Westminster International University in Tashkent
Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) was established in January 2002 by the Umid Presidential Foundation, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education of Uzbekistan and the University of Westminster in London. It opened with 120 students; its first 16 graduates completed their degrees in 2005, and total graduates passed 1,000 in 2012.
The University of Westminster leads the academic design of WIUT’s programmes and validates them, so students earn a Westminster qualification without leaving Tashkent. Enrolment now exceeds 5,000. The university offers pre-foundation and foundation courses; bachelor’s degrees in business management, economics, finance, computer science, business information systems, commercial law, and international relations and law; master’s programmes including the MBA, LLM and several MSc degrees; and PhD and DSc research degrees.
WIUT’s quality has been recognised externally. In 2011 the UK Quality Assurance Agency gave outstanding commendations to the University of Westminster and WIUT; in 2023 WIUT received the Scopus Award for the societal impact of its social science research; and in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025 it placed first in Central Asia for SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). Its research labs include the SAP Next-Gen Entrepreneurship and Innovation Lab and the Bloomberg Financial Research and Training Lab, both opened in 2019, and a regional learning centre has operated in Urgench since 2013.