Student Visa Info

Board exams are over — the golden period of school days comes to a sudden end. It’s the time to understand a term so carelessly used before — career.

It’s the toughest part of life, trying to figure out where to begin from. Unluckily, in India careers are mostly decided by parents; students rarely get a chance to decide what they want.

It’s a good idea to match your career options with your skills and favorite. Take your time and learn about the likely options and how to achieve them.

Your career actually begins with choosing a college. It is a big decision. The key is to remember that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” college. You will require to find out the list of colleges and universities that match your preferences.

And one of the biggest issues is one increasingly facing Indian students. Should you sit for a competitive exam and qualify for a renowned college in India or should you go abroad? There are loads of confusing questions associated with this problem, so let’s get started.

Discover College

Discover your interests and take the time to find the college that’s right for you. It’s always better to do a bit of research before you go to any consultant. It makes his or her life easy too. Once you have discovered the options, start deleting those names that you don’t find useful or promising. Find the college courses most interesting for you.

Make a decision the place you want to study?

Once you have discovered the universities based on your choice of course, a big task still remains. You need to decide which country you want to go and why. Is it the glory called United States or is it the United Kingdom? Or the lovely country called Australia? You need to do a SWOT analysis [Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threat] which will help you to decrease your list even further.

A useful look at these few things may make you feel much more relaxed:

(1) Which Courses do you want to study?

(2)Does it match with your desired career option?

(3) How are the lecturers/professors?

(4)How is the Alumni Relationship?

(5)Are there any job/placement opportunities

Financial plan

It is good to have goal. Keep in mind your budget, too. A lot of parents look for a bank loan or scholarships — I’ll come to that later — as a means to fund his/her son/daughter’s higher academic needs. Please keep this in mind: bank loans are not gifts but a responsibility to be repaid back. One needs to be practical to decide on the country and the course based on his/her financial standing.

Bank Loans

A number of nationalized banks suggest Educational loans for students aspiring to go overseas. It needs to be remembered: banks only provide a loan once they are sure of its repayment.

Scholarships

A word of wisdom — never ever depend on a scholarship for overseas Study. The reality is not every one gets it though every one wishes to get it. It depends greatly on your university and partly on your merit. . Our suggestion is: if you get it, good, but never depend on it.

Misconception

We receive at least 40-50 enquiries every day asking us to arrange for a scholarship or a bank loan. It needs to be clarified that no consultant can organize for a scholarship directly. They can assist or guide you to get one. The same is true with a bank loan.

A consulting company can refer your request for a loan to a bank but it is completely the judgment of the bank whether you are eligible for a loan or not. I have personally received enquiries like this: “Please tell me which University offers a loan for students?” I want to drive home this point straight away “No University offers loans to foreign students.” There are grants/bursaries for students of the home country.

British Education has long concerned and welcomed high quality students of different nationalities and backgrounds, and today builds on hundreds of years of experience in providing excellence education to international students. To ensure that the quality is maintained, Britain has implemented unrivalled quality assurance and academic audit systems. The university departments are obliged to meet stringent standards by professional bodies. Standards are high not just in teaching but in other facilities as well : Libraries, computers, research tools and living accommodation.

British higher and further education offer value for money by offering shorter, more rigorous courses than are available in many other countries, thereby reducing living expenses and time spent away from home. Closely supervised study in an intellectually and culturally stimulating environment, together with an emphasis on student welfare and close contact between staff and students also ensures that individual students get maximum support and, as a result, pass rates are high and the drop-out rate for international students is very low.

Britain has long been a popular destination for Indian students. With more than 150 institutes of higher education to choose from, all equipped with wide facilities, Britain is able to offer a broad spectrum of subjects from the highly academic to the purely practical in anything from architecture to zoology.

For more details of the costs of education and living in UK and comparisons of costs of education in UK with other countries, check out the Expenses & Fees for International Students section.

Information about various Qualifications offered by UK Colleges and Universities:

1 First Degree Courses in Arts and Sciences (Bachelor’s degree) are normally of three or four years’ duration and are largely taught courses, sometimes including the preparation of a short written thesis.

2. Sandwich Courses are where the coursework is accompanied by practical work. A student could either complete 2 years of college, then a year of commercial training before returning for a final year in college. Or, he/she could do a 4-year course with 3-6 months’ training interspersed each year. The main advantage is that the student gets real experience while in the learning mode. Most universities offer this type of education.

3. Vocational Courses offer an opportunity to enter the university system slowly. Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC), General Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ), General Scottish Vocational Qualifications (GSVQ) offer recognized courses in a range of disciplines. Most students opt to take 1-2 years of, for example, BTEC courses before being transferred to a degree programmed. BTEC national certificates/diplomas are usually accepted as an alternative to A-Levels.

4. Higher National Diploma (HND) is awarded by Vocational and Technical Educational Councils. They offer a 2-year course in a vocational subject like scientific and technical business subjects. Great emphasis is placed on work experience. It is often seen as the first step towards a degree course as the credits can be transferred.

5. Postgraduate study may take the form of an independent piece of research under supervision or a taught course, and leads to a variety of degrees and awards. The taught courses normally last for one or sometimes two years. Conclusion of a doctorate normally takes a minimum of three years. Many post-experience courses are also available, either leading to a qualification or providing a refresher course for graduates wishing to update or extend their knowledge. Occasional students are confessing by some institutions in limited numbers. They attend courses or undertake research, possibly for a period of one or two years. These courses do not lead to any formal qualification or ‘credit’ although certificate of satisfactory attendance may be given.