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Posted Sept. 25, 2012

5 Reasons Why UK Unis Are Great For Postgraduates

When deciding on the location of the university where you wish to pursue your postgraduate study, the option of studying abroad can sound highly appealing. The image of yourself studying in a hot climate springs to mind, and nothing sounds quite as good as the idea of escaping the UK's unpredictable weather. However you should not let images like this cloud your judgement of whether or not to study in the UK. Your postgraduate degree will probably be the last step in your journey through the education system and there are many good reasons why the UK would be the best place to complete your journey.

Here are the top 5 of these reasons why the UK is a great choice for a postgraduate degree.

Quality

Universities in the United Kingdom pride themselves on the quality of the education that they provide. Each university has to adhere and provide evidence that they meet the standards required by the Quality Assurance Agency, which inspects universities to ensure they meet these requirements. The results are then published online, making the information gathered widely available. This action results in UK universities constantly striving to provide the best quality, as not complying to the quality regulations would be detrimental to them as less students would wish to study there. Because of this you can be assured that the quality of the postgraduate degree you would receive in the UK would be of the highest quality. The same cannot be said for some universities abroad which do not have to comply with the same quality regulations that exist within the UK.
 

Time

Studying for a master's degree or MBA at a UK university would save you a great amount of time compared to studying for either abroad. The majority of Master's and MBA degrees in the UK tend to last only one year which is much different to many other countries. For example in Australia and the USA they may last for up to two years. The image of yourself studying abroad in a warm climate springs to mind again, but this time it is amplified by the idea of enjoying not one but two years of sunshine. However there are practical things to consider when comparing one year to two year degrees. Studying for two years rather than one would mean an increased cost and without student finance would mean an increased amount of debt. Another practicality issue is that the extra year could be an extra year in work providing you with an income that could be used to pay off your postgraduate tuition fees sooner. Because of reasons like this postgraduate study in the UK is much more practical and can save you a large amount of time, of which there isn't an endless supply.
 

Increased employability

By choosing to study for your postgraduate in the UK you will be showing that you are capable of independent thought and self-discipline, of which employers are always on the lookout. Teaching styles in universities abroad may not provide you with these specific set of skills. This may hinder your employability in future years, and would you really want to sabotage your employability by not gaining the most sought after skills? Deciding to pursue postgraduate study in the UK would also mean that you would be ideal for the UK job market as the skills you would learn would be perfectly matched to the market and and would show that you would be perfect for any organisation in the UK.
 

No language barriers

This problem is not the first to come to mind when debating whether to study for your postgraduate degree abroad, but is probably one of the biggest factors why people from the UK choose not to study abroad in the end. English may be the linga franca of the world but many universities courses abroad are still not taught in English. By studying abroad you would be creating unnecessary problems for yourself. Not only would you be trying to overcome the stress of studying for you postgraduate degree but you would also be trying to overcome the stress of learning in another language. Studying in the UK means that you would avoid these problems and would more than likely result in getting a better postgraduate degree. Therefore as a UK student learning your postgraduate degree in English gives you a great advantage - and this is also true if you are an overseas student as it will give you invaluable language skills which will help you enormously in your future career.
 

UK student experience

This is most probably the greatest reason for UK universities being the best postgraduate destinations. The student experience in the UK cannot be compared to that of any other country, and even within the UK there is so much variation: each university's student life is radically different from that of every other university. Studying for a postgraduate degree is probably going to be the last time you spend as a student, so you surely want to make the most of it. Student life really does vary from crazy nights out to theatre performances by students and can be tailored perfectly to meet your needs. By choosing to pursue postgraduate study in the UK you will be ensuring that you have the best possible time whilst studying.
 

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