What attracts international students to UK?

A very large number of international students come every year to UK. One wonders what attracts them? One of the biggest advantage UK has is that it colonized a large part of the world. Though it sounds weird but it is the main reason. Everyone has heard of it and its cities and universities. A large number countries still follow the same education system as in UK. But it is not the only reason why international students come to UK. Other reasons are

- relative ease of admission into the universities in comparison to USA
- chances of employment were high when the economy was booming
- language is known to most of the world
- local communities from many countries
- shorter duration degree program

The paper work one has to do is much less to get into an university in UK than in many other countries. In many cases, one does not need to write GMAT, GRE or other test to get admission. Even English language test is waived for a large number of students. So one wonder how the admission happens. Well, it is based on the marks one achieved in previous degree and recommendations. Yes it is that simple in most of the cases.

London and Manchester were center of booming economy. Though it seems surprising but most of the students who decide to reside here were able to get some sort of employment. It might be more difficult for some than the others. Though it might not be that true after the economy went bust and banks declared bankrupt.

English language is known to a very large population of the world. People can have different dialects but it is not too difficult to learn for most of them. On top of this, there are communities living here from many parts of the world. One can find Indian society, Palestine refugees or from other countries as well. So one does not feel too much alien.

Duration of the program is also one of the consideration for the students. In UK, master degree is for one year and Phd for 3-4 years. So anyone who wants to get degree quickly also consider UK as a viable option.

All said, it has been a great experience for the international students to live and study here. But now the scenario is changing because of recession and job losses and terrorism, policies are becoming too restrictive. In future it might not remain that nice. Hope it does not happen and international keep enjoying the life here.