Is it true that international students are favored over domestic students because they pay more fees?

I don't think so, I'd be very irritated if that was the case.

I think it is true that international students are 'attractive' to unis for the money they bring in (well, usually bring in). They get state funding to research something relevnt to their country and are bound to return, or they have pot loads of money sometimes, but I suspect not enough to do a PhD. In any case an interntional student gets in £14000 a year for tuition fees, whereas a domestic gets in 1/4 of that, with differences across unis and subjects.

The result is often that some of these students cannot cope with the language/culture etc and sometimes fail miserably.

Natassia, yes, it is understndbly depressing if you are deprived of a seat in your home country bcos an international student with similr calibre and the higher fees can get in that place.

- Written by an impoverished international student who hasn't any funding and is earning her fees as she studies.

Best, Bug.

I think it might be true in some cases for masters degrees. I was the only domestic student out of 10-11 students in my course. xx

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I would tend to agree with the comment about MSc courses- there were some students on our course (a proper BPS-accredited MSc) from overseas who could barely speak the language, didn't have an appropriate background or qualification, and even a girl who had never used a calculator before and didn't know how to work out an average/mean. Needless to say, these people didn't last the course, and it was really unfair on them too because they had paid a bomb to get there, and then there wasn't anywhere near the kind of support that they needed to get them on target and through their MSc. I should also mention that there were also a lot of overseas students who did exceptionally well, but there does seem to be a trend for accepting students who are not suitable for the course when there is the offer of a big lump of money on a plate. Not right, but it clearly happens. KB

I've seen that on my MSc course as well, there are a few that are clearly struggling, and from what I've heard the tutor is finding it difficult to help them as well, I don't think its particularly fair on anyone.

But also, there are those who do exceptionally well, so yes, perhaps merit should be given the highest importance when selecting, not the availability of funds.

I totally agree, places should be given entirely on academic ability, however ultimately universities like to make money so they may be swayed towards taking more international students.

I think you will see more cases like these in the near future as university funding is being cut...

I was one of a small number of home students on my MSc - some of the international students were really good (esp those from former British colonies as their English was really good) but there were quite a few Chinese students who had really limited English and I did wonder how they followed lectures.  The worst thing was the few students who had registered so they could get a work permit - one was deported two weeks before a big group project was due in and another spent all his time working at a hospital as a porter - he had dropped out the previous year and didn't complete when he did it again in my year.

Do you mean in terms of being given a place on a course? I think not. Obviously, international students usually have the funding sorted for their courses. That said, there are basic requirements to get on any course and departments will give places to applicants who meet these requirements and have their funding sorted.

International students from developing countries might not have access to technology that home/eu students might take for granted and struggle in that sense. For some, like me, it takes a while to adjust to the approach to learning here, which is very different to what I had in all the previous educational systems I had studied in.

The language issues might vary from department to department and uni to uni, but at the university where I have done my postgrad study, there are excellent facilities for language support. Aside from this, students are required to have the equivalent of a GCSE grade C to be considered on the course.

It can't be denied that international students contributing 50% to the UK educational sector a few years ago and to the economy makes them attractive not just to the unis, but to the government. However, candidates have to be able to meet the requirements to get on a course. How well they cope with the demands of it is another matter.