The UK has a long history of welcoming international students to study in its universities and colleges. In the UK there are 1.8 million full-time and part-time students in higher education, which include over 300,000 international students from 180 different countries.

There are people at each university and college who are ready to answer your questions, help you through the application process and support you while you are in the UK. Many universities and colleges organise a programme of events before you start your course to welcome you and to help you make new friends and get used to your new surroundings. Social and cultural activities are often run for international students throughout the year. Universities and colleges also provide a variety of clubs and societies.

There are higher education colleges and universities throughout the UK, ranging from large universities with 30,000 or more students, to small colleges of higher education with fewer than 1,000 students.

over 50,000 different programmes of study at 325 member institutions; these institutions include in excess of 170 Further Education Colleges who provide higher education study opportunities at Higher National Diploma/Certificate (HND/C) or first degree level alongside a wide range of other provision, either academic or vocational in nature, below this level of award.

This information was summarised from UCAS, which provides a lot more information on studying in the UK.

Students living outside the EU (European Union) will probably need a visa in order to study in the UK.

Information on UK visas can be found on this government website:

Information for students wanting to study in the UK

More detailed information on studying in the UK, and working while studying in the UK can be found on the same site, here:

Information for students wanting to study work in the UK

Can I work and study in the UK?

You can take part-time or holiday work, but you must not:

• Work for more than 20 hours a week during term time unless your placement is part of your studies, has been agreed with your educational institution and leads to a degree or qualification awarded by a nationally recognised examining body
• Do business, be self-employed or provide services as a professional sportsperson or entertainer, or
• Work full-time in a permanent job.

If you are coming to the UK as a student for six months or less, you must ask the Entry Clearance Officer (or the Immigration Officer if you do not need an entry clearance) for permission to work.

Fortunately (for international students) the Internet makes life a lot easier when it comes to choosing a UK University, a UK Degree Course, or choosing somewhere to live in the UK.

Firstly you must find a suitable University in the UK, to assist with this I suggest you visit the Times Online Good University Guide. This will help you determine which UK University is the best to study at, in terms of student satisfaction, results, future prospects, University Spending etc.

Before reading the Top UK Universities League Table you should read the information on what the statistics for UK Universities mean.

You will find that every UK University has a website so information should be easy to find. Also, UK Universities earn more money from foreign students than they do from UK Students, so they should be pleased to hear from you! I don’t know why they earn more from foreign students studying in the UK, but it is widely reported to be true.

Once you have a shortlist of UK Universities you are interested in you should consider the following:

• Study in the UK is expensive (in terms of course fees)
• Studying in the UK is expensive as Sterling is a strong currency, depending what country you are from you will probably find accommodation, food, clothes expensive
• Crime (street crime in particular) is a problem in many UK cities

To help choose a UK Degree Course you may find www.upmystreet.com very useful. This website allows you to check an area and find out information on crime, house prices (which will affect rental prices for students in the UK), how good transport links are, the age of the population and a lot more. This is a good site, used by many people in the UK who are about to move to a new area.

The UCAS site also has information on all UK Universities, you can easily use this guide of UK Universities in conjunction with information from upmystreet.com.

As I mentioned, study in the UK is expensive, however, it is possible for international students studying in the UK to work (depending on their age). Information on immigration, visas and students wishing to work in the UK can be found on the government website:

Visas required to study and work in the UK

I would strongly advice people wanting to study in the UK to use only this site regarding immigration, work permits and visas as this is the official government site. There are other unofficial sites that may give false information in order to try and take your money off you!!

I have now added another post including information on studying and working in the UK, this post has better links and some general information on study and work in the UK / UK Visas.

Study and work in the UK