International students: Which UK university is best for you?

A group of university students outside smiling

People study abroad for many reasons - to see new places, to experience a different culture, and, most importantly, to get access to student life and educational opportunities not available at home. If you want to study at a UK university, you’ll not only have access to some truly innovative teaching and research, you’ll also be joining one of the most multicultural student bodies in the world.

The UK has a vast range of universities and courses to choose from. So, how do you choose between over 160 institutions and thousands of courses? that half of students who drop out of university early do so because they chose the wrong course, so it’s important to be completely happy with your choice.

So, here's what you need to consider before you make your university application so you can make the right choice.

Choose your subject

The first step in choosing a university is deciding what you want to study. Your will be sent to all your university choices, so it should be relevant to all the courses you apply for. This means that your course choices must be the same or in a similar field.

Think about the school subjects you’re good at, but also think about what you could spend the next three or even four years studying.

Is there a subject that you want to continue and deepen your knowledge in? Or do you want to study something completely new?

Do you want to study a subject like law or medicine related to a specific job? Or do you want to take a course like history that can be used in a wide range of careers? Think carefully about these questions and the rest of the process will become much more manageable.

Do as many events and online taster sessions, and sign up for as many free online courses as possible. has a great range of taster courses from universities all over the world. This can help you decide where your interests lie. Above all, keep notes on what interests you and what doesn’t.

If you think you want a broader degree, then you’ve always got the option of doing a joint honors degree. This means you combine two different courses. Many joint honors courses combine a language with another subject, allowing you to use your learning around the world or even do a study placement in another country.

Consider the competition

When thinking about what course you could do, it’s important to consider the competition. Some courses have many more applicants than places, but there are also hundreds of ‘hidden’ courses that get far fewer applicants. For example, the University of Oxford receives 16.9 applicants per place on its Economics course, but it’s closer to 3 applicants per Classics place. Classics covers a range of areas like politics, history, linguistics and social sciences, and really challenges your intellect.

Economics might be competitive but Classics might be just as valuable. There are thousands of ‘hidden’ courses, which don't attract as many applicants just because they’re not well known. Check out the full range of courses on the site and the and do it with an open mind.

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of courses, it’s time to think about where to study.

Think about location and compare places

The UK might be a small country but it’s incredibly diverse. There are large, international cities like London or Glasgow, smaller towns and cities like Cardiff, Belfast or Nottingham, rural universities like Lancaster, coastal towns like St. Andrews or historic cities like York, Oxford or Cambridge.

So, when deciding on a UK university, you must first ask yourself: what’s important to you? Would you prefer to live in a busy city or the quiet countryside? Will you be doing a lot of exploring or will you stay near campus? These factors will make a difference to your decision.

You’ll also need to think carefully about costs. Different parts of the UK have different living costs, depending on things like rent, transport and the cost of entertainment. Check out to see what rents are like, to get an idea of how expensive life will be.

Finally, the type of university itself is important. Some universities have campuses where the whole of university life takes place, like the . Others are more spread out, such as the , which has buildings all over the city. Each has its own atmosphere and you should think about which you prefer.

Look at the university rankings

Find out how your preferred universities rank in the league tables. Rankings of the top universities in the UK don’t just measure teaching quality. They show data on student satisfaction, post-graduation employment rates and staff-to-student ratios.

The best universities in the UK and courses with higher rankings will be more competitive to gain entry to. You can apply for up to five courses on your UCAS form, so choosing a range of courses and universities is a good idea. Include an ambitious choice which you may or may not get the grades for and safe choices that you know will accept you.

You can check the , or the to see which universities are the most highly rated.

That being said, student life in the UK is about balance. You need to consider both rankings and what’s right for you. It’s no use going to a top-ranking UK university in a location you hate, studying things that don’t interest you and where the culture on campus doesn’t appeal to you.

Sometimes it might be better to consider a lower university ranking if it can offer you plenty of chances to thrive and achieve your personal goals.

Remember, the reason that there are so many different kinds of universities is because everyone is unique. If you’re applying to somewhere you know matches your values and interests, you’ll be much more likely to succeed in your university career.

Research the teaching style

It’s a good idea to look at the style of teaching and assessment at your chosen university. Some courses focus more on final exams, others on coursework, projects, dissertations and independent research.

See whether your university’s exams are open book or closed book. If they’re closed you have to remember a lot more, but if they’re open you will probably have to give more detailed answers in your exams.

If you can attend open days and chat with other students and potential professors, do so. But if you can’t, remember that each university course website will tell you about the course content and how it is assessed. You need to make a choice based on what type of assessment will suit you best.

Some courses are taught in large lectures and seminars; others, such as many colleges, will teach you in small groups or one-to-one with a tutor. The teaching style that works best for you will be crucial in your choice.

Consider your hobbies

Every university has its own culture and social life based around the student unions and societies. For local and international students, university life is about more than studying.

You will have a more balanced student experience if you make time for your hobbies. You can look on the university website to learn about student societies and clubs and see which activities are available. But don’t worry if you don’t see anything that appeals - you can always be proactive and start your own society.

Do you have a sport that you love to do? If you do and are really good at it, you may be eligible for a . There are all sorts of funding and awards available, so even if you think you won’t get anything, it’s a good idea to check.

Make sure you meet the English language requirements

You’ll need to pass a test of English for your UK student visa requirements. You can take any Secure English Language Test (SELT) approved by the Home Office, the UK government department responsible for immigration.

PTE Academic can be used for UK student visas for degree-level courses, and to access 99% of universities in the country. The test takes two hours, covers reading, speaking, listening and writing, and is done on a computer. Results usually come back within 48 hours, making it convenient and reliable.

Choosing a university requires a lot of thought. Luckily, choosing an English test to get a visa is easy.

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  • Children sat down on the floor reading books, with some looking up at their teacher who is sat with a book

    How to improve literacy in the classroom

    By Katharine Scott
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Katharine Scott is a teacher trainer and educational materials developer with over 20 years’ experience writing English language textbooks. She’s co-author of the app Primary course - English Code and is based in Spain. Katharine outlines a number of practical ways you can help English language learners develop key literacy skills.

    What is literacy?

    Teachers at all stages of education often complain about their students’ reading skills. The students are literate. In other words, they can interpret the graphemes, or letters on the page, into words. But they struggle to identify the purpose of a text or to analyze it in a meaningful way. We could say that the students have poor literacy skills.

    Literacy is a term used to describe an active, critical form of reading. Some of the skills of a critical reader include:

    Checking new information

    A crucial literacy skill involves discerning whether a text is factually true or not. A critical reader always checks new information against existing knowledge. As we read, we have an internal dialogue: Where does that information come from? That’s impossible because ….

    Separating fact from opinion

    This skill is essential for understanding many different types of texts from newspaper articles to scientific research.

    Understanding the purpose of a text

    All pieces of text have a main purpose. This may be entertainment, in the case of a story or persuasion, in the case of advertising. A critical reader will know how to identify the purpose of the text.

    In the classroom, different types of text require different responses from the students. It’s important, as students grow older, that they know how to read and respond appropriately to a piece of written information.

    Identifying key information in a text

    This is an essential skill for summarizing information or following instructions. It is also important when we transform written information into something else, like a chart.

    In many ways, literacy is the key skill that underpins learning at all stages. This may seem like an exaggeration, but consider the importance of the four skills outlined above.

    Strategies to promote literacy

    Many teachers and parents of early learners instinctively develop literacy skills before the children can even read.

    When we read a story out loud to a child, we often ask questions about the narrative as we turn the pages: What is going to happen next? How do you think …. feels? Why is …?

    These questions set the foundations for literacy.

    Working with a reading text

    Too often, the comprehension questions that teachers ask about a text are mechanical. They ask the student to “lift” the information out of the text.

    A tale of two dragons

    "Once upon a time, there was an island in the sea. One day, people were working in the fields. The sun was shining and there was one cloud in the sky. The cloud was a strange shape and moving towards the island. Soon the cloud was very big. Then a small boy looked up."

    Taken from English Code, Unit 4, p. 62

    Typical comprehension questions based on the text would be:

    • Where were the people working?
    • How many clouds were in the sky?

    These questions do not really reflect on the meaning of the text and do not lead to a critical analysis. While these simple questions are a good checking mechanism, they don’t help develop literacy skills.

    If we want to develop critical readers, we need to incorporate a critical analysis of reading texts into class work through a deep reading comprehension. We can organize the comprehension into three types.

    1. Text level

    Comprehension at “text level” is about exploring the meaning of individual words and phrases in a text. Examples for the text above could be:

    • Find words that show the story is a fairy tale.
    • Underline a sentence about the weather.

    Other text-level activities include:

    • Finding words in the text from a definition
    • Identifying opinions in the text
    • Finding verbs of speech
    • Finding and classifying words or phrases

    2. Between the lines

    Comprehension “between the lines” means speculating and making guesses with the information we already have from the text. This type of literacy activity often involves lots of questions and discussions with the students. You should encourage students to give good reasons for their opinions. An example for the text above could be:

    • What do you think the cloud really is?

    Other “Between the lines” activities include:

    • Discussing how characters in a story feel and why
    • Discussing characters’ motivation
    • Identifying the most important moments in a story
    • Speculating about what is going to happen next
    • Identifying possible events from fantasy events

    Literacy activities are not only based on fiction. We need to help students be critical readers of all sorts of texts. The text below is factual and informative:

    What skills do you need for ice hockey?

    "Ice hockey players should be very good skaters. They always have good balance. They change direction very quickly and they shouldn't fall over. Players should also have fast reactions because the puck moves very quickly."

    Taken from English Code, Level 4, p. 96

    “Between the lines” activities for this text could be:

    • What equipment do you need to play ice hockey?
    • What is the purpose of this piece of text?

    3. Behind the lines

    Comprehension “behind the lines” is about the information we, the readers, already have. Our previous knowledge, our age, our social background and many other aspects change the way we understand and interpret a text.

    An example for the text above could be:

    • What countries do you think are famous for ice hockey?

    Sometimes a lack of socio-cultural knowledge can lead to misunderstanding. Look at the text below.

    Is the relationship between Ms Turner and Jack Roberts formal or informal?

    73 Highlands Road Oxbo, Wisconsin 54552
    April 11th

    Dear Ms. Tamer,
    Some people want to destroy the forest and build an airport. This forest is a habitat for many wolves. If they destroy the forest, the wolves will leave the forest. If the wolves leave the forest, there will be more rabbits. This won't be good for our forest.
    Please build the airport in a different place. Please don't destroy the forest.

    Kind regards, Jack Robers

    Taken from English code, Level 4, unit 5, Writing Lab

    If your students are unaware of the convention of using Dear to start a letter in English, they may not answer this question correctly.

    Other “Behind the lines” literacy activities include:

    • Identifying the type of text
    • Imagining extra information based on the readers’ experiences
    • Using existing knowledge to check a factual account
    • Identifying false information

    Examples:

    • What job do you think Ms Turner has?
    • Do you think Jack lives in a village or a city?
    • Do wolves live in forests?

    Literacy is more than reading

    From the activities above, it’s clear that a literacy scheme develops more than reading skills. As students speculate and give their opinions, they talk and listen to each other.

    A literacy scheme can also develop writing skills. The text analysis gives students a model to follow in their writing. In addition, a literacy scheme works on higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, deduction and summary.

    Developing literacy skills so that students become active, critical readers should be a key part of educational programs at all ages. Literacy activities based on a reading text can be especially useful for the foreign language class.

    With literacy activities, we can encourage students:

    • To use the text as a springboard for communicating ideas and opinions
    • To analyze the text as a model for writing activities
    • To see how language is used in context
    • To explore the meanings of words

    More crucially, we are developing critical readers for the future.

  • A teacher sat in a classroom with a child, sharing crayons with eachother and smiling

    Four ways to keep kindergarten ESL students focused all day

    By Heath Pulliam
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Heath Pulliam is an independent education writer with a focus on the language learning space. He’s taught English in South Korea and various subjects in the United States to a variety of ages. He’s also a language learning enthusiast and studies Spanish in his free time.

    Those who have taught children anywhere between the ages of 4 and 8 know that one of the biggest challenges of getting through to them is keeping your presentation style interesting. As someone who taught ESL in South Korea to kindergarteners, there are a few factors that make keeping students engaged a challenge. In countries where students learn English, students often have a heavy courseload and high expectations. As a first-year teacher, I learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t through trial and error. These are four methods that I consistently used to keep my students interested and engaged all day.

    Students are quick to lose focus at such a young age. You’re not speaking their mother tongue and some parts of an ESL curriculum are less than exciting. With young students, you can’t lecture your way through the material all day. Kindergarteners have a small window of focus and it must be capitalized on. The following methods are ones that worked for me and can be modified to cover any topic you’ll run into in an ESL curriculum.

  • A teacher standing next to a student who is sat down, he has a pen and is gesturing to her work on the table.

    Assessing listening skills with the GSE

    By
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    In today’s interconnected world, effective communication in English is more crucial than ever. As educators and language learners seek to measure and improve English proficiency, a resource like the Global Scale of English (GSE) offers a valuable framework for assessment. This blog post will explore how the GSE can be used to assess listening skills, providing insights into how it also helps tailor instruction and support language development.

    For listening skills, the GSE focuses on how well learners can understand spoken English in different contexts. It assesses comprehension at varying levels of complexity:

    Understanding simple information: At lower levels, learners are expected to understand basic information, such as simple instructions or everyday topics. The GSE provides learning objectives for how well learners can grasp essential details.

    Understanding main ideas: As proficiency grows, learners should be able to identify main ideas and key points in more complex spoken texts, such as conversations and broadcasts. The GSE outlines how well learners can extract important information from various sources.

    Understanding detailed information: At advanced levels, learners are expected to comprehend detailed and nuanced information, including implicit meaning and speaker intent. The GSE describes the level of detail and depth of understanding required at these stages.

    The GSE also shows how students engage in different operations of listening, from global comprehension, recognizing information and identifying specific information to extracting information. By taking this into account, teachers can monitor students’ progress and assess their listening skills. An example will show this in action.

    Let’s consider a level, say GSE 30-35 (equivalent to low A2 on the CEFR) and focus on how students process information. When checking a listening activity, rather than simply focusing on whether the answers are correct or incorrect, we can analyze our learners using the GSE and see what progress they are making and what we need to do as teachers to help them move on. Heres how: