UK university honours Swaroop Sampat-Rawal for her journey as a Bollywood star turned educator

Highlights:

• A new Fellowship from the University of Worcester puts Swaroop back where her academic journey began
• The Bollywood star-turned-educator says the honour feels “full circle”
• Her work in life-skills learning for children has gained global attention
• Worcester already gave her an Honorary Doctorate in 2018
• She’s also receiving the TREE Award for 2025–26

The University of Worcester has honoured Bollywood star turned educator Swaroop Sampat-Rawal for her contribution to creative education. The recognition brings her back to the campus where she completed her PhD on drama-based life skills training for children.

Swaroop Sampat-Rawal stands inside the University of Worcester after receiving her new Fellowship www.easterneye.biz

Why the Bollywood star-turned-educator path changed everything for Swaroop Sampat-Rawal

Swaroop was Miss India in 1979, then a familiar face on Indian TV with Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. But the turn into education stayed with her. She said Worcester “changed” her.

Her PhD, completed in 2006, shaped her work with schools across India. It looked at how drama can build life skills in children who often get left behind. Teachers picked it up. NGOs ran programmes based on it and you could tell the impact wasn’t something she chased for show. The new Fellowship from Worcester recognises that long road.

Swaroop speaks with students

How being honoured by a UK university brought her journey full circle

Swaroop said the moment hit her harder than she expected. She spoke about being an unsure student years ago, walking the same corridors. “I came here, and I excelled,” she said.

The university sees her as an ambassador for creative learning. In 2018, it gave her an Honorary Doctorate for her work in education and social change. Staff say she often drops by when she’s in the UK, never as a celebrity visit, more like catching up with old teachers.

Her new Fellowship now sits alongside the Education World Educational Researcher TREE Award for 2025–2026, showing how far the academic side of her career has travelled.

University leaders congratulate Swaroop on her contribution to creative learning

Where the Bollywood star-turned-educator work has reached

Her reach isn’t small. In 2019, she was named one of the top 10 teachers in the world by the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize. That put her on a global list watched by governments and education bodies.

She was also picked as one of around 100 experts to help rewrite India’s national school curriculum. She said her training at Worcester taught her how to research “properly” and how useful that’s been in real classrooms.

Swaroop Sampat-Rawal and David Green

What comes next for Swaroop Sampat-Rawal?

She’s still writing, still running workshops, and still talking openly about the need for creative methods in Indian schools. She’s married to actor Paresh Rawal and work takes her back and forth between Mumbai and the UK. She mentioned the books she’s put out, and the conferences she’s spoken at, almost in passing. Then she paused, almost mid-thought, remembering Worcester again, the place where most of this started.