LLM Agreement with O.P. Jindal Global University
In Autumn 2022, Southampton Law School and O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) signed a new agreement for LLM admissions.
JGU is a forward-thinking non-profit private University founded in 2009 under the private Universities legislation. In a relatively short period of time, they have built a strong reputation in a limited number of fields including Liberal Arts and Humanities. Jindal is currently ranked the first place as a private university in India and 650-700 in QS World ranking. It is particularly strong is law and legal studies, 76th in the world by QS ranking 2021.
India is numerically the second largest source of outgoing international students worldwide and those numbers are expected to increase significantly in the forthcoming 5-10 years in proportion to the growth in the middle classes. While the Indian government has plans to modernise and improve the quality of its HEIs this will not happen soon. The faculty believes that India will prove to be a key market for us in the future and that we need to take measures now to improve our profile and establish strong partnerships.
In January 2016, a delegation led by Professor Jane Falkingham, visited JGU and met with the Vice-Chancellor Professor Kumar to discuss collaborations. Several bi-lateral visits ensued in the recent years, including a delegation visit of Faculty of Social Sciences academics and Faculty International Office Senior Executive Officer in 2019. We also have hosted a few online meetings since the pandemic to continue developing the partnership.
Our existing LLM contract accepts the students in Jindal who are on a five-year LLB+LBA programme. The agreement admits Jindal students in their year 5 to our master’s degree, given that they meet our entry requirements of marks and IELTs. In an effort to strengthen our collaborations, the new agreement has extended the current programme to include the students from their three-year LLB programme. These students will also have completed the standard three years’ worth of Law modules in two years.