Hyderabad,June'07: Education Abroad Quality and excellence have became the buzz words of the contemporary education scenario in order to achieve this, mobility of students has become widespread. Global demand for international student places in the five major English speaking destinations(USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) is set to increase from one and half million now to 2.6 million in 2020, with the UK potentially welcoming 33 per cent of the market share, according to a joint report published by the British Council, IDP Education Australia and Universities UK.

The UK offers a positive welcome to students. UK issues visas according to Visa Department, British High Commission to record numbers every year; there are currently some 23,000 Indian students studying in the UK. International education is worth pounds 10 billion per year to UK.

Down South numbers continue to increase. Last year the number of students approached British High Commission for visas was 11,224. The number of Indian students going to the UK is increasing by around 18 per cent each year, disclosed Mr. B. Radhakishan Rao, Managing Director of Education Abroad who is an Indian Representative of the University of the West of England addressing a press conference here in city at Media Junction on Friday morning.

Hundreds of thousands of international students choose to study in the UK every year. Universities and colleges in the UK are increasingly international. The reasons for this is: 1. Quality, 2. Affordability, 3. Culture of success, 4. Scholarship, 5. Indian feel like at home in UK.

Quality:
UK education has excellent reputation for unsurpassed quality when compared to any universities throughout the world. It emphasizes proactive, independent thinking. It encourages skills which are relevant, marketable and much sought-after by top organizations all over the globe.. The UK operates a unique quality assurance system that ensures accountability in all areas.

Affordability
It costs less than you think! Courses in the UK are often shorter, the total cost of study can be lower. Shorter courses also mean students can realise their earning potential sooner than their counterparts elsewhere. All of which makes UK courses better value for money. There are many other benefits available to international students that can make life in the UK more affordable:

All international students staying in the UK for a period of six months or more qualify for free healthcare through the National Health Service.

And if you want to earn extra money, you can work for up to twenty hours per week during term and full-time in your vacations. Whatever the final cost, it will be more than repaid in a world class education. Indeed, an independent survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that UK degrees offer the best value for money. The study found that students going to university in the UK get a better personal 'rate of return' from higher education than in any other industrialized country.

A culture of success:
International students get closer to the heart of their subject in the UK . Indians feel at home in UK.

Scholarships:
There are many scholarships up for grab. The proactive Government in UK recently announced extension of student Visas. International students, including those from India, who want to work in the UK after their graduation will be able to get their Visas extended for a year. From May 1, any overseas student who has completed a bachelor's degree or post graduate qualification at any recognized UK institution can apply for the extension, regardless of the courses or degree result. It's the government's way of giving something back to those who have forked out a lot of money to study at UK Universities for three or four years, declared in April this years Bill Rammell, the higher Education Minister. "It will provide them with valuable work experience to augment the knowledge and skills they have acquired at our universities and colleges, he said while making the above statement last month.

There is one University established in the year 1595 is University of West of England(UWE), U.K's 412 years old non-profit University. It is rated number five(other four being Sheffield Hallam, Middlesex, oxford, Leeds and and fifth is UWE) by London's Times Higher Education Supplement in its November 2006 issue in terms of Teaching Quality. UWE is a modern, growing university in the thriving city of Bristol. UWE is one of Britain's most popular universities, with more than 30,000 students and 3,000 staff and is the largest provider of higher education in the south west of England. Students come to Bristol UWE from all parts of the UK , as well as a significant and growing number of international students from over 50 countries worldwide. In such a substantial student community you will meet people from a wide variety of backgrounds— a good recipe for a lively intellectual and social mix .

Bristol UWE's population of postgraduate students has grown by almost 50 per cent over the past five years, and now has more than 5000 students from over 50 countries worldwide. It has a 3000strong team of academics. It has more than 30 Research Centres.

UWE has connections with many of the reputed organisations such as Arthur Anderson, BBC, British Aerospace, Cadburys, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel Corporation(UK) Ltd, Lucent Technologies, Marks & Spencer, Ministry of Defence, Panasonic, Reuters, Rolls Royce etc and others as their partners to offer thousands of students a work placement, graduate jobs and research opportunities.

The University offers wide spectrum of subjects and disciplines like Advanced Technologies in Electronics, Software Engineering, Human Resources Management, Marketing and Genomic Research.

It has recently introduced two new programs Genomics Research, Sensors and Bio sensors Technology. These have tremendous potential for employment in India and abroad. The next ten years are so will be the decade of Bio-Technology. Hence, UWE is already in the forefront in grooming students for the coming decade. Any science graduate with good academics is eligible to opt for these programs. Besides these two rare programs offered by very, very few universities in the world, it also other PG and Graduation level programs for the Engineering, Architecture, Law, Fine Arts, Humanities, Management and Applied Sciences. Robotics- one of a few UK Universities to offer Postgraduate degrees in Robotics.The First Flight of Airbus A380 was helped by Research and Development at UWE.


The University is flexible and accommodates some special categories of students who have proficiency in English and secure more than 70 per cent in English language, such students are admitted without TOEFL and IELTS.

Because of these and many reasons many Indians show lot of interest in studying in the University as one year work permit is granted after all Master Programs. Six months paid work placement is also possible.

For more details log on to the website www.educationabroaduk.com

For information, students may also log on to www.educationukin.org which offers detailed information on institutions across the UK.

Word of caution:
According to British High Commission it expressed concern over the increasing number of forged documents. It informed that in the year 2006, 48 per cent of all student document's checked in South India proved to be forged. Around 68 per cent were from Hyderabad , 12 per cent from Cochin, 9 per cent from Chennai and 11 per cent from other areas. Students need to be careful about the same.

As per Radhakishan Rao the Visa success rate for the students was 100% in the last year. There was good response from students, specially from Girls (bout 40 %)