China News Service, September 4, according to the "Europe Times" report, on August 30, "the number of Chinese students applying for undergraduates in the UK increased by 20% year-on-year" was on the hot search list of Chinese social microblog platforms.

Two months ago, according to the situation of many study abroad institutions and students interviewed by reporters, most students held the attitude of postponing and giving up studying abroad.

With the approaching of the school season in September, it is unexpected that the number of Chinese students going to the UK has not decreased but increased.

The epidemic cannot stop the "study abroad fever"

　　Recently, QS, a global higher education analysis organization, conducted a survey of about 30,000 international students from China, India, the European Union and North America.

The report shows that among the interviewed international students, more than 50% of their study abroad plans were affected by the epidemic. Among them, 66% of Chinese students were affected, accounting for the highest proportion among the four interviewed countries and regions.

When asked whether they would choose to continue studying abroad, the number of students who decided to cancel their study abroad plan accounted for only 7% of all respondents, and the number of Chinese students who decided to cancel only 4%.

　　Gu Xuan received a master's acceptance letter from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom in April this year, and one month later she applied for an extension of admission.

"At that time, I felt that I could not leave this year, so I applied for an extension."

　　What she didn't expect was that when the school season arrived in September, several of Gu Xuan's classmates unexpectedly started school in the UK. Regarding her decision to apply for an extension in May, she suddenly felt that she seemed to have delayed a lot of plans. It is inevitable to regret some.

"I would have waited and watched for a while." Now the application for deferred admission has been approved by the school and cannot be cancelled. It can only be accepted now, Gu Xuan said.

The number of Chinese students applying for undergraduate courses in the UK rose by 20%

　　According to the "British Undergraduate Application Data for 2020" released by the British University Admissions Service Center, as of June 30 this year, the number of Chinese students applying for British universities has increased by 23% over the same period last year, reaching 24,000.

　　In an interview with reporters, Li Yi, consultant of the UK Department of China's Qi Tak Education Group, said that the recent "Report on the Status of Study Abroad under the New Normal 2020" released by Qi Tak Education shows that the United Kingdom has surpassed the United States as the preferred destination of Chinese students for the second consecutive year. In 2020, the proportion of international students who choose the UK will continue to rise to 29.52%.

　　In addition, British universities have released positive signals to help international students enroll smoothly.

The British government recently announced that starting from the summer of 2021, as part of the new "Graduate Work Visa Initiative", international students who have obtained a doctorate degree in a British university will extend their residence and work time in the UK after graduation from the original two years to three years .

　　In addition, some British universities directly provide overseas students with study allowances. The University of Exeter this year issued a scholarship of 2,000 pounds to freshmen. The University of Glasgow Engineering College not only issued 1,000 pounds to freshmen, but also granted 700 pounds to returning students.

Chinese students: it is difficult to say "no" to universities

　　In April of this year, Liu Yang received an admission letter from the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom, majoring in finance. After more than three months of entanglement, Liu Yang finally embarked on a flight to the UK.

"In fact, I planned to give up studying abroad and find a job in China, but in the end I still can't let it go." Liu Yang believes that the current employment trend is severe year by year, so he will choose to enroll this year and finish the master's course.

　　Liu Yang said that the current European epidemic is not stable, and the rebound in the number of confirmed cases has worried parents.

"Before I set off, I contacted a few friends online. We are all Chinese and we are all a school. We hope we can tide over the difficulties together."

　　In the face of the uncertain European epidemic, why do Chinese students still "fight" so much?

　　In an interview with reporters, Lu Fang, consultant of the UK Department of New Oriental Future, said that there may be two reasons why international students cannot afford to study abroad.

　　One is that some schools have some new admission policies.

Lu Fang said that some colleges and universities have particularly lowered the entry threshold this year.

In addition, British colleges and universities have adopted the method of splitting the beginning of school, such as October, January and other admission time points.

The second is that the "online and offline combination" teaching mode is relatively safe and can avoid large-scale gatherings of people as much as possible, and there is a limit on the number of offline lecturers in British universities, which should not exceed 8-10 people.

　　"Students still apply for extension this year, maybe not so many." Lu Fang said.

　　The reporter interviewed a number of study abroad institutions. All of them stated that the number of Chinese students going to the UK in 2021 may be more. In addition, preferential admission conditions such as "lower application thresholds and enrollment allowances" this year will be cancelled, leading to entry into British universities next year The difficulty is greatly improved.

(Chen Guanzhi)