Due to extremely high interest from parents of children attending British schools in Dubai, our team conducted a small research about the current cost of education in the United Kingdom. We visited the websites of a number of high schools and universities and toke note of the fees listed for the academic year 2012/2013.
Education in the United Kingdom is divided into four main stages – nursery, primary, secondary and territory or university education. This European country is known for its long-established traditions in the education sector and its efforts to deploy teachers across the world to teach English language. Education in the county was found to be among the best in the world along with the American and the academic systems of a number of European countries.
Schools, colleges and universities in the UK welcome hundreds of thousands of students from all over the world. Although the country’s tuition fees for students outside the EU are higher than those of UK residents, UK education continues to be popular among international students.
Universities
Often tuition fees for undergraduates start somewhere between $15,000 or $16,000 and can reach about $50,000.
In the University of Brighton, for example, fees for international students are pretty affordable in comparison to the figures you may hear in Dubai. They start from $17,000 for classroom based courses. Postgraduates from foreign countries who study there need to pay about $22,000. There is also a tuition deposit that comes in advance and amounts to a little over $1,500.
Kingston University tuition fees are also acceptable. There international students studying for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees pay almost the same taxes – $16,000 to $21,000. However, if you are aiming for an MBA degree, you will need to spend more – nearly $30,000. The university also offers preparatory courses for its international students which will cost you some extra cash. Some of them can even amount to an annual tuition tax for an undergraduate degree.
Depending on the program in which the student is learning, tuition taxes in the University of Liverpool vary from $18,500 to about $36,000. The priciest programs are dentistry and veterinary science. Medicine is generally very expensive field for studies internationally.
International students who want to enroll in the University of East Anglia will pay similar fees. For a Bachelor’s degree taxes start at about $19,000. However, in medicine programs they jump to over $42,000. If you are planning to get your Masters in this university, you will only need to invest $25,000 at the most. In addition, students with international status are required to pay a minimum deposit of nearly $3,150.
Cambridge is one of the most prestigious universities not only in the UK, but also in the entire world. Despite that, tuition fees there are not exceeding the normal rate. The lowest fees are for programs like education, psychology, theology and history – $20,500. Medicine students will need to spare way more than that. Their annual fee is nearly $50,000.
High/Secondary Schools
Often when enrolling in a secondary school in the UK, students are required to pay not only a deposit, but also a registration fee. Their prices usually vary in the different schools. What varies even more are the tuition fees. The lowest taxes for international students in secondary schools in the UK is somewhere around $7,000-$7,500. Higher fees can reach $20,000.
The Weltham Forest College is a rather affordable in comparison to Dubai’s counterparts for international students. All ages and programs will cost you about $7,500.
The situation is similar in Greenwich Community College. However, fees there can reach up to $11,000. In addition to that, there are other taxes like registration and exam fees that amount to about $16 per week.
Although the programs in the Canterbury College are limited in number, they are very welcoming for international students. Students outside the EU will only need to pay $7,900 annual tuition fee.
Pricier are the boarding schools like Bromsgroove School and Queen Ethelburga’s collegiate. In Bromsgroove, the tuition taxes are over $15,000. Also, international students willing to study there will have to pay an acceptance deposit of nearly $800 and a registration tax of about $120. There are other additional non-obligatory fees like insurance, food and transport.
Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate use to accept only girls until ten years ago. Since then the program was changed to reflect the change in policy. The annual education there costs nearly $20,000 for international students. However, that price remains almost the same for all age groups.
Education in the UK is offered at a very high level for both UK and international student. Even though, students coming from abroad are required to pay more, their number continues to be stable. The only downside is the often high amount of additional fees required only for international students.
In your article dated 29th January 2013, about the cost of Independent Education in the U,K you said that Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate only accepts girls. This is not true. Queen Etheleburga’s went co-educational over ten years ago. We have almost 1,100 students of which approximately 50% are boys and 50% are girls. Queen Ethelburga’s College, as ranked by the Daily Telegraph and The Times, is the seventh most academically successful co-educational day and boarding school in the UK. Over 98% of all Sixth Form leavers went onto the best Universities with the majority going to Russell Group, 1994 Group or City Universities. Full information can be found on our website: http://www.QE.org
Correction accepted! The article was updated to reflect the new information.