The usual enquiries about Engineering and Medicine were rife at the UK university stalls in The Hindu Education Plus Education Fair 2013 but some special courses had very good response. This summer, four U.K. universities exhibited their products in the Fair: University of Warwick; University of East Anglia; London Metropolitan University and Anglia Ruskin University.
While the creative writing course at University of East Anglia (UEA) is very famous, this year the university was also promoting strategic carbon management and environmental sciences. International development is another area the UEA prides itself on: “We have won the queen’s anniversary award twice for our school of International development. The maximum number of Indian students applying to UEA is for the school of International Development,” says Miriam Ebenezer who represented the university.
London Metropolitan, on the other hand was promoting their 18-month MBA in Executive Development. It is a new course which does not require work experience.
With 12 months taught in the classroom, they have a paid internship when they finish. “(The students get) six months work experience and later that is going to look good on their CV that they’ve worked in London in the relevant sector.” Says Denise Panattoni, International Officer of the London Met for India. The course is priced at 12,600 pounds for the full duration of the course, plus a scholarship of 1000 pounds, it would seem a good bargain for a student wishing to study in this teeming capital of the U.K.
University of Warwick ranks fifth in the U.K. On average, every year there are 300 to 350 international students who take up education at Warwick. It is a large university with a strength of 15,000 to 16,000 students. Scholarships are offered at Postgraduate and PhD level. There are no undergraduate scholarships as such. Important departments at University of Warwick are the Business School and Warwick Manufacturing Group.
“For students who don’t want to go for pure-science–based courses, but who are looking to gain experience in management, these are ideal options. Courses like Cybersecurity, Process Management and Engineering Business Management are very popular as they give a dual combination,” says Aarthi Natarajan who was representing the university.
The universities boast of a student-friendly atmosphere and this was stressed by the representative from Anglia Ruskin University specially. Student support can go to the level of people helping with taking notes even. Says Miriam Ebenezer, “When I was a student at UEA I was working as a student support… helping them understand their lectures – taking notes, and so on.. Such is the intensity of student support that is available at UEA.”
The universities all have their major intake in September so it is a good idea to start the process of researching and applying well in advance—about a year ahead, in October of the previous year itself, warn the representatives. This is because scholarships are decided quite early and if you have an admission in a university these become easy to apply for. Over and above this, students are permitted to work part-time, 20 hours a week during the college term.
The British council and the websites of the individual Universities are good places to go to for detailed information. The British Council also offers language courses for handling the IELTS exam which is a must for studying in the U.K.
But the key is to start early, research your options and then take off with the applications.