In response to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic and “Brexit” and other multiple factors, the United Kingdom has recently launched various preferential policies for international students.
On the one hand, set a “ceiling” for tuition fees, and on the other hand, lower the entry threshold. But whether these measures can make the British education market continue to boom in the new year or reverse the car? International students also have different views.
Establish a maximum university tuition fee
British Secretary of State for Education Williamson recently announced that college tuition fees will be frozen in 2021 and the cost will be limited to a maximum of £9,250 a year to compensate for the losses caused by the epidemic to students and families and avoid excessive tuition fees.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that there had been previous proposals to reduce college tuition fees to a maximum of 7,500 pounds a year.
But after all, universities are not charitable organizations, and the British Ministry of Education rejected the proposal, saying that it is “important to maintain the sustainable and benign development of the student financial assistance system”.
The Ministry of Education said that the long-term plan to control tuition fees will be postponed to the next expenditure review, when other changes will be released and decisions will be made. However, Williamson expressed the hope that more funds could be given to students studying medicine, science, engineering and technology.
International students pay much more expensive tuition fees than local students, which has almost become a common phenomenon in many large countries studying abroad. However, since last year, in order to attract more international students in the epidemic, some British universities have put forward a policy of “internal and external consistency”.
Last November, Hull University in northern England announced that in order to encourage more Worldewide students to enroll, it will implement a unified tuition fee standard for international students and local British students.
Other universities impose tuition relief for international students in different states.
For example, Durham University has reduced tuition fees by 25% for students enrolled in September this year; York University has decided to reduce tuition fees for language courses by 25% and 10% for master’s programs; the University of Southampton provides alumni with a 10% discount on tuition fees for postgraduate courses; and Glasgowster.
The College of Engineering of Laklyde University simply awarded £1,000 to each new students enrolled in 2020/21, and £700 for returning students.
Relax the admission criteria
In addition to tuition fee reduction, the admission threshold for international students in British universities has also been greatly reduced. The University of Birmingham has become the first university in the UK to lower the admission requirements for 2021.
It plans to lower the admission requirements of most undergraduate courses by one level to encourage more students to enter.
“We want to do this to ease the stress and anxiety of students and ensure that everyone who wants to apply to Birmingham has the best opportunity to enroll,” said Eastwood, principal.
The decision of the University of Birmingham immediately attracted more colleges and universities to compete.
The University of Surrey in England has also lowered the admission requirements for A-Level scores by one level for most undergraduate majors, except for veterinary medicine, preparatory courses, four-year master’s degree courses, audition performance courses that need to be auditioned, etc.
The University of Lancaster in the north of England has lowered the IELTS score for admission to some master’s majors, including finance. The School of Management of the University of Liverpool has also made some adjustments to cancel the requirement of IELTS 6.5 for management and finance and finance majors, allowing languageless applications, and even re-examined and issue admission notices.
Even the universities of Oxford and Cambridge have said that they will take into account the factors that caused students to miss classes due to the epidemic, relax the admission criteria for undergraduates, and make it “easier” for students to enter the university.
Visa simplification, exchange rate decline
In order to allow international students to stay in the UK to study, the British government has recently continuously simplified the visa process, increased the way to study in the UK, and opened the door to international students.
After Britain’s scheduled “Brexit”, international students and EU students will be treated equally.
The new immigration policy implemented by the British government since December 1 last year seeks to attract the best talents in the world.
The policy for international students is becoming more and more relaxed, and the conditions for work visas after graduation for up to three years have been further relaxed to four years. In addition, many types of entrepreneurial visas have also brought more discounts to international students to graduate and study in the UK.
It is worth mentioning that since the “Brexit” referendum held in the United Kingdom in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against the RMB has basically changed from 1:10, and in more cases it has remained at 1:9 or even 1:8.
After the pound exchange rate fell, tuition and accommodation fees were cheaper for international students.
Students have different concerns.
International students have different views and considerations on the preferential policies introduced by the United Kingdom.
Sun, who majored in law at the University of London, said in an interview with the Global Times that Brexit has brought more benefits to non-EU students.
Students from EU countries will be directly classified as international students, no longer enjoying the previous “privileges”, and preferential policies will be reduced accordingly.
Sun said that this means that Worldewide international students become more competitive, and there are more applications and internship opportunities after graduation. He is also planning to stay in the UK for a year after graduation to enrich his experience in the UK.
A sophomore at the University of Southampton in the harbor city, also agrees with this view.
He believes that the epidemic has forced the UK to modify its original policy and give more favorable tuition fees to the majority of international students, which is reasonable.” In the past year, my classmates and I have limited daily access to school facilities.
It is far from enough to receive education through online courses. The lack of more interaction is the topic that many students complain about.
However, He does not think that if the threshold for British enrollment is lowered a lot, more Worldewide students will definitely come to the UK.” The epidemic still makes many Worldewide students afraid to consider coming to the UK to study this year.- In addition, British universities only provide partial discounts, and the cost of living abroad is actually higher than in previous years.
He said that in terms of food, for example, Britain’s food imports from EU countries reached 30%, and “Brexit” caused food prices to rise accordingly.
Ding, who studied at the University of Glasgow, looked at the impact of the epidemic and Brexit from another perspective. She believes that the current environment for studying in the UK is better than before.
Because of the lockdown, she and many students actually spend more energy on reading and doing research.
In addition, from the perspective of female international students, the influx of refugees in Europe in recent years has led to the influx of many refugees from Middle Eastern countries, indirectly causing instability in British social security, which is a daily concern for her.” Now Britain’s autonomous response to refugee problems without EU approval after Brexit is very helpful for maintaining Britain’s social security.
