Colleges and Universities in the United Kingdom

There are over 350 accredited colleges and universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom). Courses in all major disciplines are offered at these universities. One can find a UK college or university that has to offer courses in social sciences, medicine, engineering, computing, modern languages, cultural and regional studies, business studies, and so on. The cost of undergraduate study in UK is around £3000 per year for local and European Economic Area students; international students pay around £10K-£12K per year for undergraduate studies.

United Kingdom is a prime destination for overseas students from Asia , Middle East and Africa. Overseas students may engage in work for up to 20 hours per week during a semester without prior approval. Students who are given leave to remain for more than 12 months are eligible for medical services offered by NHS. Recent amendments to immigration rules allow graduating students to apply for and hold jobs for up to 12 months after graduation. Under newly points based immigration system, applicants with UK qualifications are granted points.

British Council, a UK based charity, through its local offices worldwide provides counseling to prospective students and trains foreign teachers in English languages courses. IELTS exams are held under the supervision of British Council offices in many countries. British Council provides basic visa related information to students and in certain circumstances acts as a liaison between students and Visa Section of British High Commissions.

Although one can Google a course name to get search results, such a search may not yield the intended results. Certain sites on internet are dedicated to higher education in UK, one of them is http://www.educationuk.org that allows searching universities for course offerings in any major discipline using criteria such as city location, type of attendance, and type of course. The search results will include admission contacts and links to university's web site. You will be given options to request college brochures, Virtual Tours, and you may apply to the college with click of a button.

Getting admission into a UK colleges or university is a time consuming process. You have to start early if you seek admission as an undergrad. Most undergrad applications for UK colleges are handled by www.ucas.com. UCAS accepts applications online via its website, you may choose up to 6 different colleges or courses to apply for with a single application. They charge a application processing fee of £5 for application to a single college or £15 when applying to more than one college.

For international students , the next step ,after getting placement at a UK college, will be to apply for Entry Clearance into United Kingdom. Students from European Economic Area are sparred this step as they are allowed to come into United Kingdom without an Entry Clearance. Due to high demands at certain visa offices and security measures, this process can take up to three months before Entry Clearance is issued. Thus you must leave yourself enough room to make it to your destination UK on time.

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