British education fair in the UAE

55 higher education institutions from Britain are taking part in the annual exhibition organised by the British Council in the UAE starting tomorrow

T he British Council, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, is hosting its annual educational fair, Edukex 2004, in the UAE from tomorrow.

This year’s exhibition has 55 institutions from the UK. This is a 45 per cent increase from last year in the number of participating institutions, which includes universities, schools, colleges and institutes offering vocational and summer English language programmes.

Entrance to the exhibition is free. Visitors can speed up the entry process by registering online at www.britishcouncil.org/uae. Doing so will also make you eligible to enter a raffle draw.

“The institutions participating in this year’s Edukex represent the breadth and depth of educational opportunities available to international students in the UK,” said Stephanie Evans, UAE education promotion manager, British Council.

“We also have 21 institutions at Edukex for the first time, a sign of the increasing interest being shown in the region by UK institutions.”

Edukex 2004 will give you a chance to:

• Meet representatives from schools, colleges and universities in the UK
• Get information on course entry requirements
Seek advice on the application process

Gather information on living and studying in the UK

And meet students who have studied in the UK

To get the most out of the exhibition, it might be a good idea to do some research about the institutions by checking their websites.

Do any of the institutions offer the programme you wish to pursue? What is the course content? What is the evaluation procedure followed? How are the classes structured? What are their prerequisites for admission? What is the percentage of international students on campus?

The list of questions is endless and the exhibition gives you the perfect opportunity to get answers
Some of the participants are offering scholarships to international students.

“The increasing availability of scholarship support is a sign of the commitment to creating accessibility to UK educational opportunities among our institutions,” said Evans.

“The British Government’s Chevening and Thesiger scholarships offered to UAE national students for postgraduate studies in the UK are another reflection of this commitment.”

One can spend hours at such exhibitions just exploring possibilities and gathering information. One can also learn about various options relevant to the career exploration phase.

If you are thinking of enrolling in the near future, ask yourself a few questions. Would you like to live in a big city or a small town? A big city may have lots of social and cultural advantages, but your lectures may be on different sites and you may have to commute to get there. It may also be expensive in comparison with a rural area.

The downside of a rural area is that you may feel cut off from the rest of the world even though it is self-contained and most facilities are available on campus. Institutions vary in size from a few hundred to tens of thousands of students. Think of whether you wish to be part of a large institution or a small, closely-knit environment.

Ask yourself what sort of accommodation you like? There are halls of residence, student rented houses and host family accommodation. You would need to find out the costs and what is included in the price.

If you do a little homework before you go to the exhibition, you will be able to make the most of it. This is true of all such events. Remember to equip yourself with the right questions and a pen and paper to jot down all the important data you gather.

Here’s wishing you luck in your search!

The writer works as an independent education adviser