International Students Breakdown

We have lots of useful tables and statistics for you in this section. The data used are based solely on the numbers of international students attending a particular university and say nothing about the quality of that university. It is very important, therefore, that you cross refer to the main League Table and the Subject Tables which are concerned with quality.

The data are based on overseas students enrolling in all years of first degree courses at UK universities in 2008–09 and are the latest figures available. They exclude those students whose complete study programmes were outside the UK but include the majority of students taking part in EU exchange programmes such as ERASMUS, TEMPUS and LINGUA at UK universities. Foundation degrees are relatively new and take two years. The traditional first degrees are mostly awarded at Bachelor level (BA, BEng, BSc, etc) and last for three or four years. There are also some so-called 'enhanced' first degrees (MEng, MChem, etc) which take four years to complete. Vocational courses like architecture, dentistry and medicine are one or two years longer. Some universities offer one-year courses, including English language tuition, to act as a bridge for international students whose qualifications are insufficient for direct entry to a degree course.

The Prime Minister's initiative to recruit an additional 50,000 university students from overseas by 2005 was achieved a year early. The demand is buoyant with significant numbers coming particularly from China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, the USA and other EU countries. In many UK universities you could expect to have fellow students from over 100 countries across the world. The British university system is truly a global one and increasingly so with more than one in ten of its student population – a much higher figure than the USA – coming from countries overseas.

Which countries do International students come from and What do international students study give a broad overview of international students in Britain. However, most regardless of their country of origin, pursue courses of study which are strongly vocational. Where do international students study lists those universities with large numbers of overseas students. Percentage of overseas students by institution shows the proportion of first degree international students in each of the universities. Ulster owes much of its popularity to its close proximity to the Republic of Ireland. The pattern of distribution among the institutions largely reflects chosen fields of study. As emphasised earlier, you must satisfy yourself about course and university quality by going back to these sections.

Probably the most useful information is to be found in the series of tables Most Popular Subjects and Universities for International Students which lists the universities by numbers of international students in the 25 most popular subjects, each of which has at least 1,000 students from other countries. Use this information in conjunction with the tables that measure quality.

Advice and information on the UK universities are available through the British Council at its worldwide offices, a visit to one of the many university exhibitions overseas and its website, where you can find details of their support services for international students. There is also information on course fees, living costs and English language requirements. The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), is another useful source of advice and information on issues like immigration, permission to work and tuition fee status. Its website has a helpful series of guidance notes on these and other relevant matters.

Next page: Where They Come From