Imagine a cross between University Challenge and The Apprentice, but set in India.

Such an unconventional idea for a television show conjures up images of Jeremy Paxman sneering “You’re failed!” at an aspiring Indian student. But five British universities are banking on this novel formula to try to recruit more Indians and to establish academic links with one of the world’s biggest emerging markets.

NDTV, an Indian television channel, is preparing to broadcast a new show in which students will compete for full scholarships to the universities of Leeds, Warwick, Cardiff, Sheffield and Middlesex.

Airtel Scholar Hunt: Destination UK will show students going through a series of exams, interviews and other tests for the scholarships, one of which is being offered by each university. Each scholarship is for a three-year degree, with an option for a year’s salaried work placement, and is worth £45,000 — a fortune in a country where average annual income is about £300.

“It’s survival of the fittest, but hopefully this will provide someone with a life-changing opportunity,” Arun Thapar, the show’s producer and presenter, told The Times. “We’ll be doing things that will be very engaging. The drama — the laughter and the tears — will be a key part of it.” The show, which will begin transmitting in India in July, weds the Indian craze for studying overseas with the growing popularity of reality TV. It also reflects the ambitions of British universities to recruit more Indian students in the face of cheaper competition from other Western countries.

The number of Indian students at British universities has risen from 5,000 in 2001 to 23,000 today, but still lags far behind the United States, which has 76,500. The idea for the show was hatched by the British High Commission in Delhi, which then contacted NDTV and put it in touch with universities in Britain.

“It’s important for UK universities to recruit students from overseas, but also to do joint research,” said Tim Gore, education director for the British Council in Delhi. “Universities recognise that they have to produce graduates who can thrive in the global marketplace. Through this process, they’ll get some very bright students.”

Eleven British universities have offices in India, and this month alone the vice-chancel-lors of Oxford Brookes, Nottingham Trent and Hertfordshire universities visited the country. But Scholar Hunt is the most innovative attempt so far to promote British universities. The scholarships on offer are for degrees in management at Leeds, biomedical sciences at Sheffield, computing science at Middlesex, journalism and media at Cardiff and engineering at Warwick.

NDTV is expecting tens of thousands of students to apply when registration starts via an online test on its website, www. ndtvscholar.com, later this month. The top 2,000 applicants will then be filmed sitting exams and the top 200 will be interviewed on camera by a panel including university representatives. The top 100 will then enter a studio quiz to select the 20 finalists, and a second studio quiz will choose the five winners.

Mr Thapar said that the universities would choose the questions and would not compromise their usual admission standards. “It’s not fair for anyone to be eliminated because they’re not good on television,” he added. “They’re not getting contracts to be pop stars.”

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