Study in the UK

Hello

My name is Doreen ("shwe" is my user name in mandalar forum) from Myanmar. I am taking University course in Britain. This page will help you to some extend if you intend to study in the UK. Basically, the routine steps are

Looking for a school
Visa application (if you are not EEA nationals)
Arrangement for accommodation

From this page, you can reach the doors of many UK universities and colleges and you may check the available course what you intend to take. You may make an enquiry through email or by post and they will definitely reply to you. Many universities want one year fee in advance for school enrolment letter. Some may need only a portion of total fee as deposit and you do need to clear the balance on arrival provided that you are not going to change to another school. Many Burmese student came into the UK, intending to take M.B.A degree or accountancy courses. After arrival, they changed to other courses. On the other hand, some choose the appropriate courses after staying in Britain for a while.

Next, for your visa application, you may need to visit UK VISA section for the latest information. Good idea is to visit British embassy for any queries, making sure everything you know is right before applying for visa. For the sponsorship, you can get sponsor letter if you have relatives or friends who have been living in Britain. But many (including me) have done successful visa application after submitting the legalized documents showing their saving money which is covering expenses of living and study in the UK.

For your accommodation, your friend who have been in Britain may help you. As letting rooms is a popular business in the big cities, you do not need to worry about your accommodation. Some families may let their spare room to other people. Adverts are on the windows of off-license shops near tube and bus stations. Rent fees are depending on the location of the house and if it is single or double room, ranging from Ł200-300 a month for single room. Some Burmese students rent the whole house and share with their friends. In that case, it will become cheaper, costing only about just over Ł100 a month. Moreover, there are some Burmese landlords who are doing such business.

A little advice for your language skills

What we would like to advise you that you should improve your English intensively while you are back home. I think understanding BBC news on TV/radio would not help you too much as actual spoken English in British society is quite different from BBC English. I would advise you that you had better do good practice in all 4 skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. If your English is not competent, you would find it difficult to survive in the university life and job market. Not like Burmese education system, you will have to read a dozen of books on a weekly basis. You will have to search online sources on the internet. After that you have to write essays and reports containing 1500-3000 words on your own words. In each subject, you may need to do 2-3 assignments in each semester. For example, if you take 3 subjects in a semester, you may get 7-9 assignments for 3-4 months. For that purpose, you must have acquired quick reading skill and good academic writing skill in order to finish your assignment before deadline. In the seminars, you must present the particular topic. So your fluency in spoken English is also a basic need.

If you want to work part-time job (20 hours a week for non-EU oversea students), your good English is essential. So I would like to advise you to keep doing practice even after you have achieved the required band scores in the IELTS. You may have learnt about the role of IELTS for university admission. For many colleagues and universities, one of the requirement is IELTS score of 6 or 6.5 or 7 depending on the course and university you want to pursue.

We encourage our people to study in the UK. If you need an advice, use our forum.

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