Guides

Internships can provide you with a range of skills necessary to succeed in the workplace that you often can’t get from academic studies.

They can help you build your understanding of workplace culture, develop your communication, time management, problem-solving skills and expand your global fluency.

Crucially, internships also offer students the opportunity to network with people in relevant professional circles, which can potentially lead to additional work placements and career opportunities.

If you’re applying for an English-speaking university as a non-native speaker, you’ll need to demonstrate your English language proficiency through a test such as the Duolingo English Test.

First introduced in 2016, the Duolingo English Test can be taken online, on demand, with no appointment necessary. It takes one hour to complete, costs $49 (around £36) and results will be sent to you within two days.

Higher education is – thankfully – in a moment of transition. After the murder of George Floyd last year and in response to the continued push of the Movement for Black Lives, universities around the world are responding by pledging a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Some are even going so far as to declare themselves “anti-racist universities”, which is a welcome change.

Budgeting is not the most exciting topic, but financial well-being is critical to your overall university experience.

Recent research commissioned by financial education resource Blackbullion found that nearly half of students have considered dropping out of university or deferring by a year because of financial barriers, which has only been exacerbated by Covid-19.

As the American writer Shelby Foote once said: “A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.”

Though so much information for most people’s studies is now online, you can’t beat the feeling of sanctuary and calm you get from a good library. Whether you use them for research, reading or just to escape the world for a few hours, libraries are an essential part of the university experience.

With Covid-19 making in-person campus visits a challenge, many prospective students are missing out on a crucial factor in choosing a university this year: the gut feeling you have when you visit.

Thanks to rankings, course listings, university websites and webinars, it’s easier than ever to research universities online, but it can be hard to replicate visiting in person.

Use these tips to help you get a feel for a campus, even from thousands of miles away.

Before the pandemic, it was standard practice that all aspiring international students would sit an in-person exam to meet English language requirements to enrol in English-speaking universities.