QAA Accreditation to 2031 Frames GMU’s New Academic Year

Mangaluru/Ajman: Institutional accreditation awarded in June 2026 by the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) now stands behind Gulf Medical University (GMU) as it opens the 2026–2027 academic year.

The award followed a comprehensive international quality review, lasts until 2031 and confirmed that GMU met all 10 European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, with no conditions.

The university also held its place in the global 301–400 band of the Times Higher Education (THE) Sustainability Impact Rankings 2026 and recorded 23rd globally for Reduced Inequalities, 60th for Quality Education and 64th for Good Health and Well-being. It ranked first among UAE universities in THE’s Impact Rankings for Good Health and Well Being in 2025.

Those marks supply a foundation as GMU, which officially commenced the year on Monday, 31 August, welcomes students and faculty for academic growth, innovation and advancement in health professions education. Campus numbers rose sharply, showing high demand for health professions programmes among new and returning learners.

Chancellor Prof. Manda Venkatramana said the 2026–2027 welcome keeps attention on academic excellence, research and innovation, and on preparing healthcare professionals for changing local and global community needs. International recognitions, he said, affirm the quality of work across GMU and lift the benchmark for future aims.

The year begins another phase in GMU’s path as a leading medical and health sciences university in the UAE and the region. Founded in 1998 by Mangaluru-based Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, it has grown from Gulf Medical College into a comprehensive university and academic health system spanning education, healthcare and research, with programmes across its colleges and an international student community.

Leadership, deans and college heads met to set direction and priorities. Dr. Thumbay Moideen met the deans. The Vice Chancellor and college heads reviewed academic priorities and plans.

The year will strengthen advanced healthcare sciences and foundational medical education and will continue expansion in digital health, interdisciplinary learning, research and innovation. Colleges maintain a multidisciplinary environment to prepare graduates for evolving global healthcare needs, with a wider focus on academic quality, research, innovation, clinical education and social impact.

Seven colleges including Medicine, Dentistry, Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Nursing, Healthcare Management and Economics, and the Thumbay College of Management and AI in Healthcare operate. There are 45 accredited programmes, over 5,000 graduates, students from 111-plus nationalities and faculty from 56 countries.

More than 3,100 training beds serve a network of seven Thumbay Group academic hospitals, alongside partnerships with 75-plus international universities. GMU is the only private Academic Health System of its kind in the region.

As students return and a new cohort begins health professions education, the university remains set on an environment in which future healthcare professionals can learn, innovate and contribute meaningfully to the communities they serve. (eom)

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The Hans India