UK international study market
Whether to study in the UK
The UK has some 430 colleges and 21,000 postgraduate courses and brings with it international recognition and a cosmopolitan feel. While you are here you will get NHS healthcare, cooler climate and, according to HSBC, the average annual cost of living here and doing a course is USD 30,325 compared to USD 35,705 in the USA and USD 38,516 in Australia, plus the UK has the highest satisfaction and teaching ratings, and 85% of international students say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their course. The obvious reason to do your masters in the UK is that USA and Australia make you pay for two years and the UK only asks for one year, saving you some 5.6M rupees.
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However, USA and Canada are better at feedback, and work rights ware not always great (post study work visas were abolished and replaced with schemes like the tier 2 sponsor and sponsored graduate job) but now there is two year post study work visa. Nonetheless, tier 4 study visa is often used as a foothold for extension or switching to other study or work visas.
19% of higher education students are international, as are 69% of taught postgraduate students and 52% of business post grad students. About 300,000 higher education students are international and about 50,000 are doing taught business postgrad. 42% of postgrad students are non-EU. Non-EU students do more than twice as many taught postgrad degrees as UK students. There is a gradual move from postgraduate to undergraduate. A third of international students are studying business, which boosts employability and salary.
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International students are our fifth biggest export, provide an eighth of college revenue, support about 200,000 jobs, earn the UK around £14-19bn, support research and exports with students’ home country and help us project soft power.
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Especially now that UK colleges have launched extra masters and MBA courses against a backdrop of tightening visa rules, and India is building its own colleges, and Australia and Canada have different visa rules, and Brexit threatens to kill off the EU student market, UK colleges must compete harder now for fewer international students and are increasingly hoping to rely on partnerships and agents. As at 2019, as the government decided to ignore students in the net immigration figures and most people want to maintain levels. In the meantime though, since Brexit colleges have to make the numbers up from non-EU international students.
Although the attractiveness of the UK has reduced, for students prepared to wait for a visa and be flexible about colleges it is an opportunity to drive a hard bargain.
Admittedly, secure English language test centres have been reduced, and colleges want to avoid making offers to applicants with questionable visa credentials as they can lose their licence if 10% are refused, 10% don’t enroll or 15% fail the course, so they often interview you, even though the Home Office can also do so before or after you arrive.
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Whilst there is a cap at degree level and above of five years only about 17% officially stay that long. Switching visa for family or work is rare (about 2,000 for family and 6,000 for work) but extending studies is normal, about 35,000 students do it annually. You cannot usually bring family with you unless the course lasts over a year.
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Your college must be a tier 4 sponsor, however tier 4 visa were up 7% on the year as at September 2018 with a total of 239,595 granted, including a 33% increase to Indians, for example. Not all statistics separate out figures for small exporters of students like Sri Lanka.