United Kingdom

A note to my fellow disheartened university students: the fight for unity is not over

I had a good day last Thursday: walking around London, enjoying the sights, making the most of a beautiful city that I have grown so attached to. I was making the most of my final days here, as it is only next week when I’ll have to pack my things and move back to Medway, a much smaller place in Kent. I have been, for several months now, dreading that move. The thought has only made me feel sick to the stomach and rather despondent.

Last Thursday, more than 17.4 million Britons voted to leave the European Union. Since then, leading economists have conjectured many consequences of the Brexit vote.

UK student Camilla Devereux just completed her anthropology degree at the University of Sussex:

I woke up this morning and stared at my phone for a good five minutes in disbelief. Living in London, socialising with students, colleagues and lecturers, I'd been lulled into a false sense of security. I thought that we'd vote to stay in the European Union.

I was so sure. I mean, we couldn't really vote to leave, could we? Nobody I knew wanted to leave, after all.

I was so wrong. Very, very wrong.

With the stability of the UK economy and free movement across European borders now in question, the impact of Brexit – the UK’s decision to leave the European Union – could have both short-term and long-term effects on international students.

Importantly, the UK’s status in the EU and its relationship with other member states will not change overnight.

It will take a minimum of two years for the UK to leave the EU and much has to be negotiated in the meantime.

Once you know which course you want to study, you might be wondering how well the course delivers on what you hope to get out of it.

The proportion of students who complete their desired degree qualification goes some way to showing how well the courses are meeting student expectations and supporting students through their degree.

The results of the 2017 TEF are now available

When you’re thinking about where to study, a very relevant question to ask is how happy you’ll be at different universities.

Although this is impossible to predict for an individual person, it is nonetheless useful to get a sense of how satisfied other students are with their experience at university.

If you want to know which UK universities give you the best chance of securing a professional job upon graduation, there are two ways to look at it.

In absolute terms, the prestigious Russell Group universities, which include University of Cambridge, are some of the best universities for graduate employment.

Predictions for the results of the UK government’s teaching excellence framework (TEF), calculated and published by the Times Higher Education today, reveal a top 10 surprisingly absent of Russell Group universities.

Cambridge, Harvard, Imperial, Stanford, Durham, Williams – these are among the world’s top universities, and institutions that have great appeal and inspire awe in many students considering degree study. If you are thinking of applying to these or other highly selective US or English universities or liberal arts colleges, this article is written for you.

For many, working towards a PhD is more than a stepping stone in their career – it’s a personal journey. I’m in the final stretch; it’s a stressful time, but despite that I’m feeling content and at ease with myself and the world around me.