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Student finance.
Whisper it, but a lot of university decisions will often be heavily influenced by student finance. We love to talk about personal ambition, best-fit universities and career aspirations on our blog.
But it’s also ok to admit that affordability is often at the front of students’ minds (not to mention that of their parents).
What’s more, university study can often appear more prohibitively expensive for international students.
When it comes to international university application, the UK is one of the most popular destinations in the world. But with recent rises in tuition fees and living costs frequently making the news, both nationally and internationally, your students might be understandably concerned about how they can support themselves when studying in the UK.
Students and parents may approach you and/or your counseling team with questions about student finance in the UK, and may even want to know about access to scholarships and additional financial aid.
For some counsellors, it can be difficult to have conversations about university fit without mentioning student finance. Ultimately, it may not be in students’ best interests to go through the application process for an institution that feels financially out of their reach. It’s important to have conversations about affordability and budget early on in the guidance process if necessary.
Equally, students shouldn’t feel deterred from applying to a particular destination because it feels very far out of their reach.
So in the first of a series of articles focusing on financial aid, we’re going to look at student finance in the UK, and give you some insights that will help you and your students navigate it successfully.
Some students and parents may mistakenly believe that they will be paying sky-high tuition fees compared to their domestic counterparts in the UK. So it’s worth looking at the cost of tuition fees in more detail.
International student finance in the UK will vary depending on the course your students are thinking of applying for. UK university degrees start at £9,000 and can go up to nearly £26,000 for degrees such as Medicine. There are a few things worth bearing in mind for students thinking of applying to the UK.
For your non-EU students applying to university in the UK, they will need to prove that they are able to support themselves when studying as an undergraduate.
Specifically, in order to qualify for a tier 4 student visa, UK university applicants will need to prove that they have £1,015 per month in their bank account when studying. Because an academic year in the UK lasts for about 9 months, your UK applicants will need over £9,000 to support themselves through their course.
As we’ve seen, international students do face a slightly more expensive university experience in the UK. Students who are preparing for their university applications might come to you with concerns about supporting themselves in another country.
But whilst there may appear to be a number of notable financial barriers to studying at a university in the UK, students shouldn’t discount applying for a scholarship or financial aid by some other means.
The sheer diversity of UK university scholarships and financial aid means that we can’t summarise them all here. But it’s perhaps useful to get an overview of the different kinds of scholarships out there, and how your students can go about finding them.
If your students are looking at financial support for university in the UK, then there are two main types of scholarship that it’s worth knowing about.
These are scholarships or financial support for students who may excel academically or, in some cases, demonstrate a talent for a particular sport. It’s worth looking to see what different individual universities have on offer.
These are scholarships that will be awarded based on a student’s financial need. Again, many universities will offer these so it’s worth students checking the websites of their shortlisted UK universities.
A number of different organisations, including the UK government, will award scholarships and financial assistant to students.
Many individual universities will offer scholarships for international students. It’s worth students researching their preferred UK university. Many will have information about scholarships and financial aid on their own website. But a few examples of these kinds of scholarship include:
Bristol University offers these scholarships to overseas students. Bristol applicants can apply for bursaries worth between £5,000 and £20,000.
This is an example of a university scholarship awarded to someone who can demonstrate academic excellence. Imperial College awards 112 of these scholarships a year.
This is one example of a scholarship that has no formal application process – instead, students are nominated by the university’s academic department if they believe the applicant has demonstrated sufficient ability.
The University of Manchester is an example of a university where students would have to check with an individual faculty or school within the university. Because Manchester is one of the largest universities in the UK, different departments and faculties will treat scholarships slightly differently.
This is a very specific scholarship for students of specific nationalities. As you may have guessed, these are full scholarships for international students from developing countries. If you visit the university’s website, they will give you a list of developed countries. If your students’ country is not on this list, they would be considered eligible.
This is a good example of a scholarship for non-EU international students. It’s worth noting that this scholarship is only available to students who are applying for non-clinical undergraduate degrees. This scholarship is only available in the first year of study and students will receive the following financial support.
Note: For students looking for university-specific scholarships, it’s worth checking the individual university’s website directly. Almost every UK university will have some kind of financial aid/scholarship information and how to apply for it.
These scholarships are jointly funded by the UK government and certain UK institutions. GREAT scholarships are aimed at students in six countries: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey.
Note: Some countries in the GREAT scholarship scheme will only offer postgraduate financial aid to international students. If your students are applying as a citizen of any of these countries, they should check the requirements carefully.
If your students are thinking of studying in the UK, it’s worth checking the British Council website for their country of origin. Each website will have scholarship and student finance information for students wishing to take up a university place in the UK.
If you’re exploring UK university options with your students and they come to you about scholarships and/or student finance, it’s helpful that they start early, and start researching student finance alongside their existing university research.
Indeed, as we’ve seen, a number of UK universities will offer scholarship information on their website – meaning that students can factor scholarship deadlines into the wider university application process.
We understand that discussions about university pathways with your students will, in turn, include conversations about how students can support themselves whilst abroad. For some, affordability may even be a barrier to applying abroad at all.
It’s useful to stress that there are plenty of opportunities out there. Not only does the UK offer bespoke student finance support for EU students, but many universities have their own scholarships for international applicants from multiple countries.
Take it from us – UK universities really want to hear from international students! There are a lot of awards and bursaries out there.
We’re always talking about how important it is for students to be organised and proactive during the course of the university application process.
Scholarships will require an extra layer of university preparation. It will involve writing more essays and preparing more paperwork. That’s why we stress (again) the importance of getting started early.
But most importantly of all – have the conversation with students about finance. Some students may not want to bring up the issue of financial aid, or the affordability of studying abroad; some may also feel unsure about how to have the conversation with their parents and family.
We hope some of the resources we’ve listed here will help you if students do come to you with questions about financial aid.
If you’re keen to learn more about how BridgeU can help students more effectively research universities in the UK, book your free demo with us.
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