Indian students in Britain before the Second World War were a sizeable social group who exerted noticeable influence on Indian nationalism and on British institutions and society. The politics of race and empire were mediated through British schools and universities in this period with consequences for Indian students, and their peers. This article discusses the ways in which Indian students were socially segregated in Britain, including facing a colour ban in some parts of the country, and the consequences of this racial prejudice. It argues that the mobility of colonial students during the time of empire not only had a personal effect on their lives, but encouraged them to become politically engaged in the politics of metropole and empire, engaging in nationalism, socialism and the female suffrage movement in both Britain and India.