Study abroad: why choose to study at a UK university?

Can a quarter of a million of the world’s brightest students be wrong? That’s an estimate of the number of overseas students leaving the comforts of home and braving UK food and, for many, poor timing to get the postgraduate education they see as the key to a bright future in their home countries.

The British Council estimates that the total number of foreign students currently studying in Britain, at all academic levels, is almost one million, with two-fifths of postgraduate students coming from other countries. The UK government’s growing recognition of the value of this phenomenon to the wider UK economy is likely to increase its efforts to attract these students away from competing institutions in other countries and to address the complex student visa laws that most of foreign students cite as the most important. – and often the only – disincentive to pursue postgraduate degrees in the UK.

Studying in the UK, rather than comparable universities and colleges in other countries, remains clearly the first choice of the largest segment of the overseas student population.

The main reason can be summed up in the single word that 23-year-old Tulkin Sultanov from Uzbekistan gave the BBC as a reason for pursuing advanced studies in the UK: “reputation”. Around the world, UK universities are renowned for their high academic standards, state-of-the-art educational facilities (particularly in science, engineering and the arts) and a wide range of offerings combined with the flexibility to suit individual student needs. .

Like many other students who eventually go to the UK, Sultanov was educated at a British school in his homeland. As a result, he said, he knew that British teaching was of a high quality, that professors at British universities had an international reputation as leaders in their fields and, most importantly, that alumni at British universities enjoyed a level of professional success upon his return. to his homeland that made them the envy of his generation.

UK universities and colleges are continually assessed by professional bodies to ensure that their teaching and research standards and their facilities are to the highest standards. The result has been the highest rating from the rest of the world, which at this point assumes that any British postgraduate education is first class. As standards are now known to be high at all levels, unrivaled prestige is attached to a master’s or doctoral degree obtained from a British university.

Of the half a million Chinese students who study abroad each year, some 50,000 have chosen the UK as their preferred academic destination, together spending an estimated £550 million a year on their UK education. Lin Disheng, a twenty-two-year-old Chinese student featured in another BBC story, followed his undergraduate degree at the University of Nottingham (where he earned first-class honors in e-commerce and digital business) with a master’s program at Oxford. Citing China’s rapid industrialization and economic growth, he told the BBC: “Chinese youth like me want to make a contribution to this rapid process. That’s why I want to study in the UK, to learn better Western technologies and experience the culture West and do the best I can.

It goes without saying that the students who are accepted to British universities are the best students from the best universities in their home countries. Still, for most, what amplifies the education they received at home can be summed up in three words: independence and self-sufficiency. These are not just qualities they acquire on a personal level, although the mere process of adapting and then succeeding in a culture often significantly different from their own gives them a level of self-confidence that they may not even need in their home countries. . .

More specifically, a UK postgraduate education teaches overseas students a kind of independent thinking, creativity with ideas (most conspicuous in artistic disciplines but just as evident in disciplines such as business and politics, ‘thinking outside the box’). “, and even science. Most foreign students come from academic environments that have emphasized rote learning and, with the best of intentions, the dutiful regurgitation of their teachers’ own ideas back to their professors. Only in an environment that encourages and teaches independent ways of thinking, students learn how to generate their own ideas, propose and try original solutions to problems, and trust their own creative impulses.

British universities also offer recognized value for money. Bachelor’s programs, for example, are generally spread over three rather than four years, and most master’s programs are designed to be completed in one year. This makes them highly cost-effective compared to the longer time it takes to complete comparable courses of study in other countries, particularly the US. Additionally, scholarships and other forms of financial aid make it possible for many foreign students to enter institutions at those who could not attend with their own resources or those of their families. Personal support in accessing such assistance, overseen by highly trained university administrative staff, helps many international students navigate the tangle of qualifications that sometimes discourage them from seeking this vital source of financial aid.

Furthermore, access to government-funded healthcare contributes greatly to the financial advantages of studying in the UK. Students on any full-time course in Scotland and on full-time courses lasting at least six months in England, Wales or Northern Ireland are entitled to free medical treatment from the British National Health Service.

Another advantage of studying in the UK is that some students can, if they must or want to, work while they obtain their degrees. Because they are from outside the EU, students who are enrolled in a course of study longer than six months can work up to 20 hours a week during term time and full-time during holidays. Students who need to supplement their finances to live and study abroad will be happy to know that part-time work is easy to find. Others may find working part-time a valuable way to learn more about the local culture outside of the confines of academia.

The UK also offers a unique variety of academic settings for graduates. In addition to universities and colleges located within Britain’s bustling and dynamic cities, which include many more places than London, although the capital is unrivaled for its academic, cultural and other offerings, students can choose to study in purpose-built rural campuses, often also in areas of outstanding natural beauty. While some overseas students understandably want the programmes, as well as the prestige, of Britain’s famous and established higher education venues, others prefer the more modern and cutting-edge universities that have sprung up across the country, sometimes with programs specific. academic specializations, sometimes offering a full range of graduate programs.

In fact, exposure to the wider culture is, though often overlooked during considerations of where to study abroad, one of the most important reasons for choosing the UK as a location for an advanced degree. Exploring the country beyond the university campus is sure to strengthen English skills, and more specifically, it does not require learning another language beyond the international language of English that has become the global academic norm.

In addition to native, local and folk cultures, Britain offers some of the richest examples of Western culture to be found anywhere in Europe, and not just London. Although London ranks second to no other city in Europe in terms of its cultural offerings of all kinds, there are also major cultural centers and events in other UK cities, such as Birmingham, which has one of the best symphony orchestras in the world. world, and Edinburgh. , a city with an extraordinarily rich cultural life throughout the year and a summer festival of all the arts that is one of the most recognized in the world. British museums are also considered among the best in the world.

For the more adventurous, the rest of Europe is literally on the doorstep of people living in the UK. There are affordable ways to travel to other countries in Europe, especially for students, resulting in close and easy access to a wide range of other Western cultures, people and traditions.

But even students who find study so demanding that it keeps them close to home and leaves little time for travel will be grateful to be “coined” in a country as famous as the UK. The British countryside, villages and beaches are renowned the world over for their unrivaled beauty. Travel within the country is cheap and fast, allowing most visiting students ample opportunity to explore the riches of the UK beyond the walls of the university.

Whatever your reasons for choosing to study in the UK, and whatever you do to enhance your academic experience while there, you can be sure of one thing. When you return home, everyone will be impressed that you earned your degree in a country known throughout the world for the high quality of its educational offerings. And, with a British degree in your pocket (and brains), you’ll be in a prime position to compete for the best jobs in your country and find the most fulfilling way to participate in a globalized world that you’ve found yourself.