The Name of the Class
London is not only the capital of Great Britain, one of the most important financial and trade hubs in the world, but it is also home to many prestigious universities that are highly valued all over the world. British education is known as a classic education, and more and more students around the world choose London as their studying destination despite the expensive cost of living in London and one of the most expensive currencies in the world, British Pound. Besides the great universities, colleges and foundation programs selection, London is famous for its cultural and social life. International students who choose to study in universities of London base their decision on many factors. Some of them are the prestige of having the British degree, international environment with thousands of people around the world, the ability to study in British English, which is the original and classic English language, the abundance of places to go out, such as museums, restaurants, exhibitions, nightclubs and so on. However, there are also other factors that influence international students to study in universities of London, those factors are psychological factors. Motivation, perception, belief and attitudes as part of psychological factors are going to be discussed in the next paragraph.
“Economic, social and personal value of education has been realised as motivating factors” (Tan, 2015) for international students to choose their studying destination abroad. London is the dynamic and cosmopolitan hub not only in the UK but also around the world. Its economy is one of the most developed, there is no abundance in social places and the value of education is valued around the world by potential employers. Top ten universities of the United Kingdom are mostly located in London, such as Exeter University, London School of Economics, and University College London, King’s College London and others. The most demanded programs for international students are “business and management” (Tan, 2015) degrees according to the official source of information. London for sure has plenty of business degrees in many of its universities that offer the classical British high quality education that serves as the great motivational factor for international students.
In regards to perception factors, London is seen as the perfect studying destination for students around the world where they can “escape from the less sophisticated, traditional and outdated education systems” (Welikala, 2015) in their home countries, especially like India and China. London is perceived as international hub of education where education is presented in “multiple ways of learning, both physical and virtual” (Welikala, 2015). Therefore, in addition to classic education, education in London in the UK is also seen as flexible and up to date educational approach that matches the 21st century fast-paced world.
In terms of belief factors, international students and their parents believe that having a bachelor or master’s degree completed in London, UK will bring a personal confidence for the rest of their lives, the respect from potential employees and a good level of classic English language. Based on that, London is gaining more and more students around the world each year. According to the report from British Councils, more than 20% of international undergraduate students study in London (Councils, 2014) while in the East of England the percentage of international students is a bit more than 15% (Councils, 2014).
When it comes to attitude factors, when studying in London, most international students mature and tend to change their attitude towards the academic success, including time management, delivering projects, reports and presentations on time, becoming more responsible and believing in their dreams.
Thanks to international students, London’s economy earns “2.8 billion of pounds every year” (Weale, 2015), and it is not going to stop because the influence factors to study in London are quite lucrative and promising.
Bibliography
Tan, A. (2015). College Choice Behaviors of International Students. SAGE Open, 5(4).
Welikala, T. (2015). Universities don’t understand how international students learn. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-
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Councils, B. (2014). The Integration of International Students. [online] Available at:
https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/oth-integration-report-september-14.pdf
[Accessed 14 Feb. 2016].
Weale, S. (2015). London's international students prove lucrative for UK economy, claims study. [online]
the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/18/londons-
international-students-prove-lucrative-for-uk-economy-claims-study [Accessed 14 Feb. 2016].
