UK education fair sees shift in course choices among students

Many keen on exploring arts courses

The British Council’s annual Education UK Fair on Saturday witnessed a change in the trend of choice of subjects, as many curious  participants sought to know about courses other than the traditional ones - MBA and engineering - that are on offer in the United Kingdom.

Anna Fisher, international officer of the University of Northampton, said, “These days, we find Indian students looking at a range of other courses, apart from MBA. There is definitely an increase in the number of students for bachelor’s degree over the couple of years.”

Agreeing with Fisher, Laura Hayes, international officer of School of Oriental and African Studies, London, felt that Indian students are now looking at wider choices. “Bangalore is a fresh market for us. For a long time, people from here have stuck to engineering and related courses. Not any more. Students are now keen on pursuing courses in the Arts stream as well,” Hayes added.

The rise in the number of schools in the City offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum was also one of the prominent reasons, the representatives said.

Jiwoon Lim, a class XI student from International School, Bangalore, was searching for colleges offering hospitality and culinary arts courses at the fair. “I am good at science and like it, too. But I’m not planning a career in the science stream,” Lim said.

For many, the high fee structure at the UK was not a problem, as they felt that it would give them good exposure studying among students from across the globe.

A majority of them scouting for institutions in the UK also kept the United States as an option to choose colleges from that best suited their interest between the countries. However, a few students from St Joseph’s College in the City were disappointed as they did not find courses offering political science and psychology.

“I’m also considering options in the US as I did not find courses matching my interest here,” said Deborah Tungnung, who is pursuing BA in Bangalore. On visas, a senior official in the Council said the number of interviews is likely to be increased this year.

More than 75 educational institutions participated in the fair. Representatives of several universities from the UK who were present at the fair felt that the UK was seeing an increase in the number of Indian students enrolling for bachelor’s courses.

As per statistics available with the British Council, there are more than four lakh international students in the UK, out of which 30,000 and more are from India.