"Unprecedented Opportunities: Why Indian Students Should Choose UK for Higher Education Now"

Every year over six million students around the world make a brave and life-changing decision. Keen to take advantage of the best educational opportunities the world has to offer, students and families make one of the most important investments of their lives — they decide to pursue a global education.

Within this remarkable annual global migration of talent, 550,000 students from over 180 countries will choose to study in the UK. They are part of a great tradition of international students travelling to Britain which has included notable scientists and presidents, judges and doctors, lawyers, business leaders and filmmakers.

In the light of a proud legacy of historical success and the expectation across the board that the UK will continue to offer post-study work via the Graduate visa, there has never been a better time than this year to choose the UK as your study destination.

A global reputation for quality

We should begin with a constant and what matters most of all — the quality of British universities. The UK is home to four of the top 10 universities in the world, but its reputation for quality goes far beyond the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.

The UK has a hard-won reputation for academic rigour and for degrees which mix subject knowledge with cutting-edge research and innovation. There is a reason multinational companies choose to work closely with UK universities and love to employ their graduates.

The American president of Microsoft recently told the BBC that his company had chosen the United Kingdom as attractive to global inward investment because of its diverse universities and excellent science. He also added that even with development in AI, it was smart, well-trained people that would offer competitive advantage. Those graduates come from a wide range of subjects but they share the ability to think critically, discover and challenge.

An entry route to suit you

For international students, accessing global education and thriving in it also needs preparation. The UK is a great choice because of the variety of options to help you prepare for success. There are three primary options and expert support is available to help you make the right choice.

1. Direct Entry

This approach is appropriate for someone who knows clearly the subject they wish to study, the university they hope to apply to and who have the qualifications and funds ready, comparable to a domestic student. This requires a student’s language and cultural understanding to be at appropriate levels to be successful straight away.

2. International Year One (IY1)

IY1 programmes suit those students who have demonstrated the aptitude to enter the first year of a degree but who still need additional language instruction and support designed around academic skills associated with that level of study. To ensure that students are suitably prepared for progression, all IY1 programmes are designed in collaboration with partner universities to ensure that the academic subject matter that IY1 students learn is comparable to that of students studying the first year of a specific degree. IY1 programmes can be considered to be internationally-tailored introductions to specific degrees, allowing successful students to then be admitted into the second year of a partner institution’s degree programme.

3. International Foundation Year (IFY)

An IFY programme is a pre-degree level preparatory course specifically designed around the needs of an international student who is not yet ready for the first year of a degree to develop their academic English language and study skills in a supportive environment fully focused on the needs of international students. These courses are intensive, attendance is carefully monitored, and class sizes kept small to provide the academic and pastoral support necessary for students’ success. These programmes have been running successfully for many years around the world and alumni include thousands of successful professionals who have graduated from undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.

Which option is right for a particular student will depend on the individual. What every option has in common is that it is a route to success.

A truly international experience

What is wonderful about a British university is that, while you come to study in the UK, at every university you have the chance to meet the world. International and British students agree that a university experience in England, Scotland or Wales means you will also study alongside people from the great powers of the world and smaller nations too. Your international fellow students become your peers and your friends. And just as important, you learn to navigate a wide range of global perspectives and to work in diverse teams — this too is a great education.

Attracting global talent also means UK universities’ cities are well used to providing for the needs of students from many countries. If you crave the food of home or want to attend a religious festival, the UK is a diverse environment in which you can explore another country and yet maintain connection with your own culture.

And of course Indian students choosing the UK are part of a long and proud tradition. As Chair of the UK National Indian Students and Alumni Union Sanam Arora points out, “Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Sorabji, Tagore, Patel, Naidu… all form part of an unparalleled education legacy between India and the UK.”

A passport to career success

Of course, education is not only a benefit during your studies. Most Indian students also want to be sure of a successful career after graduation.

A British degree is a passport to success. Many subjects are professionally accredited with bodies which are respected and recognised across the world. Work experience in organisations like the globally respected British National Health Service open the doors to employment across the world. Many of the leading companies globally have a strong presence in the UK and work closely with its universities. This opens up chances for students to connect with the quality businesses or organisations who may be their first employer.

The opportunity to launch your career in the UK after graduation

Which brings us to post-study work. Many Indian graduates wish to return home after their studies but it is increasingly clear that the UK will reaffirm its offer to all graduates of two-year Graduate route visas which enable them to stay in the UK long enough to find the first career opportunities that are so important to their futures. This is fantastic news for Indian students who have been eagerly awaiting this clarification.

And for those with highly desirable skills such as in healthcare or who earn above £38,700 there is an opportunity to apply to stay longer than that.

A warm welcome

But perhaps most important of all, Indian students are typically very welcome in UK universities and its wider communities. Modern Britain is multicultural and proud of the successes of people of every background, religion and ethnicity who have made the UK home. I am delighted that my own daughter has the opportunity to make university friends from across the world — she and her friends make up a welcoming global student community.

This matters to students as they decide where to study across the world. And when you add up the benefits, I am proud to say that there has never been a better time than now to choose to study in the United Kingdom. That is important because international education of this quality comes at a price so it is essential to make that investment count, but the return is truly life-changing.

By: Ian Crichton is the CEO of International Education Specialists, Study Group

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