HURDLES AND PROBLEMS OF STUDIES IN UK

But I am concerned that most people make the mistake of not thinking about how to harness life after that UK master’s degree, especially if they desire to stay back after their studies — and most people do.

You know that most master’s degree programmes in the UK universities are for one academic year. That may be just so little a time for one to really settle in and fashion out a long-term plan for the aftermath of their degree.

I would suggest that you go for a two-year course but I am also aware that some people wouldn’t like to stray too far from their dream course or first degree.

Again, those who have a strong support base and financial sponsorship like family or scholarships may not be affected by this malaise. But we know that many do not have any or all of these.

The system is also designed in such a way that you can work while studying. Unlike in America where a class meets three times a week, most UK courses are taken once a week.

This gives you the room to work optimally while studying in order to save up for house rent, feeding, other personal bills, and most importantly, (outstanding) tuition fees.

Often, the result is that you do not give your studies the best attention you could muster. It suffers, and you probably graduate with, not just average grades, but without having fully immersed yourself into the academic life, nuances, culture, connections, and networks that should have paved the way for your desired post-study life.

Now, you cannot fall back on the jobs you’ve been doing during your studies because apart from being beneath you, as menial jobs, you do not have a work visa that’ll enable the company or companies to consider you for full-time employment.

You only have a post-study work visa, which is not the same as a work visa. If, however, you consider the so-called menial job and seek to “manage” it in the meantime, the company will have to be open to offering you a position (if there is an opening) in order for you to obtain a work visa.

What some of the “smart” ones do is to find a British wo(man) with whom they’d live and birth a kid, to insure their post-study stay.

Others brave the odds, wading, and scrambling until their net catches some golden fish.

Those in the health sector and social services seem to have it easier in terms of post-study transition. Yet, the non-professionals among them don’t necessarily take home fat or reasonable paychecks.

It might be tempting to take advantage of the relative ease of migrating to the UK today via the master’s degree study route. (As I said, this is the situation today, which might change with time and the borders get tightened again.)

However, before you embark on that journey, it is worth thinking through the vicissitudes of life out here, as an international student with no robust financial support.

Because life in most developed countries is lived “in the black” not “in arrears,” it is lived “in a solvent,” not “in installments.” In other words, you must remain consistently functional if you must continue to feed and maintain a roof over your head.