Overseas Study 
The UK - Background
The UK is a developed country located in north-west Europe on a group of islands. It shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland and its nearest neighbours are France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Germany. The UK has the world's sixth largest economy and it was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite two world wars and the collapse of its empire, the UK nevertheless remains a major power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a Member State of the European Union, holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, OECD, NATO, and the World Trade Organization.
The UK is composed of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. London, the capital of the UK, is located in England, the largest of the 4. There are no borders between parts of the UK, but there are differences in the legal and education systems, especially in Scotland.
Other major cities are (in order of size) : Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester.
The UK is a multicultural country with English as its recognised first language. Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are also spoken in certain areas, as are Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Chinese, Arabic and many other languages. 92% of the population is of mixed white European origin, 4% is of South Asian origin, 2% is of African or Afro-Caribbean origin, 0.4% Chinese and 0.4% other races.
SCHOOLS
State schools: The majority of children in the UK go to state schools until they are at least 16 . They take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) at the age of 16 and then decide if they want to continue into years 12 and 13 (called “The Sixth Form”) to take A Levels or the International Baccalaureate. International students can only attend years 12 and 13 at state schools or colleges, when they are already 16 years of age
Independent Boarding Schools: some British children go to private boarding schools, and these are also available for international students of any age. They follow the national curriculum and offer the same subjects and levels as state schools, but classes are generally smaller, students live in the school and have many activities organised for them. Most independent boarding schools have no more than 35% international students and keep the groups from each country small, to ensure a good mix of nationalities.
Independent Colleges: these are private (sometimes called “tutorial”) colleges focusing on GCSE and A Levels/IB and they take mostly international students (usually over 80%). They offer small classes with a strong focus on examination preparation and university entrance, with English as a Foreign Language. Like boarding schools, some may have their own accommodation, others use homestay accommodation for their students. Some, but not all, have a wide range of sports and leisure facilities. Independent colleges vary enormously and the experience can be very different depending on the type of college chosen.
Some independent colleges also offer 1 year University Foundation programmes for international students who have graduated from high school in their own country.
COLLEGES
State Colleges of Further and Higher Education bridge the gap between school and University, offering A levels (and sometimes IB), International foundation courses in a wide range of subjects and English language programmes. They also have a wide range of vocational programmes which can lead to university degrees after 1 or 2 years. They have very reasonable fees and the programmes are the same as in private schools, but classes are larger and students usually have to take care of themselves when they are not in class. Younger students (16-18) usually stay with host families, students over 18 may live in College or University accommodation, or share houses with friends.
Private Colleges and Pathway Programmes: there is a wide range of private colleges in the UK offering Foundation and Diploma, English language and Pre-Masters programmes. Many are operated by large educational groups such as Study Group, Kaplan, Navitas, the Cambridge Education Group, Into University Pathways etc. There are colleges in most major cities in the UK and many are also located on the campuses of popular Universities, offering direct pathways into those Universities. Some colleges offer “Fast-Track” pathways into Universities allowing students to go directly from school in Vietnam to University in the UK by following special Foundation and Diploma pathway programmes which are shorter than the traditional route of doing a one year International Foundation course between Year 12 in Vietnam and Year 1 in the UK.
UNIVERSITIES
There are around 325 government accredited providers of Higher Education in the UK. Most of these are Universities, although some colleges also offer degree programmes. The UK has 18 Universities ranked in the world top 100, and 5 in the European top 6. It has an outstanding reputation for the quality of its teaching and research, and long experience in catering to the needs of international students. Most Bachelor degrees in the UK last for 3 years (compared with 4 in most other countries) and students can also choose 4 year sandwich degrees which includes one year of paid work (usually in the 3rd year). Taught Masters degrees are 12 months, unlike the US which is 2 years or Australia which is 1.5 years. Students who graduate from good Universities in Vietnam can go straight to most Masters degrees in the UK provided their English is at the right level.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
English as a Foreign Language is taught in all colleges and Universities but thre are also many specialised schools teaching English at all levels. They run short and long courses, professional, academic and general English courses. They are especially popular for summer programmes for children and adults and for English teacher training courses.
