UK university admissions service Ucas announced on Thursday that it had received nearly 20,000 undergraduate applications from Chinese students this year (up from 15,240 in 2018 to 19,760), compared with 18,520 from Northern Ireland. The actual number of Chinese applicants will be higher because not all applications are made through Ucas.
Over the past decade, the number of Chinese mainland students pursuing higher education in the UK has more than doubled. Tensions between China and the US are also further benefiting UK universities, as many Chinese students are looking to study destinations other than the US.
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As for domestic students, although the overall population of 18-year-olds in the UK fell by 1.9%, the number of 18-year-old applicants still increased, rising by 1% from last year to 275,520.
Despite Brexit uncertainties, the number of EU applicants also increased by 1% to 50,650. Ucas reported that applicants from outside the EU reached a record 81,340, an increase of 8%.
Overall, China is already the largest source of international students for UK universities. According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa), there were 43,530 Chinese students in the UK in 2007-08. Ten years later, the number reached 106,530, including 60,460 postgraduates and 46,070 undergraduates.
UK Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said: "International students bring huge cultural and economic benefits to the UK. These figures show that we have made good progress in opening up world-class higher education, and I believe we can go even further."
Ucas Chief Executive Clare Marchant also said: "The global appeal of UK higher education has never been more evident. Record numbers of applicants in England and Wales; international applicants also rose sharply, especially from China."
The University of Manchester has the largest number of Chinese students in Europe. Among its more than 40,000 students, about one in eight is Chinese.
Richard Cotton, Head of Admissions at the University of Manchester, said: "The university is well-known in China, partly because of football. The visit by Chinese leaders to the university's National Graphene Institute (NGI) in 2015 also partly influenced the surge in Chinese applicants."
Currently, Chinese students studying in the UK are still concentrated in a limited number of subject areas. Taking Manchester as an example, Chinese students are mainly concentrated in accounting and finance, economics, business, and electrical engineering. As a result, they often study in classes full of other Chinese students and socialize together after class.
"As a Chinese student, the challenge I face should be safety, there are just too many robberies," a PhD student at Manchester commented on the security around the university. "There are rumors that students from China are particularly easy targets for robbers. This may be because it is widely believed that Chinese students are very wealthy."
Manchester also said it was doing everything it could to improve student safety. At the same time, the university is conducting research to find ways to encourage better integration between Chinese and British students. Students from both countries are interested in each other, but they don't seem to have much interaction. There are indeed cultural barriers.
Chinese students usually live in more expensive, purpose-built student accommodation, while British students live in shared houses. The interviewed Manchester PhD student said, "Chinese students like to do homework together, eat hot pot at home, sing karaoke, and go shopping—which, to some British students, are instead luxuries."
He also said, "British students especially like to drink in bars with loud music. I hear my Chinese friends complaining that they can't make many local friends precisely because they don't like bars."
Cultural differences still seem to be one of the headaches for international students, but it can be seen that institutions and individuals, including universities, are helping students from different countries integrate better. Wherever you choose to study, we hope that while achieving academic success, you can also experience more cultural exchange.
The spring of studying in the UK may be coming soon. If you have the intention to study in the UK, what are you waiting for?
