Six good reasons to go

It's a long way to go to get a qualification, but more and more students from the UK and Ireland are choosing to study in Australia or New Zealand. Why? Here are a few of their reasons

1 The quality of education available

This really is the key – after all, there’s no point going all that way to study unless you’re sure you’ll get a world-class qualification at the end of it. Australian and New Zealand universities have excellent reputations for both teaching and research, and their qualifications are internationally recognised and highly thought of by employers and other universities all over the world. The individual university profiles, here, give details of each one’s international affiliations, achievements and awards.

In The World University Rankings, published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2009, six Australian institutions were ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. The top 50 also included eight universities from the UK, all considered to be among the most prestigious in the country, such as the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and Imperial College London. In the THES list of the world’s top 200 universities 29 UK institutions featured, compared to three from New Zealand and nine from Australia. To put those numbers into context, Australia has around 40 universities in total and New Zealand has just eight. The UK has around 120.

 

2 The experience

Going to university isn’t just about studying. Where would you like to live for a few years? Studying in another country is a unique opportunity to experience a different culture and lifestyle. Thousands of tourists head to Australia and New Zealand each year to sample the Antipodean way of life. But, unlike tourists passing through, as an international student you have the freedom to live there for the duration of your course, the time to properly immerse yourself in the lifestyle and the chance to travel around – all at the same time as getting a great education.

Living such a long way from home for an extended period of time isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But if you are independent by nature, with a sense of adventure and a bit of initiative, it’s difficult not to enjoy the opportunities on offer. Depending which university you study at, once classes are over you can head down to the beach, go skiing for the weekend, take in an exhibition or an art gallery, learn to dive, go wine-tasting, or simply explore the great outdoors. Click here to read how some of the UK students in New Zealand and Australia spend their time.

 

3 Achievable academic entry requirements

Entry requirements for Bachelors degrees at many universities in Australia and New Zealand are currently lower than those being set by UK universities. This is not a reflection of quality. 

It’s simply supply and demand – the number of people applying for university places and the number of places available. In the UK, which has a population of over 60 million, more and more people are applying to go to university. But there are only so many places available, which results in entry requirements being pushed higher and higher. Australia and New Zealand do not have the same kind of population pressures and competition for places on their undergraduate courses is therefore not as fierce. Entry requirements are still set according to the academic level the university believes you need to have reached in order to go on and do well on the degree course.

All explanations aside, however, it still means you can apply to some of the world’s top universities with lower grades than those required by equivalent institutions in the UK.

4 It’ll make you stand out from the crowd

More and more people have a degree these days. So what are you going to get out of your university experience, apart from a certificate? Studying abroad is character building – it’ll develop your independence, initiative and confidence. But it’ll also make your CV stand out. The world is getting smaller, and employers in many areas now consider it essential for their teams to have an international outlook. Where better to get that than at an overseas university? Studying in Australasia will give you a fresh perspective – not least, the world as seen from the Asia-Pacific region. The emergence of China as a huge economic force means that ever more businesses are looking for commerce graduates with a real understanding of the Asian markets – a subject taught at many Australasian business schools – while anyone hoping to work in international politics, development or law will find an international education an invaluable asset. Click here for what UK employers think about studying overseas.

 

5 Australasia is the best place in the world to study certain subjects

Australia and New Zealand are recognised as world leaders in many subjects, including sport science, conservation, geology, geography, marine biology and environmental sciences.

Both are particularly strong in subjects that involve studying the natural world. That’s due, in part, to their unique wildlife and geography, but also to how easily researchers and students can access it. Take the University of Tasmania, for example. At UTAS, just a 20-minute drive from campus will take you deep into an amazing natural wilderness – 25 per cent of the island is a World Heritage Area.

Location and physical geography also contribute to both countries’ standing and expertise in other fields – after all, if you’re going to study marine science, would you rather do fieldwork in the English Channel, or on the Great Barrier Reef? Students of geography and geology at UK universities spend lots of time examining case studies from New Zealand – wouldn’t you prefer to study in New Zealand, and see everything for yourself, rather than reading about it in a textbook?

 

6 Places are available on courses that are usually oversubscribed in the UK

Some subjects are so popular that places to study them at degree level are oversubscribed every year, which makes places very hard to come by. There are places available on many of these degrees in Australia and New Zealand. They include subjects such as physiotherapy, dentistry, veterinary science, psychology, history and marine science. The academic entry requirements are often just as tough as they are here in the UK, but there are more places available overall, so the process of applying is much more straightforward, and you could well stand a better chance of being offered a place.