Under one government, the UK is made up of four countries. Each of the country distinct in terms of culture and have specific feeling of their own. The countries are Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales. Over a long period of time UK has been regarded as the most honorary place to study.
When we talk about higher education, they have a long number of courses and universities to choose from. They have many options for Undergrad and also postgrad. They have the most unconventional courses in all the other countries with international influx of students.
Master’s and doctorate students are given chance to work under important researchers which makes the UK the most preferred study destination for students all around the world.
Considering the range of subject they offer, it is safe to say there is something for everyone. The colleges are ranked based on the GPA of students. So alongside the extracurricular activities, study is given special attention.
World’s most important universities are situated in the UK. Including, but not limited to – University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, London School of Economics, and University of Durham.
While majority of the colleges are situated in London, other most important student destination are Manchester, Oxford, and Cambridge.
The most popular programs among Indian students are Social -studies and Sociology, Business Management, Law, Communications/Media, Computer Science
Weather-wise the story of all the places in UK would remain more or less same. Scotland can see rainfall pretty much randomly. But the eastern part of the country sees less rain than the western part. The most famous cities are Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.
Wales has uniform rainfall compared to the other countries in the UK. October to January is the rainy season. The regions that experience snow have much shorter days. Warmer cities of country are Newport, Cardiff, and Swansea.
This is the mildest region strictly in terms of weather. However summers are cooler, but winters are milder. The area sees less sun comparing to the countries in the UK. Newry, Lisburn, Belfast are the most famous cities.
In UK, among all the international students, Indian community is the largest. Birmingham, London, and Manchester are the most common destination among Indian students. Other cities will a large Indian population are Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, and Edinburgh.
<h5Accommodation
The most important thing that you will need to decide as an international student is where you want to live. Whether it is going to be the university campus or you will stay in privately owned place. There are several options even in the university-managed accommodation – they have self-catering option in which you will have to look after your food yourself. The option is catered, where they will provide you with the food. The cost varies a great deal in self-catered and catered options, but the latter one is much more convenient and allows you to focus more on your studies.
If you want to stay at a privately owned place, we recommend you to stay as close to the university as possible. There are many benefits of staying closer to the university like – you can be a part of the student community, socializing, group studies with other students, easy to commute, freedom to explore the city and so on.
Students must ensure, before taking up a private space, that they are aware of their contractual rights.
Short-term accommodation – Hotels and hostels. Some institution helps the student to find shelter in short-term stays. Ask the organization and they will tell you the options in your vicinity.
Rental – You can rent private property. Indian students rent apartments with their friends. After university accommodation, this is the most popular options among international student.
On-Campus – There are dozens of benefits of stay on-campus. You save the commuting time, better community experience, immersive university experience, deeper friendships.
Make sure you reach before the orientation begins. That is time you will be introduced to universities, your classes and their services. Do read your guidebook given by the college for a smoother first few weeks.
Other than sports the universities offer various activities options like drama, music, literary societies, and many more outdoor activities. If you want to make the most of your time in the UK participate as much as you can. There is a long of historical sites that will stimulate your creativity and help you understand the country.
12-18 months prior to the enrollment –
10-12 months prior to enrolment –
10 months before enrolment
Application fee: All the colleges charge a nominal application fee while you apply. The fees are not standard and do vary from college to college and course to course.
Essay: The topics try to evaluate the students based on strength, weakness, experience, skill, career aspirations, and most important – the reason for picking the particular school. You will need to submit different essays as the university demands. It is a part of the admission process.
SOP: Make sure that it is written in the first person and mentions all the right reason that why you want to apply for that college. SOP is how to introduce yourself to the admission office of the university. Keep the SOP casual, but at the same time, do not make it look like you are boasting or you do not care enough. It should be the right balance that reflects how your personality vary objectively. The SOP should also mention why you right fit for them and why you should be accepted to the college.
LOR: The purpose of the letter is to let the college know the qualities 0f the students from an authentic source. LOR is written by a third party mentioning the students’ qualities, capabilities, striking characteristics. It could be your manager, employer, teacher, or professor who write it for you.
UK has adopted an order called UCAS which stands for through Universities and Colleges Admission System. It is a central UK organization that manages the undergrad application and forwarding of the application to their respective institution.
UCAS charges £13 for applying to one course and if you are willing to apply to multiple courses you will be charged £24. Through one common form, the Universities and Colleges Admission System allows to apply to as many as five universities.
The UCAS is particularly created to manage the September/October intake. For the other (January or February) intake, you can apply directly with the university.
There are two major intake season in the United Kingdom –
You can use UCAS to apply for the September/October intake. For the other (January or February) intake, you have to apply directly with the university.
Top 10 Universities in The United kingdom
Top Scholarships in The United kingdom
All the tests differ in their way, most colleges just need one of the results of either of the test. It is safe to say that it depends on the student which tests they want to take. One of these TOEFL, IELTS SAT, GMAT, GRE is mandatory if you want to get admission to any college in the UK. These tests have various structure, formats, band of the result.
Repetition of exams: The test of IELTS can be taken as many times as the student wants, but on the other hand TOEFL has a cap on the times it can be taken and retaken. The rules of PTE are the same as the IELTS, as there is no cap on the number of times it can be taken.
Note – One rule that applies to each of the tests is that you will have to wait for the test to apply for the retest.
Fee: The standard fee for all these exams is between 13000-14000 INR.
Time to apply: To prepare for these tests takes somewhere between two to four months. At times, they also give you an option, in that case, the result of the test you want to submit depends on you. The college and university have rules about which test they accept.
Is IELTS enough to study in the UK? The answer is no, here is the list of exams required for different courses.
GMAT – This test evaluates English, reason skill, and also math. This is the exam taken by the MBA aspirant or the students who want to study management or business courses in the United States of America.
GRE – In recent times, business schools have started to accept the score of this test. This test is taken by the students who want to pursue MS or MA.
SAT – This tests the literacy as well as general writing skill of the students. Problem-solving skills are also a significant part of the test. SAT is taken by the school students who want to go abroad to do their undergrad.
If they give a choice to go for either of these, then the choice depends on you.
The university you will be applying to will mention which exam results will be applicable to the course of your choice.
Repetition and Fee: GMAT retest price is 1800 INR, GRE is INR 14,965, and LSAT is INR 3,800.GMAT does have any cap on the retests, but it cannot be more than five times a year. 30 days gap must be taken before the retests
Average Scores: The accepted GMAT scores is 547, 155 for Verbal, 167 for Quantitative, and 5.0 for writing in GRE. 162 is the accepted score for LSAT.
The cost of living in UK depends a lot on what part of the country you choose to live in. It also depends upon how much you will be socialising with the people there. There are few very general and basic elements for living in UK as an international student, such as:
The international students in the UK have to pay a slightly higher tuition fee as compared to the students from the UK or EU. The tuition fees are variable, depending upon different courses, universities and the city. For international students, the fees start with £10,000 (~US$14,130) and go up to £38,000 (~US$53,700) or more for medical degrees. The average cost of studying in the UK is around £22,200 (~US$31,380) per year and those who want to stay in London needs to spend much higher.
As per the new rules of visa requirements, if you are an international student, the UKBA (UK Border Agency) needs you to have at least a £1,265 budget per month, to study in London, excluding the tuition fees.
In case the campus is not situated in London, you will require to have a minimum budget of £1,015 per month, as per the UKBA. Students need around £200 to £300 per week to live in UK, on average. This is just the estimated cost of living. The actual costs are supposed to vary, depending upon your lifestyle, the place where you stay and your scale of socializing.
Costs of other essential commodities depend upon the person’s lifestyle and where they choose to stay. For example, the average bill of food, for a week would cost around £50. Having a meal at a restaurant could cost up to £15-£25 and having a meal at a pub would cost £8-£12.
Insurance Policy is compulsory for international students. Insurance Policy is compulsory for international students because the student would be studying abroad for a long period of time. However, the students now do not need to buy a separate health insurance policy as not it is included in the student visa provided to them. The health insurance helps the students during the time of hospitalization as you won’t have to pay any money and it covers all costs.
The students with a good track record including in academics as well as extracurricular activities are preferred above the rest for financial assistance and scholarship award. Fee waivers are given to international student on basis of need and also merit. Adding to that, the presentation of the application makes the world of difference.
If you are eyeing for that scholarship, you must make sure that you have all your documents sorted as that is the very first step.
First things first, you will have to check whether or not you make the cut for getting the loan. This is a non-exhaustive list of the criteria
These are sort of course which make you eligible for the education loan. You cannot get loan for all the courses, except these –
For Undergrad: Courses that are job oriented offered by reputed universities.
For Postgrad: You can get loan for MBA, MS, MCA, and also for diplomas.
Loan amount: The bank charges 1% as the processing fees that the students will have to bear. Let us assume your fees is 10 lakhs, then the bank will only give you the 80% of the amount, you will need to bear the remaining cost. This 20% of the sum, in banking term, is known as the margin amount.
The widely accepted amount for a loan is 20 lakhs, but you can get well above that. It depends on the reputation of the college.
Documentation required: It should have the details of your courses as well as a fee breakdown. You will need to show the bank the letter of acceptance sent by the university.
The formality is different depending upon the bank.
Repayment: Regardless of you have a job or not, the loan must be paid in five to seven years. In some exceptions, you can get 10 years as well. You can start to repay after the course ends. Repayment starts only after the course period.
If the student got employed within one year after completion of the course, the repayment should start immediately after the expiry of one month from the date of employment.
Latest update: The UK government has announced the reinstatement of the two-year post-study work visa for international students. The new immigration rules will benefit those international students who are planning to pursue their higher studies in the UK starting from 2020-21. Currently, international students pursuing Bachelor’s or Master’s degree can stay back only for a period of four months. Only international students studying in 27 universities can stay back for six months which are part of the pilot scheme. Prospective Indian students are also going to benefit from this new rule.
These documents may be regarding proof of academic or financial status. While you’re at the personal interview, the interviewer might request certain additional documents. The documents include:
You have to show ability to meet the basic living costs (excluding the fees) for a nine month period.
These are the steps students need to follow to get student visa UK visa. They take three weeks to process the application –
You should be able to show that you do qualify –
A ‘confirmation of acceptance for studies’ (CAS) is proof that you have been admitted to the university.
Financial security. You need to show that you can indeed afford to study in the UK.
For each original document that you submit, you have to include the photocopied document.
Valid and completed Visa application
From April 6, 2012, Tier 1 (Post-study work) was closed to new applicants. So technically you don’t get Post Work Visa with Student Visa. But if you want to work there after your studies, then you need to apply for a Tier 2 visa which is meant for Highly Skilled Workers. So along with your student visa, you don’t get a work permit. You need to apply for a work visa separately.
Your spouse may work in the UK if the grant of leave is for more than 12 months. If your visa was granted for a period of fewer than 12 months or you are participating in a course of study below degree level, your spouse will not be allowed to work in the UK.
Make sure you have copies of the following documents –
You are likely to miss your home, like all students who come from a different country. It hits the hardest in the first couple of weeks. You need to be patient for two weeks or so. The feeling will sink in, you will soak the environment and soon you will start enjoying the new place.
Do anything but do not lock yourself in the room, it will only make things worse. If the feeling does not go away in two weeks you could ask for a counsellor for homesickness. The expert on this matter says that long phone calls make it harder for the students. They feel more homesick after the call ends than before starting it. Try and limit the call to once a week.
Hey, We are determined to make your dreams come true. My only question is, will it be yours?
One Window Overseas Education located in Hyderabad offers one-stop solutions for all the overseas educational needs. Established in 2009 by Anurag Jain, a young enthusiastic entrepreneur, One Window has already helped around 6,500students to get admission to over 342 universities around the world.