assumed to mean better and Indian is viewed as needing validation from elsewhere,” she said.
In Bengaluru, Harrow International School has placed one of British education’s most recognisable names on Indian soil. Even the uniform carries the weight of tradition: it includes a hat.
Harrow’s appeal lies partly in its 450-year history. Founded under a royal charter during Elizabeth I’s reign, it counts statesmen and writers among its alumni. For Indian families, one name has particular resonance: Jawaharlal Nehru. That history is not decorative. It is central to the proposition. It’s the principal item being sold.
“For Harrow School, however, this was never simply about establishing more schools. It was about extending the reach of a distinctive educational philosophy and finding communities that value an education which prepares young people not only for university, but for life,” said Caroline Pascoe, head of the institution in Bengaluru.
In Pune, Wellington College International operates with the identity of Wellington College in England. In Bhopal, Shrewsbury International School India has introduced a British boarding-school model. The symbolism is almost too neat: a tradition once designed to educate an empire’s governing class is now being adapted for the children of India’s corporate elite.
Royal Grammar School Guildford has partnered with the Ryan Group to establish four schools in India. The first, RGS Guildford Bengaluru, is expected to open in 2028.
Hyderabad’s Sagebrook International offers another variation. It is not a transplanted British school, but advertises a partnership with Whitgift School, founded in 1596. “Ours is a collective model, not a prescriptive one. We feel there is a market for quality education with so many GCCs being set up and Indians from around the world returning home,” said Sagebrook founder Praveen Raju.
But the central question is rarely asked: how much of the British school will actually travel? A crest can cross continents instantly. A curriculum can be licensed. Teachers can be trained, inspected and reviewed.
Yet the Indian branch may carry the same name without reproducing the same institution. There is also a question of access. In Britain, Queen Elizabeth’s School is a selective state school. In Gurgaon, its international branch belongs to the premium private-school market. The name travels easily across borders; the social model does not.
Joseph said schools must remain custodians of India’s heritage, values and aspirations. The future, he argued, belongs not to schools that are merely international, but to those combining global excellence with local relevance.
These arrivals are not a residue of British rule. They represent commercial revival of British prestige. The old empire governed India. The new one invoices Indian parents.
International schools
2012> 2019: International schools double
Hemali Chhapia, Nov 18, 2019: The Times of India
From: Hemali Chhapia, Nov 18, 2019: The Times of India
India now ranks second in the number of international schools it hosts, right behind China — an improvement of two ranks since 2012, when it was placed behind the UAE, Pakistan and China. With middleclass parents in India largely opting for imported curricula, for reasons ranging from giving their children a shot at the Ivies and Oxbridge to social prestige, the count of international schools in the country has more than doubled in just seven years, with parents shelling out a combined $1.2 billion annually in tuition fees, data compiled for TOI by ISC Research shows.
While in 2012 India had 313 international schools, which enrolled 1.52 lakh children, in 2019, the numbers are 708 and 3.73 lakh, respectively. Also, local students now vastly outnumber expats, a demographic which these schools originally served. The nationality-wise break-up according to enrollment numbers is: 63.4% Indians, 5.2% Americans and 1.8% South Koreans, followed by students from scores of other countries, who are mainly the children of diplomatic officials and staff, and also from corporate families.
“As in many other countries, parents in India have high aspirations for their children’s education. There is growing recognition of the advantages that private education, including international education, can offer. However, most families have not been able to realise their aspirations because of prohibitive tuition fees,” said ISC Schools director Richard Gaskell. Little wonder then that several international schools have reworked their fees to attract more students. “The average annual fee of international schools in India is among the lowest in Asia, at $3,293,” said Gaskell. The corresponding average in China is $15,726, UAE $8,073, and Malaysia $6,395. The global average is almost thrice India’s, and stands at $9,242.
International schools with annual tuition fees between $4,000 and $10,000 had 18.8% of India’s total international school enrolment in April 2017, and those with tuition fees above $10,000 had 6%. A for mer Inter national Baccalaureate (IB) representative for South Asia, Farzana Dohadwalla, said, “Parents are feeling they don’t want their child to be a scared, nervous one in a class of 50 or 60. Class sizes in international schools are small. These schools help their students become mini-leaders, entrepreneurs, team members, risk-takers. They are not just super words, they are real learner profiles.”
The most prevalent foreign curricula in India are the Cambridge Secondary, Cambridge Primary and Cambridge Advanced programmes. The Cambridge Secondary programme is delivered in 56.6% of all international schools in India, with IGCSE being the most prevalent foreign examination.
The Podar Group of international schools, which has ten international curricula institutes, used to hold awareness seminars to explain how different these schools were from local ones. Now, they have a waiting list of hundreds of students. Principal and director Vandana Lulla said, “Indian parents are the most serious kinds who value education and are looking for access to quality education at an affordable price. Aspirational parents who can afford an international curriculum, which is application-based, belong to the middle class, which is large in India.”
International Baccalaureate/ IB schools in India
IB schools in India: 2003-2013
The Times of India, May 20 2015
IB schools in India post 10-fold growth in 10 yrS
Akshaya Mukul
India may not have the Ivy League but it is fast getting an `IB league'. According to a new report, the number of schools with IB (International Baccalaureate) has grown nearly ten-fold in the last 10 years. In 2003, just 11 schools offered the IB programme. By 2013, this had gone up to 107, with Maharashtra leading with 41 schools.
It's not just IB; other international school programs have become more popular as well. The study conducted by the National University of Educational Planning & Administration said that as of 2013, there were 478 international schools affiliated to three foreign boards the Geneva-headquartered IB, Cambridge International Examination (CIE) and Edexcel, both based in the UK.
These are spread across 19 Indian states, with the highest number (318 schools) affiliated to CIE, followed by IB (102) and Edexcel (58). Seventy-six schools are affiliated to both CIE and IB. Maharashtra has the highest number of CIE schools as well at 96. One of the reasons for the growth of international schools has been the perception that they encourage creativity and free thinking, both important characteristics for success in a globalized world.Not surprisingly , the profile of the “international“ student has also changed. Earlier, the study notes, only children from expatriate families, business class and multinational professionals were going to international schools but now even middle class families are sending their children to these schools.
The study commissioned by the HRD ministry has suggested that the government initiate a policy framework for the establishment and regulation of international schools by setting up the In ternational Schools Regulatory Authority (ISRA).
The study has asked the government to clearly specify the essential attributes of an `international' school.For instance, more than 20% international mix of students and faculty could be one way of doing it.
2016: Only three pure IB schools
Swati Deshpande Aug 26 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) IB school says it does not come under RTE
Lawyer Manisha Jagtap, representing the Centre, said there were eight to 10 IB schools in the state and they might seek similar relief. Sathe said there are “only three pure IB schools in the country . The rest are hybrid schools which opt for IB later and they are recognised also as a school with the state or central board. This is the basic difference“.
See also
Mercedes-Benz International School, Pune, especially for legal aspects of IB schools and the RTE.
