QUB GIFT City Fees for Nepali Students: £15,700 Explained

The short answer

Queen's University Belfast's GIFT City campus in Gandhinagar publishes a fee of £15,700 total for its one-year MSc programmes — that is the whole-course figure, not a per-year figure. Nepali citizens do not need a student visa to study there, and the fees shown are the Indian-domicile rate, which Nepali applicants are generally treated at parity with — though neither university states that as written policy, so confirm it with admissions before you plan around it.

This page covers QUB GIFT City and the University of Southampton's Delhi-NCR campus in Gurugram, because Nepali families almost always compare the two. Both award the same degree as the UK campus.

QUB GIFT City: the fee and what it applies to

All six postgraduate programmes carry the same published fee. There is no cheaper or more expensive MSc on the list.

Three things to note before you treat £15,700 as your final number.

It is quoted in pounds, not rupees. A campus inside India quoting a sterling fee means your actual rupee outlay depends on the exchange rate on the day each instalment is paid. Ask admissions in writing which currency they will invoice you in, and whether the sterling figure is fixed for your cohort.

The instalment schedule is not published. QUB GIFT City has not published a deposit or instalment breakdown in the sources reviewed. The general pattern across both campuses is a deposit of typically 10% of the programme fee to confirm the offer — but for QUB specifically you must ask admissions for the schedule in writing. Do not assume you can pay the whole £15,700 at the end.

Seats are limited. QUB GIFT City runs 6 MSc programmes at 35 seats each per intake, with February and June starts. That is a small campus. Applying late for a preferred programme is a real risk, not a sales line.

QUB GIFT City vs Southampton Delhi

These are two different propositions. One is postgraduate-only inside a Special Economic Zone; the other is a standard Indian campus offering bachelor's degrees.

Southampton's six bachelor's programmes — Accounting & Finance, Business Management, Computer Science, Creative Computing, Economics, and BEng Software Engineering — all sit at ₹13,86,000/yr at the Indian-domicile rate, each three years long with an August intake.

Southampton's instalment schedule is published — QUB's is not

For a student starting August 2026, Southampton Delhi's official fee page sets out: a 10% deposit to confirm the offer, then three further instalments — roughly 24%, 33% and 33% of the remaining balance — due in September, January and April.

That matters for a Nepali family arranging funds through a bank. You know the shape of Southampton's cash-flow demand in advance. For QUB GIFT City you do not, until admissions tells you. Get it by email, not over the phone.

Visa, enrolment and the documents you actually need

Under the 1950 India–Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Nepali citizens do not need a visa to enter or study in India. QUB GIFT City requires no student visa for any nationality, because it operates inside a Special Economic Zone. Southampton Delhi is a standard Indian campus, where non-Nepali foreign nationals generally do need an Indian student visa — Nepali nationals do not.

Because there is no student visa, there is no funds-to-show requirement of the kind you would face for New Zealand, Canada or Malaysia. What replaces it is the admission deposit and the instalment schedule. That is the money the university actually checks.

What you will be asked for:

Ask about the FRRO step explicitly. "No visa" does not automatically mean "no registration of any kind", and you want that clarified at enrolment rather than three weeks after you arrive.

English requirements and the waiver trap

QUB GIFT City asks for IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. The overall score is what students focus on; the sectional minimum is what causes the rejection. A 6.5 overall with a 5.0 in writing does not meet the requirement.

TOEFL and PTE equivalents are typically accepted at QUB GIFT City, but the exact scores were not published in the sources reviewed — confirm with admissions. QUB has not published a test waiver, so ask directly whether an English-medium academic background can replace the test.

Southampton Delhi asks for IELTS 6.0–6.5 depending on the programme, and accepts TOEFL and PTE as alternatives. Its official waiver covers students taught and assessed in English at a CBSE or CISCE school for the final four years of high school, with at least 70% in English Language. English-medium Nepali schools are not explicitly covered by that wording. If a counsellor tells you your +2 from an English-medium school in Kathmandu automatically waives IELTS at Southampton Delhi, ask them to show you where that is written. Then email admissions yourself.

Per-programme thresholds vary slightly by subject at both campuses. Check the specific programme page before an offer is issued.

Living costs: what is not published

Neither campus publishes a monthly living-cost figure. Both are too new for that. Do not accept an invented number from anyone.

GIFT City, Gandhinagar (QUB): university-arranged hostels close to campus, designed to meet UK academic standards, with study areas, Wi-Fi and gyms included. It is a purpose-built SEZ campus with local transport within GIFT City. Shared and studio rents are not published — ask admissions for a current cost-of-living estimate.

Gurugram (Southampton): university-arranged accommodation nearby, linked by a free private shuttle. Single and double rooms with breakfast and evening meals included, gender-separated with shared communal areas. There is a free shuttle bus to the hostels and a Tech Park shuttle to Rapid Metro at Sector 55/56, roughly 45 minutes from Delhi international airport. Meals are inside the accommodation package, so the rent figure and the food figure are not separate here.

Living in Gandhinagar or Gurugram costs far less than living in Belfast or Southampton, and Nepali students pay no international airfare and no visa cost on top. That is the real saving, and it is separate from tuition. Add the numbers yourself once admissions gives you an accommodation quote.

What to check before you pay a deposit

Both campuses are new. QUB GIFT City's first cohort starts January 2026; Southampton Delhi's started in August 2025. Neither has a graduating class, so neither has placement statistics. If you are told otherwise, ask for the source.

Transfer to the UK campus is not guaranteed at either. QUB states there is no automatic right to transfer. Southampton has stated an ambition for future mobility but nothing formal yet. If your plan depends on finishing in the UK, this route does not currently deliver that.

Part-time work is unclear. Southampton Delhi's stated "no part-time work" rule applies to the standard Indian Student Visa — which Nepali students are not on, because they need no visa. Neither university has published a Nepal-specific answer. Raise it with admissions before assuming either way, and do not build your budget on part-time earnings.

Use the free Master Reckoner to line up these programmes against your marks, budget and English score, and browse the full guide library or the destination hub for the other countries you are comparing.

Common questions

Is £15,700 per year or for the whole MSc?

It is the total for the one-year MSc at QUB GIFT City, and it is the same figure across all six programmes. The programmes are one year long, so the total and the annual figure coincide here — but always confirm on the offer letter, because the letter is the document that binds. Southampton's undergraduate figure of ₹13,86,000 is a per-year rate across a three-year degree, which is a different structure entirely.

Do Nepali students pay the same fee as Indian students?

The fees published are the Indian-domicile rate. Nepali applicants are generally treated at parity with Indian students under the open-border relationship, but neither university states this explicitly as policy. Email both admissions offices and get the fee rate for a Nepali passport holder confirmed in writing before you pay a deposit.

Is this the same degree as studying in the UK?

Yes. Both universities confirm graduates receive the identical Queen's University Belfast or University of Southampton degree and testamur as students on the UK campus, with no note distinguishing the India campus. What differs is the campus experience, the alumni network and the absence of any placement track record so far.

How much do I need to show as proof of funds?

There is no visa-linked funds-to-show figure, because Nepali citizens need no student visa for India. What you need ready is the admission deposit — typically 10% of the programme fee — plus the instalment schedule. Southampton publishes its schedule; QUB GIFT City has not published one, so ask admissions for it in writing before you accept the offer.