What is the most crucial consideration while designing your overseas education plan? Amongst parameters like the choice of college and course, choosing the most conducive host country is definitely one of the main criteria. The host country you decide to go to for your higher education determines how your career is going to look like in the future. In this write up, we are going to discuss the top reasons that make studying in the UK a better option than going for any other country.
1. Availability of Highly Reputed and World Renowned Universities and Courses
Highly prestigious institutions like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London (UCL) and University of Edinburgh are situated in the UK. Other renowned institutions in UK include University of Warwick, London School of Economics, Durham College, Bristol University, University of York, and more. There is a proven consistently proven time and again record of high employability quotient of top UK universities graduates.
2. Imparting World Class Education
The top UK universities traditionally have been known for imparting top quality education. An extremely important reason that made these universities stand tall in all these decades is that their teaching and research is regularly assessed and graded by official organization personnel to ensure that quality benchmarks are constantly met. Periodic audits are also conducted by the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education) apart from the standard checks and audits conducted by the institutions themselves. In fact, according to the QS rankings 2016, London was declared as the fifth most student friendly city in the world.
3. Wide Range of Top Notch Courses
With over 150,000 courses available at universities and colleges all over England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, UK’s education system is a haven for students seeking quality education that comprises of advanced courses. The one-year master’s programme is quite a popular choice for students looking to pursue a graduate degree, owing to the short duration of the programme. Pursuing a combination course of master’s and PhD enables the students an additional year, which naturally means less tuition and accommodation expenses.
4. Robust Research Infrastructure & Opportunities
The UK has been known for their humongous amount of contribution to the research activities across the world. It has been recorded that this country by and large contributes to approximately 6.4% general articles, 11.6% of citations and 15.9% of the most extensively cited articles – GLOBALLY! Around 30% articles contributed by the UK researchers have been declared “World Leading” and 46% of these as “Internationally Excellent” by the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF)!
5. The Provision of Employment While Studying
The option of working while studying proves as a great advantage for students. It helps them gain industry exposure early on and also relieves them a bit from the financial pressure. Students can take up part time jobs, internships or short term jobs during vacations. Some colleges have made placements part of their course and even assist students in finding the right job for them.
6. Work Permit after Completing Your Study
There is a provision for you to stay back in the UK for work if you have a job offer worth at least 20,800 pounds annually. To be able to work in the UK, your visa should be changed from Tier 4 Visa to Tier 2 General Visa.
7. Availability of Scholarships and Financial Assistance
A very big worry for students, especially international students is the huge financials involved in studying abroad. With many scholarships and financial support options available for international students, studying abroad, especially at the UK is no more a far-fetched dream for many! To be able to avail the scholarship, you will have to first get through and accepted at your selected course.
8. Medical Facilities and Financial Benefits
A country where medical facilities are top notch is generally a preferred study destination, especially for international students. The UK along with advanced medical facilities, also provides free medical treatment to Indian students pursuing full time course, by the National Health Service (NHS). Your spouse and children are also eligible for this medical benefit if they stay with you during your course.
9 Exposure to a Gamut of Cultures
Studying in a UK university gives its international students the opportunity to interact with a highly diverse group of people. Around 4, 50,000 students from over 180 countries have been known to have pursued the study from the various UK universities out of which almost 20,000 students were found to be from India.
There are many more reasons that make UK an extremely conducive place to pursue your studies from and these include the natural picturesque beauty of the country, safety aspects, living standards, etc. This article focuses on the most important aspects that make this country inviting for its international student community. In case you are aspiring to study in a top UK university, you have a friend in the team of Study Destinations. Get in touch with us if you are looking for a guide to help you through the application process, which may seem daunting to some. We are always here for you!
