The UK was the focal theme country at the world’s most visited book fair this year. Speakers from the UK’s Higher Education sector and English language experts made up our offer to the visitors besides a range of workshops, seminars and panel discussions held around English and higher education.

The British Council used the UK government’s GREAT campaign to showcase what the United Kingdom has to offer India and the rest of the world, in education and research, arts and culture, including information on studying in the UK, scholarships, English learning, UK qualifications and more.

Books and online resources from the UK displayed at the British Council pavilion allowed visitors access to new understanding and partnerships related to UK Education, engagement with contemporary UK, English learning and professional opportunities in the Arts. Outreach events were held in partnership with schools and higher educational as well as academic institutions in Kolkata such as Centre for Translation of Indian Literatures and Centre for Advanced Studies, Jadavpur University, Rani Birla College, Scottish Church College, and South City International.

It seemed as if a mini UK had descended upon the Fair grounds. The hustle bustle of the UK’s thriving cultural scene was unfolding before hundreds of thousands of visitors as they devoured the day’s menu of author conversations, poets’ meets, storytelling workshops and musical performances.

Here are some highlights:

• Over 2.1 million visitors visited the fair and – half a million were recorded at the GREAT branded UK pavilion
• GREAT scholarship guides, career guides and information related to higher education in the UK were prominently featured and distributed
• Nobel laureate Amartya Sen was in conversation with noted economist Sugata Bose on 'Encounters with the UK', which had both talking about their education in the UK
• The chief minister and the finance minister acknowledged the UK’s presence and importance at the fair.
• Contacts of almost 600 relevant students were collected from the Education UK desk
• Other information that was available at the pavilion included - IHE (plus scholarships), UKIERI, Schools   (Mathematics workshop), our work in Premier Skills, UK qualifications– principally IELTS (with APTIS and the rest of the portfolio), Library services (on-site and online), Teaching centre (demo-classes and videos with information desk), Arts – a series of events at the book fair, at schools and colleges, other external venues attracting around 8000 guests/participants. All programmes, collateral, announcements
• Media coverage, which started with a series of press conferences held in Kolkata and Delhi generated PR value worth INR 23,32,515 as of January 2015 (latest figures awaited).
• The fair took place from 28 January to 8 February 2015 at the Milan Mela grounds in Kolkata. 

A large number of UK publishers were present at the Kolkata Book Fair. It is estimated that nearly 80 per cent of books in the higher education category is shipped out from the UK. 

The Kolkata Book Fair, recognised by International Publishers Association, Geneva, is also the largest Book Fair of the world in terms of visitors. The 38th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair was visited by 1.8 million booklovers over 12 days and books worth Rs 200 million were sold.

If you are interested in promoting your institution in India through digital or direct marketing activities, please get in touch with Shruti Khanna at shruti.khanna@britishcouncil.org and siemsouthasia@britishcouncil.org.  We can also help you explore partnerships and collaboration with local institutions.

Do you feel events like these help connect local audiences with UK’s education offer? Tell us at siemsouthasia@britishcouncil.org.