Category Archives: Higher Education

How Dean Associates can help with university admissions

Dean Associates is not just a schools expert but also supports relocating families in all areas of education – nursery and childcare, vocational, special educational needs and university admissions.

University applications are a crucial time in a student’s academic life and we have a clear and consistent record of success in helping students make the transition from school to higher education.

Our service is flexible and responsive to the needs of the client but key elements might include:

Reviewing a student’s academic qualifications and benchmark against expected standards within universities in the UK and around the world.  This would also include, when relevant, looking at English language levels and devising and implementing a support plan when necessary.

Expertise in identifying courses that meet a student’s professional ambitions and academic levels and to ensure candidates hold a proper range of options

Insight into completing the university application forms and sitting any standard assessment tests necessary.  In the UK this would also include working with the candidate to develop an outstanding Personal Statement – most often the keystone to a successful application.

Help with identifying and applying for funding and to ensure that UK families living abroad are allocated home-fee status rather than paying the expensive overseas fees.

The first stage, as with all our clients, would be to set up a call to discuss requirements in more detail – please contact nathaniel@deanassociates.co.uk to move this forward.

 

Will Brexit change the face of university funding

Brexit could potentially have major implications for global mobility policy but how will it impact on the nuts and bolts of families finding education solutions in the UK?

There is a high chance that most elements of UK education will remain consistent for incoming families who have the right to reside in the UK.  Both state and independent schools will continue to allocate places in a similar fashion as before the referendum.

One complicated area could be funding in further and higher education.

Currently EU students are able to attend UK universities at the same fee level as “home” UK students – and the reverse is also true for UK students in Europe.

However, with a “hard brexit” EU students could be charged the higher rates that other overseas students have to pay, often double the level of home fee families.

Likewise UK families resident in the EU for a long period of time may lose their right to home fee status, or at least face harsher rules to prove their eligibility.

New checks needed for university fee status

We have noticed this year that UK universities are being much more demanding in assessing the criteria as to whether a UK family currently living overseas is viewed as a home-fee or overseas-fee student.

The difference in cost for a family can be striking.  English universities have a capped annual fee of £9,000 (things do differ in other parts of the UK) whilst overseas fees can be upwards of £20,000, depending on course and institution.

Families need to forward plan if overseas or intending to go on an international assignment to consider what a university will be looking for and how best to build a portfolio of evidence.

Some thought and support at an early stage can save both time and money once that UCAS application has been posted.