In this article let’s take a look at all the benefits and drawbacks of studying in United Kingdom and England to understand whether it is a good place to study especially for Indian students and worth it or not.
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So without any delay let’s drive right in.
Table of Contents
Is it worth studying in England and UK?
Yes, It is definitely worth studying in UK and England in 2022 and beyond, UK is one of the home family world class universities like University of Cambridge Oxford Birmingham London and many more, there are excellent research facilities faculty and
professors in the University, You also get free health check up from National health service of UK as an international student, You can also have amazing employment opportunities, and also there are many tourist places in UK.
Now let’s take a look at all the advantages and disadvantages of studying in UK to understand if it is really worth it or not.
So let’s dive right in.
Pros and cons of studying in Uk
Pros of studying in Uk
- Many worldclass universities
One of the main advantages of studying in United Kingdom is that there are many world class universities present in the country such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge University of Birmingham University of Manchester University of London and many more.
As a matter of fact according to the QS ranking report of top 10 best global universities in the world, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford ranks in top 5 positions, imperial College of London and UCL colleges also rank in the top 10 along with other American universities like Harvard and Stanford.
Most of the UK universities offer wide variety of courses such as engineering medical law MBA arts humanities literature architecture and many more, You also get interdisciplinary and dual degree programs in UK universities for both undergraduate and post-graduate students and also for PhD so you can have various opportunities to study different courses in the University.
One of the main reasons for such world class universities is that they have top faculty, many libraries, amazing research facilities, get infrastructure and facilities.
- Diverse cultures & people
Another advantage is the University has a diverse culture and people.
United Kingdom is the second most preferred country after America in terms of foreign education, approximately 5 lakh students from various countries like China America India and other countries of Europe visit UK to study different courses and because of this you can obviously interact with different kind of people.
There are various religious people living in UK such as Christian which is the majority religion, Hinduism Buddhism Islam Jainism Jew Sikh and irreligion are a few other religions which are present in UK so the people and the society is diverse.
You can also meet and interact with many Indians in the country, because of this you can meet different kind of people of different mindset ideologies and thinking process and you can grow your interpersonal skills.
- Short term courses and quality education
Another advantage of studying in UK is the short term courses and quality education is top class.
Short term courses are basically courses you can study in a couple of weeks to 6 months period of time and get certificates of completion instead of spending a long time in university getting the degree in UK.
You can study various masters degree programs and other courses like marketing law designing nursing fashion designing healthcare and many more courses in universities of UK.
Apart from that the education is also very good quality and top class, there is something called quality assurance agency body which will monitor the quality standards of higher education in UK universities so that they remain top class and one of the best in the world and This body will conduct review of all the universities annually in order to test the quality and enhancement of higher education in UK and because of this you can get assurance that if any university is a part of this body then you will get good quality education.
- Amazing job opportunities
Another advantage of studying in UK is you can get amazing job opportunities and growth.
You should know that Britain is one of the highly developed countries in the world and it is also the home for industrial revolution.
As a matter of fact currently the employment rate of the country is around 75% which is one of the highest in the world, and this country is also regarded as one of the best countries for starting a business in the world.
And UK has one of the best cities in the world like London Manchester Birmingham Cambridge Nottingham Liverpool and others and there are many top companies like AstraZeneca, HSBC Unilever Cadbury and many more where you can get employment opportunities and average salary of UK is around 38000 pounds, GDP per capita is around 47000 dollars.
- Health & financial benefits
another advantage of studying in UK is you can get free health benefits and also many scholarships to study in universities of UK like Cambridge and Oxford.
First let’s talk about the health benefits which you get after you attain the student visa in UK you don’t need to pay money for health care because national health service will give you free health check up and health care for all the foreign students who study in UK.
As an international student you might not need any health insurance but when you will be applying for the visa you, You will have to pay additional 470 pounds every year to gain access of NHS and immigration health surcharge, You can easily and free of cost consult any doctor for both physical and mental issues.
Other than that you can also get many scholarships by joining in popular universities of UK like Oxford Cambridge Birmingham, most of the scholarships are merit based and You can get scholarships if you belong to a specific country like India or America or Europe.
- Work while study
Another advantage is that you can also get a chance to work while studying on the side as part time basis because of this you can make some money on the side, and there are many companies in UK which give part time and temporary employment opportunities for students like freelancers with maximum of 20 hours every week and students can easily earn around 100 pounds every week on average by working as a freelancer in small companies and startups of UK, but this is only possible for students who have full time degree courses in UK universities and also a student visa and without it is not possible to study and work in UK.
- No language barrier
Another advantage of studying in UK is that there is no language barrier between you and other people because English is like a global language and it is widely spoken in most of the countries worldwide if you are studying in UK from countries like India and America
then you don’t have to worry about language barriers at all because English is the most popular foreign language in those countries and because there is no language barrier you can easily communicate with the people of the country, You can build good connections, bonding and relationships with the people.
- Amazing tourist places & good climate
Another advantage is that there are many amazing tourist places you can visit in UK like Stonehenge, tower of London, and also there are many museums, art galleries, beaches, castles, zoos, national parks, mountains, stadiums, lakes, palaces, etc you can visit in leisure time and relax as an international student.
And also the climate of England is also very wonderful, It is temperate climate in UK which means you will not have extreme heat in summer or extreme cold in winter season and there will be moderate rainfall through the year because of the fact that UK is not located in equators region, It is somewhere in middle
between equator and pole region so the climate is moderate in uk so you can easily visit various places in UK and there are many transportation facilities like trains buses ferries aeroplanes, cycles and taxis you can take and most of the cities are easily interconnected with each other through trains in uk.
Apart from that UK location is such that you can easily travel to other countries of Europe like France Germany Spain Netherlands Sweden and other countries of Europe and visit lots of tourist places of those countries in way less time through flights and ships.
- Independent study
Another advantage is that there is something called a independent study in UK universities which means that
It is about getting control of your work & deciding what you need to know, how you are going to study, It is basically self study without the guidance and support of any teacher and there are some courses like engineering medical and law which require the support and guidance of a teacher and professor whereas
there are other courses in which most of the time you are working independently and it depends upon you on how you will study because they will not be many classes in the University, so if you are someone who want to do a lot of self study, You are good at motivating yourself and time management skills then this can be a great benefit for you.
But of course you will be getting some guidance from the professors on what you should do and you will have to meet the deadlines of the work to motivate yourself to study, and because of this you will get a lot of self confidence on yourself when you study yourself without much support and guidance, when you complete your goals and assignments within deadline, This can be a massive boost in self-confidence for some people.
- Good visa success rate
Another advantage is that there is a high success rate of getting a student visa and also working with the later in UK, the total success rate of student visa in UK is around 95% which is one of the highest as in 2021, out of 2.6 lakh students who applied for student visa over
2.5 lakh students have been approved, sponsored student study visa in UK is around 96%, and if you belong from certain countries like China USA India Pakistan Bangladesh Nigeria Hong Kong and others then you can have higher success rate of student visa of around 90% and above as compared to other countries because students from more than 100 different countries visit UK for studies.
And if you take a look at the work visa success rate in UK is around 86% as of 2021 which means you can also get higher chance of getting work visa after studying in UK.
- Food is great
Last advantage is that the food is also very great in UK.
Some traditional foods of UK are shepherd pie beef Wellington fish and chips chicken tikka masala afternoon tea cornish pasty and many more.
You can also visit many amazing restaurants and food chains in London and other parts of the UK to eat amazing food like roasted chicken mashed potatoes and many more, there are also popular food chains and restaurants like Subway McDonald’s Domino’s KFC burger King Starbucks Papa John’s and others in UK.
These are all the benefits and advantages of studying in UK.
Cons of studying in Uk
- Education and living costs.
One of the main disadvantages is it is very expensive to get education and also the living expenses.
For example Oxford University which is the top university of UK and the tuition fees for UK residents is 9000 pounds for first year undergraduate course and for international students the tuition fees can range between £27,840 and £39,010.
On top of that you also have living costs, telephone, food clothing transportation and expenses, which will in total cost you more 1000 pounds every month.
But thankfully as I mentioned earlier you can get many scholarships for students belonging to countries like India USA Europe North America Asia and other places to study in universities like Cambridge Oxford Birmingham etc and there are also merit based scholarships depending upon your performance in academics and sports, on top of that you can also work in the side to make some money for your education and living costs.
- Home sickness
Another disadvantage of studying abroad in the UK or any other country is the feeling of homesickness that you get.
It is estimated that over 50 to 70 percent of international students feel homesick due to the new environment, new people, new place, and culture, for example Indian students who are second highest visiting in UK for education, who spend the majority of their time with their parents and family, when they move to the UK without their family presence,
it can be very disturbing for them both mentally and emotionally, homesickness affect their sleeping pattern, it makes students angry, depressed, frustrated, insecure, anxious, they lose concentration, appetite, and focus, it makes students lonely, etc many students just return to their home country due to this, and if you are also the one who cant easily adapt
with changing situations, or you are from india and you are very dependent on your family, mother and father since there will be no one to take care of you in a foreign country and you are like introvert person, cant talk to strange people then you are more likely to get
this feeling than others, and the best way to remove this feeling is by just getting your self busy and participating in various student clubs in the university, focus on your studies and meet new people, build new habits, regularly be in touch with your family, talk to new people, etc.
- Difficult to get equivalent degrees
Another disadvantage is it can be quite difficult for you to get an equivalent degree if you study in the UK as I already mentioned earlier that there are short-term courses in the UK like you can study masters programs in 1 year time in the UK but that degree might not be valid in India because to get an equivalent degree in India, the condition is that the time period of the course must be same as of India, and in India, the duration of the master’s
programs is 2 years but it is 1 year of short term course in the UK so if you get that 1-year course then that degree will not be valid in India, this might also be applicable in other countries and it will also be difficult to get employment opportunities in your home country after studying in UK universities because Indian employers might not know about the syllabus and education quality in those foreign universities and they would most likely prefer domestic students due to familiarity of the education in the university.
- Alot of effort needed
Another disadvantage of studying UK is the independent studies you get, as I mentioned earlier apart from courses like engineering medical and law most of the courses have not many classes in universities which means you will have to study on your own, and there are short term one year courses like master programs where You need to study a lot of syllabus in small period of time and it cannot be always good for all the students because some
students lack time management and organisational skills and some students might need the help of professors, so if you want to study other courses like arts and humanities or literature then you will have to put a lot of effort in studies and you have good time management and organisational skills to study yourself and complete the assignments before the deadline.
With that said let’s conclude the article.
Conclusion
These are all the pros and cons of living and studying in England.
Do comment on what are your thoughts about studying in England in the comment section below share the article and also subscribe to my blog to receive notifications as whenever I publish a new article.