STUDY UK EUROPE - GATEWAY TO THE UK

 Cyprus Mail 15 October 2020 - Press Release

More than 60 UK universities to meet thousands of European students online at the British Council’s first Europe-wide UK education fair

More than 7,000 students from EU and EEA countries are expected to join the British Council’s first fully online event promoting study in the UK. Cyprus is also included in the event and it is expected that about 600 residents of Cyprus will be attending the virtual fair. Registration can be found here: https://bit.ly/2ZrJcYg

Undergraduate and postgraduate students will be able to engage with over 60 UK universities via one-to-one online conversations. They include 13 of Times Higher Education’s top 20 UK universities for 2021, the leading Welsh and Scottish universities, and many universities from the UK’s elite ‘Russell Group’.

The platform is part of the British Council’s Study UK campaign in Europe, working with university partners to promote study in the UK and provide students with clear, reliable information and one-to-one contact with universities.

The platform is free for students to join and the programme runs from 19 October-13 November.

It will feature live and recorded online talks, where students can learn about how to apply to study in the UK, career opportunities and the most important points in planning their studies.

As the event is dedicated to students from the EU, there will be a focus on post-Brexit changes, such as fees and new processes for applying for visas from January 2021 – as well as newly announced scholarships for EU students and other ways they can support their studies.

British Council insight from early 2020 showed that students from EU countries value the UK highly for its education quality but were finding planning their UK studies difficult due to lack of clarity around changes once the UK leaves the European Union.

UCAS data for 2020 shows that while university acceptances from non-EU international students to study in the UK are at record levels, EU applications have decreased.

This event will give students direct contact with leading UK universities, which they cited as one of their most influential sources for making their study abroad decisions.

Maddalaine Ansell, Director of Education at the British Council said: ‘Our research shows that European students view the UK as the most attractive overseas study destination for teaching quality and employability. However, misconceptions about the application process, fees and requirements – particularly after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU – may be discouraging some from applying.

‘Study UK Europe: Gateway to the UK aims to address this through a unique mix of information sessions and one-to-one conversations with higher education institutions.

‘We will enable UK universities to reach European students directly – and to support European students by providing them with the information they need to start what we hope will be a life changing UK study journey.’

The British Council will run a second session for students from Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from 1-30 November.