Scottish Universities cash in on China

Education secretary Mike Russell has encouraged Scottish universities to cash in on the Chinese student market, as UCAS has reported record numbers of Asian students applying for study in the UK.

Mr Russell MSP flew to Beijing last month to cement relations with the Chinese minister for education Yuan Guiren. Mr Russell has said that China will become a key strategy in securing research funding from the Far East for Scottish universities.

International students contributed £419 million to the Scottish economy last year and the ability to attract them to the country has become crucial in the wake of the government’s spending cuts.

At the University of Edinburgh, overseas students pay a minimum of £11,600 a year for a degree in the humanities and up to £31,900 a year for a degree in medicine. The University has one of the highest proportions of international students in the country at 20 per cent.

China has been identified as a particularly lucrative market, already making up the largest non-EU community at Scottish universities.

Chinese students make up roughly 3.5 per cent of undergraduate students at the University of Edinburgh. The University has a dedicated representative in China, who exhibits at schools to encourage applications, and seven agents across the country who are able to deal with enquiries from prospective students.

In 2005, the ‘China Office’ was set up in Beijing, which aims to enhance the reputation of the University of Edinburgh in China through developing research and educational links with high-ranking Chinese institutions. The University is currently partnered with Peking and Fudan Universities, as well as the University of Hong Kong. 

The Office has also secured more than 20 scholarships from the Chinese Government for Chinese students to study at Edinburgh. 

Speaking to The Journal, Fiona Tien, a fourth-year politics student at the University of Edinburgh from Taiwan, said: “It can be frustrating knowing that I’m paying so much to study at this university when other people are here for free.

"Asia has some world-class universities and it would have been a lot cheaper to study back at home but coming here has been an amazing opportunity for me. The University of Edinburgh has an amazing reputation internationally. Everybody’s heard of it and it will definitely give me an edge in the job market. Employers in Asia are looking for people who not only speak English but also have an understanding and experience of Western culture.”

This year UCAS has reported a 7.7 per cent rise in applications from the Far East so far to study at universities across the UK. In particular, applications from Malaysia have risen by 17 per cent.

Alastair Sims, director of Universities Scotland, told The Journal: “It’s still early in the applications process but if initial figures suggest an increase in international applicants to Scotland that reflects the fact a degree from one of Scotland’s universities is internationally renowned and highly sought after. This continues to be the case despite the huge investment countries like China, India and Malaysia have made in their own universities. International students are undoubtedly important to Scotland’s universities and to the wider economy but they also make a significant social and cultural contribution to Scotland which we should not lose sight of.”

Universities Scotland also stressed that international students have no bearing on the availability of places for home students.