Pursuing higher education in the UK has been a top choice especially among Malaysian students, will Brexit affect this fact?
When we addressed the issue of Brexit which was a contested debate in June 2016, would there be any significant changes for international students mainly Malaysian?
Do British want fewer international students in the United Kingdom?
In general, the answers to above questions are no. In a current survey conducted by universities around UK, 75% of the survey answers, they would like the number of international students to either stay the same or increase.
Likewise, 24% of respondents said they see do not consider international students as a contributor to high immigration problems.
UK universities welcome students and researchers around the globe to ensure Brexit does not bring less global students or researchers to the country.
The impact of economy in the UK has becoming noticeable although it is getting improved, which means hat the currency is weaker against Ringgit Malaysia and it make UK degree to be less expensive than it would.
This will allow many Malaysian students who are intend to study in the UK, whom are self-funded by the parents to save more money on daily expense including tuition fees and rent.
Besides that, Brexit will also be a silver-lining in terms of the availability of financial aids from UK universities.
As we have known that scholarships or financial aids offered by many institutions were mainly given priority to EU students prior to non-EU students.
Now, the competition between EU and non-EU students will be lessened, and the door will be opened for many bright students to get access of scholarships or financial aids from UK universities
In terms of career development, the most common visas for working in the UK is Tier 2 (General), where one needs to have a job offer in hand prior to applying for this visa.
For non-EU students to get an employment status in the UK has been resilient due to the elimination of visa requirements for EU nationals.
The result to this law, employers would prefer to offer a job to EU nationals as the process would be easier and no cost involved as compared to offering job placement to non-EU nationals.
This has been a very sturdy competition especially for those who are qualified for the position, yet s/he has to compete with candidates from 28 countries of EU.
Post-Brexit will open-up a wider opportunity of employment status or even to open up Post Study Work Visa again for international students.
Brexit has been a bizarre change for the UK, having to be the first country leaving EU since its formation.
Depending on the type of agreement chosen, only time will tell if this move will benefit the country.
Having said that, negative impact of Brexit towards Malaysian students’ contemplating in the UK is inconceivable.