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December 24, 2024
What if you were told to pack up your life in a few suitcases, move abroad, pay more than £1,000 just to enter the country, and pay thousands more to gain an education there? It would seem a considerably challenging task and a very expensive one at that. However this was the choice 484,000 international students made in 2022 when they picked the UK to pursue higher education, according to the Migrant Observatory – the highest such figure on record.
Lots of these students chose Wales as the place to explore their dreams. Their reasons to do so might vary. Some choose the route to gain more international experience, some to get better jobs, and some just for the mere chance to study at the most prestigious universities in the world.
With their hopes and dreams in their backpacks there is much these students expect from the country and its education system. But did Wales and its education system stand up to their expectations?
WalesOnline spoke to four international students about their lives and experiences as international students in this country. We asked them to describe their experiences in one word after listening to their stories and this is what they had to say.
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Saurav Kumar, from India, came to Wales in the year 2022. Now, back in India after completing his MA in Political Communication from Cardiff University, he said he felt 'betrayed' after coming to Wales.
The 25-year-old said: “I was going through a lot of colleges checking for universities in my course. So I got to know about the political communication course at Cardiff University and I was very much convinced that I would be having a good life if I chose this course and this university.
"I thought that I would be getting a lot of information about the political communications space – that’s why I opted so. I was very convinced that I would come out with a very good background in political communication. I wanted to work with Ofcom, other companies who were working there in this space, as India is still growing in this space and in the UK we have a lot of established companies and organisations that are working in this field.”
However he said in retrospect that wasn’t the case. Saurav said: “To be very honest I felt betrayed. I remember there were a lot of strikes going on and there were not a lot of lectures that helped me achieve this course.”
Saurav said he felt as a result of the disruption his hopes were "shattered". He continued: “In the first semester it was going off okay and I thought that it would get interesting in the second semester but things didn't start picking up and I was left ashore with no hope and opportunity. At the same time I was struggling with all the finances and I was left all alone. I was not able to work full-time when my lectures were off and we were only given the notes and lectures online, which I would have anyway acquired from a library.”
To manage his finances Saurav decided to work part-time in the hospitality industry but explained he was still struggling. He said: “It was not so great. I was forced to do a work that I didn't want to do but I was anyway struggling to find a part-time job to support my studies and living there.”
It was hard for Saurav to juggle both his part-time job and studies, which ended up affecting his academic performance. He said: “It was very difficult for me. I was always struggling, I was always short on my assignments. I had to struggle a lot and eventually it affected me in one of my grades. I thought that I would be able to clear it off because I asked my professor specifically. Because she was on leave she told me that 'as far as I think you'll be fine' but I was failed in that assignment.”
This one failed assessment set forward a turn of events that left Saurav going from one university office to another. He said: ”Because I failed in one subject I had to reappear and the professors at the university were on strike so they were not checking the paper and my course just got delayed.”
He added: “I only had, like, 28 days left of my visa deadline. So I had to frequently visit the visa support, appointments, and eventually they had to step in and get me an extension. I was completely hopeless. I wasn't feeling well at that time I remember. I did not have a full-time job opportunity though my course had ended. I couldn't submit my dissertation because of that failed assignment, which was not being checked by the professors who were on strike. At the same time I was also struggling with the visa issues. I was facing a three-sided attack on me.”
All of this took a toll on Saurav. He said: “I think it has eaten up a lot out of my mental peace. I could not focus and I had to just give up on my dreams. And as an international student I had a lot of hopes. I was okay doing all the part-time jobs and struggling between the jobs to study but a lot of this just led to a depressing state. Eventually I had to give up on my dream and I had planned to move back because I didn't see any option.”
However when he first came to the UK it was never Saurav’s intention to move back. He said: “So my future [plan], initially, it was that I will finish my course and do internships and volunteer in some political organisations and gain industry experience before I eventually move out but coming back to the home country was not my dream, not my option. I just wanted to work there with all my relevant skills in my area. The very crucial period after our course, we have a four-month extension to do all this, and in those four months I was left to struggle with the visa issues, my dissertation submission, and my resit examinations. It was not being checked with my professors. So I just had to wait and wait. Ultimately I did not have enough time to do volunteer and internship programmes.”
Saurav calls the period after September 2023 the "ugliest phase" of his life. He said: “Speaking of my loved ones I think it was the ugliest phase after September. I was not able to communicate with my family, I did not have a social life, because I was always working on weekends, night shifts, and on the weekdays I was just doing nothing trying to figure out what I can do with my life in that period of time. I was looking for volunteer and internship programmes but eventually it affected my mental health."
He claimed even though he tried reaching out to his professors during this time they refused to help him as they were on strike. Saurav said: “First of all I had an academic pressure. I was hoping that I would just get my results on time so that I can start looking for other things. I wasn't able to do it because my professors are on strike. I tried reaching out to them to help me in academics and in some of my goals that were aligned with the academic results. They clearly said they can’t do it, they are on strike, and they will let me know once they are back. "
Saurav said he then went to the university’s career support office but claimed he didn’t receive a favourable response. He said: “After that I tried reaching out to the student careers office about my career and apparently there was a counselling session that I had arranged. But it did not help a lot because it was mainly focused on students who were [British] nationals and they helped them only because there was a preference for all the jobs because I did not meet the visa requirements.”
Saurav tried reaching out to the university’s mental health support as well. “I actually had reached out for a mental health counselling session and there was a three-week waiting period. I did apply for it, did wait for it, but it was just too much for me to wait.”
Saurav feels acutely disappointed by his overall experience as an international student. "We were paying double the fees. We did not get any support from the student careers. We did not get any support from our professors because they were on strike. I don't blame them because the university must have not met their requirements or whatever but it did affect me. And apart from that I think it was just all attacks from all fronts and I couldn't figure out what to do next.”
After a pause Saurav said he doesn’t believe it was worth coming to Wales to study. He said: ”I think no because none of my goals I was able to achieve. And apart from that I have a baggage now with a lot of trauma. Being there, working odd jobs, trying to meet my day’s end and struggling to get my dissertation and submissions and still was left alone to do all of this on my own. If there was a little help from the university I think I would have been able to pull up my socks and do something else. Even an internship or a volunteer programme would have helped at that time but it did not come through.”
Even though he is still having ups and downs in his career Saurav said he’s doing better after moving back to India. He said: “The job market is anyway shrinking all around the world but I started feeling better because I was with the people that I love and care about. I'm still struggling with my career but I have been able to manage to get some projects, started doing something of my own. It did not get better career-wise but still I'm feeling better now.”
Speaking on how universities can make it better for international students Saurav added: “I would like to add that they can be more considerate towards students. We specifically leave our home country, pay a lot of fees, double the amount of fees that the nationals pay. A little bit of attention would have helped. We don't want anything else, just give us enough attention – just make us feel that we exist. I always felt that I did not exist for any of the administration.”
However Saurav explained that always felt that the Welsh people and Wales itself are beautiful. He said: “I think Wales is a beautiful country. It’s marginalised of resources and funding. I do remember a lot of communities there they're struggling to get a good life there and then eventually all the young people studying had to move out of Wales. But Wales in general was very beautiful. I still remember all the beautiful scenes from Bute Park. I do remember a lot of beautiful things that I did like camping, going out – Wales is nice.”
Please scroll down to see a full response from Cardiff University to the claims made by Saurav, and other students in this article, as they say the picture painted is "not reflective of current circumstances" and they accept the timeframe in question was "incredibly challenging".
Eanna Mackey came to Wales from his native Ireland in 2022, then aged 25, to study MA International Journalism at Cardiff University. He subsequently left back for home after completing his studies in Wales.
The 27-year-old said he looked at several universities for his course but when he came to Cardiff he knew straightaway that this was the university for him. He said: “I went to Liverpool, I went to Leeds, and I went to London just to see what the universities are made out of and which one would be the best.
“When I got to Cardiff I kind of knew straightaway that that was the one that was going to suit me because just the city, the people, and the cost of living in Cardiff compared to London and other parts of England it just suited me better. Cardiff itself is a really nice city too and as soon as I got there I just knew that this was the one for me."
It was the professionalism of staff at Cardiff University that appealed to Eanna the most as he explained. “The people I spoke to in the university when I went over at first just to try and make up my mind were very clued in. Like immediately they seemed to know what they were on about and the whole university itself seemed very organised.”
The city itself had its appeal too. ”In terms of Cardiff, in terms of Welsh culture, I'm from Ireland, which is very similar to Wales and Irish people and Welsh people are very similar. We love just having a craic and having a laugh and we're just very, very normal, down to earth, friendly people. It immediately just felt right as soon as I got there.”
Eanna said he was "blown away" by Cardiff University when he came to Wales. He said: “When I got to Cardiff I was blown away by how well-organised and how seamless everything was as well as the support that I got from my lectures and the other lecturers in the course. They all seemed to really care about their job and they seemed to care about getting the most out of their students."
Eanna explained that he had come to Wales to focus on his studies, which was what he did. “I arrived in Wales and just immediately wanted to put my head down because I'd been kind of partying for a couple of years and travelling. So as soon as I got to Wales it was an opportunity for me just to put my head down and focus on just getting my degree and that was it.”
The experience certainly lived up to his lofty expectations. He said: ”Cardiff was unreal. At the time while I was there I was just focused on doing the best I could to get the best result I could out of it. But in retrospect, looking back on it, Cardiff was unreal. I loved it.”
Though Eanna missed home he said Cardiff gave him a chance to focus. He explained: “I did miss home. I missed my parents and I missed the dog. But I’d moved to Cardiff from France because I was spending time over there and I spent a year just travelling around. When I got to Cardiff it just gave me the opportunity to focus and focus on the direction my life was going in. I went home regularly and enough. Ireland is just an hour’s flight from an airport so it was easy enough to get there. Sometimes I’d get the ferry home, sometimes I'd fly home, so it was easy to get back to Ireland. I knew that my parents weren't far away if I ever wanted to ring them, if I ever got homesick or whatever, but I didn't really get homesick. Like Wales it is very similar to back home. People are really friendly and, if I ever really wanted to go back home, it would have been very easy just to jump on a flight and go home.”
Though he recognises it might be difficult for some other international students moving to Wales had a different impact on him. He said: “It was probably very good for my mental health to be honest. For myself personally I didn’t find it too hard. Since I was about 19 I've been away from home. I go back for a little while but then I move away to someplace else. So I didn't find it too hard but I'd imagine for someone coming from China or India for the first time, like leaving home for the first time, moving to Cardiff of all places it probably would be a hard transition for them.”
Eanna added that he felt very supported by the university. He said: “In terms of support, academically, I got all the support I could have asked for at Cardiff. There's lots of clubs, social clubs and stuff as well, which I did try out when I first got there but I just didn't have the time to stick with them. There's lots of clubs and stuff whatever you're interested in. I'm sure there's some place that you can go within the university and maybe people have the same interest as you.” He added: "I was blown away by how good Cardiff University was in terms of academic work, in terms of like the building itself, and what you had access to, the help, and support that you get from lecturers and teachers and stuff.”
For Akash Dhanurkar, 28, his life in Wales as an international student was one of disappointment. Originally from India, Akash came to Wales to study for his MA in International Journalism at Cardiff University in 2022. He left back for India after his course completed.
The 28-year-old said: “To be honest the reputation of Cardiff University actually drew my attention to Wales and the second [reason] was that it was cost-friendly. Pretty much convenient for any student or international student to come here, live in Wales, and pursue their education abroad.”
Talking about the things he admired about Welsh culture he said: “Honestly I think people from Wales were quite welcoming. I have been to the most remote parts of Wales for my dissertation, where most of the population was Welsh-speaking. To my surprise there were maybe people who did not understand English but they were still able to help me out. So that was their welcoming nature and that was what drew my attention to Welsh culture.”
However his life as an international student in Wales was unlike his expectations. He claimed: “I think one hope that remains even now is the support for my job and that was surprising to me that it did not come in any form. After my dissertation, even during the dissertation, I was left clueless by my professors – they did not help me out in any case or any scenario. I put this on record because when we tried to approach we got very vague answers like: ‘I’m on leave.’ This is not how things are supposed to go. Especially for international students who come to Wales and rely on their professors – there is no-one else to help us out. That was one of the major disappointments I was suffering through.
"I think I got a little bit of experience from Cardiff University’s news portals and radio station. But it’s only for student portals and it does not really get counted in the professional area. To my surprise the kind of money we have poured in for the education, or the course, we have not gotten even a little bit of it in return. That is a huge disappointment for anyone who comes from a country like India, where we have to take huge loans to come to Cardiff or the UK only to witness that there is a health crisis. There were ambulances present…doctors present but they were asking me to wait for my turn for the next six months, which was not possible. Maybe my soul would have talked to them if I died. ”
Speaking on a lack of support that he felt from his university Akash said: “One of the major expectations that I had from coming to the UK was gaining international exposure. I did gain it on my own." He added: "I think if students from the UK were coming to India I believe that our universities are sorted enough to give them any support that’s required. Maybe for an internship or professionally. That's what I was expecting from a developed country like the UK but sadly the university turned down the hope and I was left hopeless.”
However there was something else that affected him more, he said. “The second hope, that was actually very disappointing for me, was the health crisis. I had to come back to India to treat myself of a disease. Just a small skin condition and I had to come back to India.”
Akash joked he might have been better staying in India using the amount he spent in Wales for something else. He said: “For the amount of money that they took from us I think maybe I would have my own business back in India if I had invested in that. Again it was my choice to pursue education abroad but I believe that it is more of a commercial area than the education sector anymore.”
Each day in his life as an international student was a struggle for Akash, he claimed. “A person who takes hefty loans and comes to the UK I think he has to go through a lot. My day looked nothing else than going to a part-time job, trying to earn my bread and butter through that, and then spending my time on college assignments and lectures. I ensured that my part-time job never affected my academics because that was never my goal.
“But honestly the cost of living crisis – and when I came to the UK there was this huge energy crisis, there was a huge spike in the price of energy and and gas, and that probably forced us to start working out things for our bread and butter. My day literally looked like I was tired – I was exhausted. Obviously I would not blame the weather but it doesn’t favour much – especially during the winters. Financially I was draining, I was literally draining because of the amount of the cost of living crisis, the rent, the house, the accommodation – all seemed very bleak,” he added.
Akash explained that even though he did not let his schedule interfere with his studies it did have a health impact. He said: “A majority of the time I worked the night shift and I went to my lectures in the morning but again, as I said, that did not affect my academics but it certainly affected my health. I was suffering from a major health problem, and that literally escalated between three to four months when I was trying to have my appointment with the GP, and that did not really come out, and I was asked to wait nearly a year to have a surgery.”
Akash explained his experiences as an international student took a toll on his mental health and he struggled even after going back home. He said: “When I came back to India it took me around three months to get back on track because of the amount of disappointment of being a failure, of not having a job in the UK. I literally applied for a thousand applications there.”
Akash added that even when he sought support from the university for his mental health it did not help him much. He said: “One fine day I tried to seek counselling but that did not really help out. That was more of the people over there – they were trying to fill the sheets with names of the people who were registering with them. I could probably go on YouTube and check out [how to] not feel alone, and feel better through it, rather than going to the counsellors there… suggesting that you can probably try yoga. I think that did not work for me.”
Akash says that the only thing that kept him going forward were his regular calls with his family. He said: “The one thing that made me feel like home were the regular calls with my family. There was no day when I really didn’t contact my family and I think that was the one thing that kept me pushing ahead. Especially juggling around with my part-time job and my academics. So I used to have my daily call but I had to wake them up at 1am or 2am when it was already about 10 here in the UK.”
Looking back Akash does not feel his experience studying in Wales was worth it. He said: “I think I am still paying off my loans and that is a huge factor. I am not studying in Wales, I am not working in Wales anymore, but I am paying off for nothing – just a piece of paper that is in the form of a degree. I am at the same place, just missed a year of the professional journey, maybe just enjoyed being there for a bit.”
Please scroll down to see a full response from Cardiff University to the claims made by Akash, and other students in this article, as they say the picture painted is "not reflective of current circumstances" and they accept the timeframe in question was "incredibly challenging".
Yuqiao Hu came to Wales in 2022 from China to pursue her MA Journalism, Media, and Communications course at Cardiff University. She has since moved out of Wales but still lives in the UK. The 29-year-old came to Wales because she wanted to see the world. “I just always had this idea when I was still in high school. I thought it would be a nice opportunity to see the world and kind and explore more experiences abroad just to open my eyes,"
She added that she chose Cardiff University due to its reputation as a top university. Yuqiao said: “I used to be a content writer when I was working in China so that's why I applied to journalism as the major that I wanted to choose. Then I did my research – Cardiff University was on the top list of the media industry and really good.”
For Yuqiao the experience was a simultaneously a daunting and thrilling one. “Because I had never lived abroad before I was kind of scared. Because coming to a foreign country, and having a completely different culture I was kind of terrified but also excited because everything’s new to me and I’m always open to everything.”
Yuqiao said she was keen to experience different education systems when she came to study in Wales. She said: “I wanted to improve my academic skills, like writing essays, because I had no idea how to write essays in English. So that’s what I needed to know during the whole journey when I was studying at university and also just trying to experience the different education system in the UK. It was quite interesting to me since I’ve been in the Chinese way of education. So, it was really fun to me to see the difference between two different systems of education in general.”
For Yuqiao Cardiff University matched those expectations. She said: “Academically I think so because the professors are really professional and the whole process did show me how knowledgeable and professional the whole of Jomec was. I don’t know how to explain it but I think it did match my expectations. I could learn critical thinking and learn about journalism that I never learned in my own country.”
Yuqiao said her life as a student in Wales was full of fun. ”Because I lived in Cardiff for two years the first year was kind of just having my university life – studying and making friends in university. It was fun and everyone's so nice and sweet – I love it. After you graduate you have to work in Cardiff, in Wales, and you have to be 100% immersed, embraced by British society or British culture.
“So the first year was really good just because I thought that the only thing I needed to do was just study, study, and study. But after graduating when I tried to live by myself, like being financially independent, having a part-time job, it was tough but it was manageable,” she said.
Yuqiao explained that while she did find her studies difficult at first due to a language barrier it became easier over time. She said: “At the beginning I would say yes because, well, I don't have any problem in terms of understanding what my professors said because of the fact because I completely understood the course. But when we wrote essays I did find it difficult because you have to read loads of lots of literature and because they're too academic. So in the beginning it was really quite difficult. Gradually, because we were writing constantly, I just got better, and better, and better, and things got easier and easier for me.”
Yuqiao did not feel too homesick while she studied in Wales. “I quite enjoyed the new environment. I was really well-adjusted. Not really when I was at university but after living two years in Cardiff, in Wales, I slightly got homesick because it was two years without seeing my family, my friends in the home country. So not hugely homesick but just a little bit.”
She adds that being able to communicate with her loved ones back home helped a lot too. “I FaceTime with my family maybe every month and my friends maybe every week. So that kind of helps. If I feel homesick, or if I miss Chinese food, I just go to some Chinese restaurants and hang out with my Chinese friends so that also helps a lot.”
However as the deadline for her dissertation neared Yuqiao did experience some stress as she had to move out of her student accommodation at the same time. She said: "I needed to literally solve many, many problems at the same time, which I didn't handle well. So I kind of had a mental breakdown. So I went to counselling because Cardiff University had a counselling session. So I was there to search for any help.”
Yuqiao found the session helpful. “It definitely helped because, at the time, I was searching for help in a professional way. So that definitely helped me to get through all of my negative emotions.”
However she added that she felt that the university’s support for her was "half and half". She said: “I think in general they are doing pretty good compared to the university that I went to in China. I think they provided enough help – they have the career consultation, they have counselling care for students’ mental health. So that's really, really, good. But, when we were in the university, at the time, they were having a huge strike. So we had like two months without any classes. That was also, I think, a huge problem with the British education industry.”
Yuqiao explained she felt her money was "wasted" due to the strikes. She added: “It definitely affected us because as international students we were paying double in tuition fees than the local students. Because of the two months without any classes I felt like I wasted my money because they are supposed to be educating us but because of the strike we literally had nothing during the two months. So that I feel like wasted my time and also my money.”
She explained that she hasn’t received any refund for the lectures she lost. She said: “I actually haven't because I was too late. I thought there was no refund. So I didn't email to school but after I got to know they offered refunds but that was too late because I didn't apply.
“I feel like it's kind of not fair because if there's a refund the university has to refund to everyone. But they never informed us there was a refund. So some of the students didn't have the refunds like me. For some students I don't know where they got the information about the refund so they emailed them. So that was quite unfair, I feel like, because I have no refund."
When WalesOnline approached Cardiff University with some of the concerns raised by these students a spokesman said: “It is important to stress that these are historic issues raised during a period of industrial action and a marking assessment boycott that impacted most UK universities, not just Cardiff. They are also not reflective of current circumstances. Whilst it would be inappropriate to comment on an individual case we do recognise that this was an incredibly challenging time for many students – especially some of our international students.
“That is why we provided additional communications and increased capacity in our Student Connect service to provide support and actively encouraged students to use this service, which offered access to specialists in careers, finance, health, and wellbeing. We also provided tailored advice on visa and immigration matters. Our Student Futures team was also available to offer specialised career support to international students and prepare them for life after university. Financial payments were offered to those students identified as being most impacted by the marking and assessment boycott to recognise the impact on their student experience. These payments were in addition to each student’s right to bring a student complaint.
“All students were able to raise concerns with the university under the student complaints procedure. There was additional promotion of the complaints process to students during the period of industrial action and signposting to impartial advice and support for students. We reject any suggestion that we treat our international students less favourably. We do our utmost to provide timely and appropriate support to any student – regardless of nationality – who needs it. If any current international student needs advice and support we would urge them to reach out immediately – help is available."
Regarding the claims on access to the NHS for international students a Welsh Government spokesman said: "Demand for NHS care – both planned and emergency – has increased markedly in recent years. Despite this NHS Wales works hard to deliver high-quality care and progress has been made to reduce the longest waiting times for treatment. We have invested £170m per year to address the long waits that arose due to the pandemic, which have fallen by 66% since the peak in March 2022. The number of specialities with long waits have also reduced to 22 down from 34 in April 2022 when the planned care recovery plan was launched.”
