Scottish education institutions lead the way in providing the best learning and living experience for international students in Europe.

These are some of the findings of a new survey by i-graduate commissioned by our Education UK Scotland team and presented at their conference in Edinburgh last month.

The survey looked at how Scotland’s education institutions can increase international student recruitment and offer strategies and tactics for education providers to better meet the needs and expectations of international students.

Students were asked to rate factors on their first impressions on arrival, of the learning experience, the student support services at their institution and the living experience.

It revealed that 86% of university students and 85% of college students in Scotland would recommend the experience to others if asked. Of this group 39% who would actively recommend living and studying in Scotland to others. This shows a real increase of 6% over the 2006 figure of 33%.

One of the most important factors in determining where to study was word of mouth.

Over 90% of international students think Scotland is a good place to be. This compares favourably with 86% of students in the rest of the UK who rated their host nation as a good place to be and 87% in Europe.

What students are dissatisfied with

In 2006, Scotland boasted a 12% lead over the rest of the UK and Europe in student satisfaction with their surroundings outside the institution. That lead has now dropped to only 5%.

High on the list of factors that caused this drop were accommodation costs, living costs and the problems of setting up bank accounts. One of the more unexpected difficulties students highlighted was the ability to make friends with Scottish students.

One college student said; 'I like to make friends but I feel people don't want to talk to tourists and foreign nationals.'

However as they settled into life in Scotland the ability to make friends improved with 71% feeling satisfied with the number of Scottish friends they had made over the course of their studies. This interesting aspect shows that the areas of most dissatisfaction for both university and college students are to do with arriving and living rather than learning.

The survey provides valuable information on how Scottish universities and colleges might best focus their international marketing strategies to deal with opportunities and challenges for the future.

The competitive edge given to Scottish universities and colleges via the Fresh Talent initiative will disappear from spring 2009 as the new UK VISA points based system will provide two year visa extensions for students throughout the UK.

For more information, visit our web site. You can also contact Kelly Ferguson on +44 (0) 131 524 5733 or e-mail kelly.ferguson@britishcouncil.org