Three of the most popular university courses in the UK in 2021 are within the subjects of business and management, allied medicine, and social sciences according to Statista, a trusted marketing and research data provider.
International Education in the UK has made a dramatic comeback in 2021 and has reached the 600,000 higher education international students target– 10 years ahead of plan. Education institutions welcomed 605,130 international students in the 2020/21 academic year according to Higher Education Statistics Agency. China (50%) and India (19%) showed a remarkable increase in enrollments over the five years, with Nigeria as the third nation bringing in the most number of university students.
“Despite fears about the potential effect of the pandemic on international student numbers, the 2020/21 Student data still shows an overall increase in international first-year students,” Lucy Van Essen-Fishman, lead policy & research analyst at HESA said. “First-year first degree student numbers from the EU are up by 8%”.
With regards to the most preferred university courses by international and local students, here are some of the most favored in in the UK:
Nursing
Even prior to the skyrocketing demand for nurses in the UK and around the world due to the pandemic, Nursing has been in the top courses in the UK for many years now. According to NHS, 94% of students who hold a nursing degree get employed within six months from graduating. Students have four fields of nursing to choose from: adult nursing, children’s nursing, learning disability nursing, and mental health nursing. Eligible nursing students also get the chance to receive a minimum of £5,000 in financial support annually.
Computer Science
With the rapidly evolving digital economy, it is no surprise that tech courses are increasingly favoured by university students. In the UK, tech professionals are in the top 10 most highly paid workforce in 2021, earning about £27,000 as starting salary. Computer programmers, professional hackers, IT auditors, system security administrators, and computer systems analysts are the top computer science-related jobs. Meanwhile, Google, Deliveroo, Revolut, Benevolent AI, and Wise are the top employers of computer science professionals.
Management Studies
Management courses are versatile and offer unlimited career options for graduates. There are more than 100 business schools around the UK with London, Manchester, and Edinburgh as economic hubs for future graduates. In addition, one of the reasons why studying management tops the students’ list is because most undergraduate courses in the country can be completed in three years, one year shorter than those business courses offered in other countries.
Psychology
Psychology remains to be one of the most popular degrees in the UK, more so in today’s increasing mental health awareness. Students taking the course can either focus on scientific research or applied psychology. Most institutions in the country have research facilities to support students conducting research specialisation on developmental psychology and behavioural neuroscience, among many.
Sports and Exercise Science
For both international and domestic students, Sports and Exercise Science has been gaining traction in recent years. The UK has over 60 education institutions that offer undergraduate sport and/or exercise science courses, and most universities offer postgraduate courses specialising in clinical exercise science, strength and conditioning, and performance analysis. Furthermore, career opportunities are vast in this field since the country is home to world-renown sporting institutions like the English Institute of Sport, SportScotland Institute of Sport and Sport Northern Ireland’s High Performance Centre as well as professional clubs.
