Scholarships Launched for UK and Irish Students to Study in Australia or New Zealand

Study Options, the free advice and guidance service for UK and Irish students looking to study in Australia and New Zealand, announces the launch of fees scholarships

UK and Irish students are to be offered a set of partial fee scholarships by five leading Australian and New Zealand universities for degree programmes starting in February 2007, the start of the academic year in the southern hemisphere.

The scholarships look set to encourage the growing trend of UK and Irish students choosing to study at Australasian universities. Study Options founder, Stefan Watts, says: “Many students are now considering an Australasian education – we’ve seen a big jump in numbers since the start of the year. Lots are attracted by the idea of getting a world-class education and the chance to travel the world at the same time, but many are drawn to the growing international academic reputations of the universities.”

In The World’s Top 200 Universities report, published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in October 2005, 13 Australian universities appeared in the top 100. Thirteen UK universities also appeared but, to put that into context, Australia has less than 40 universities in total, Britain has around 140. Three New Zealand universities were also ranked, out of the country’s total of eight.

It’s a trend that Australasian universities are happy to encourage. “We are seeing a growing number of students coming from the UK and Ireland,” says Walter Ong, Dean of International Student Admissions at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. “It’s a very positive thing – we’ve found they assimilate really well into our student body and make a great contribution to the university community, both academically and socially.”

The traditional detractor to studying abroad has traditionally been cost. The introduction of top-up fees to UK undergraduate degrees, however, and the continuing strength of the pound against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, has resulted in studying overseas becoming an ever more reasonable option.

International tuition fees for a standard undergraduate degree at an Australasian university range between £4,000 and £9,000 – more expensive than the UK. Both the Australian and the New Zealand governments, however, recommend students budget between just £5,000 and £6,000 per year for living expenses – substantially less than the sum required for living as a student in the UK.

The fee scholarships look set to further a trend that’s already up and running…

Study Options is a free advice and guidance service for students looking to study in Australia and New Zealand. We can provide a complete list of the courses offered in your chosen subject area as well as information on the universities that offer them, plus practical help with completing and submitting an application and applying for a student visa. For more information about us and what we do please visit our website: www.studyoptions.com or call us on 08456 581166.


1. The number of British and Irish students choosing to pursue higher education at Australasian universities is growing year by year. In 2000-2001, Australian Immigration issued 1,881 student visas to British students, 1,114 of which were for university study. By between 2003 and 2004, that number had risen to 2,367; 1,203 of which were university visas. The numbers for New Zealand are also rising. In May 2001, there were 641 British students in New Zealand, of which just 47 were studying at universities. By May 2005 there were 2,881, of which 194 were studying at university.

2. Annual undergraduate tuition fees in Australia are usually between AU,000 and AU,000 a year (approx £4,100 – £5,400). In New Zealand, annual undergraduate tuition fees are usually between NZ,000 and NZ,000 (approx £5,000 to £7,650). Degrees such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary science incur higher fees.

3. UK banks do not currently give student loans for international study, and international students are not eligible to apply for a student loan in Australia or New Zealand. According to the Australian government, an international student will spend an average of A0 (£95) a week on living costs, taking into account accommodation, food, clothing, entertainment, transport, travel and so on. Education New Zealand recommends tertiary students budget for up to NZ,000 (approx £7,500) per year for living expenses. As full time degree students they will, however, be eligible to apply to work on their student visas, up to a maximum of 20 hours a week.

The Scholarships

The scholarships are run in partnership with Study Options. In addition to individual requirements set out by the universities, below, the following conditions apply:

To be eligible to be considered for one of the scholarships below, students must:

1. Be citizens of the UK or of the Republic of Ireland

2. Be 18 or over on February 1, 2007

3. Have applied via Study Options’ office in London

4. Be a commencing (not existing) student at the university

Please note that the scholarships are all for tuition fees only, they do not cover living expenses, travel or health insurance, travel costs or repeat courses or subjects taken from outside the degree programme.

In all cases, the awarding university will decide who to give the scholarship to and their decisions are final. All scholarship applicants will be advised of the outcome of the scholarship by the end of November 2006. The scholarship recipient will have until December 31 2006 to accept the scholarship. If the offer is not accepted by this time, it will be withdrawn.

Undergraduate

The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (http://www.canterbury.ac.nz)

One undergraduate partial tuition fee scholarship

What it covers: The successful student will receive a scholarship of NZ,000 toward their undergraduate tuition fees for three years. This scholarship is offered to students beginning a Bachelors degree in February 2007

How to apply: There is no separate application form. Instead, please ensure that you state clearly on your application cover letter that you wish to be considered for a scholarship, and include a personal statement to support your application. To be considered for a scholarship, candidates must have been accepted for entry in their chosen course and have pre-enrolled by 31 December.

Details of all the University of Canterbury’s degree programmes can be seen at:

http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/firstdegrees.shtml


Application deadline: November 1, 2006

The Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of: Academic merit

Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia (http://www.international.curtin.edu.au)

One undergraduate partial tuition fee scholarship for a business degree

What it covers: The successful student will receive a 50% scholarship toward the cost of the tuition fees for an undergraduate business degree lasting three years full time study. This scholarship is offered to students beginning a Bachelors degree in February 2007

How to apply: There is no separate application form. Instead, please ensure that you state clearly on your application cover letter that you wish to be considered for a scholarship, and include a personal statement to support your application.

Details of all the undergraduate degree courses offered by Curtin Business School are available at: http://www.business.curtin.edu.au/


Application deadline: November 1, 2006

The Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of: Academic merit

Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

(http://www.vuw.ac.nz)

Two undergraduate partial tuition fee scholarships

What it covers: The two successful students will each receive a scholarship of NZ,000 toward the first year of their undergraduate tuition fees. This will be given as a tuition fee reduction of NZ,500 for trimesters one and two at the time of enrolment. These scholarships are offered to students beginning a Bachelors degree in February 2007. One scholarship will be awarded for study in the Faculty of Science; the other will be for any area: Architecture & Design, Commerce, Education, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences or Science.

How to apply: There is no separate application form. Instead, please ensure that you state clearly on your application cover letter that you wish to be considered for a scholarship, and include a personal statement to support your application.

Details of all the undergraduate degree programmes offered by the Faculty of Science can be accessed at: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/science/


Details of all the undergraduate degree programmes offered at VUW can be seen at: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/international/planning/what.html


Application deadline: November 1, 2006

The Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of: Academic merit

The University of Tasmania (http://www.utas.edu.au)

Unlimited undergraduate partial tuition fee scholarships

What it covers: Each successful student will receive 25% off the tuition fees for each year of the duration of their undergraduate degree. Please note that the scholarships are not available for medical degrees or foundation studies.

How to apply: There is no separate application form. Instead, please ensure that you state clearly on your application cover letter that you wish to be considered for a scholarship, and include a personal statement to support your application.

Details of all the undergraduate degrees offered by the University of Tasmania can be seen at: http://www.international.utas.edu.au/static/courses/bachelor.php


The Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of: Academic merit

Postgraduate

Griffith University, Queensland (http://www.griffith.edu.au/international)

One postgraduate (coursework) full tuition fee scholarship

What it covers: Tuition fees for a maximum of 2 years not in excess of AU,000 per year.

What it does NOT cover: Living expenses, overseas student health cover, travel costs, repeat courses or subjects outside the scholarship student’s degree programme. All such additional costs must be met by the student.

How to apply: You must apply for the scholarship at the same time as applying for admission to your chosen postgraduate programme. Please contact Study Options to request copies of the Postgraduate Scholarship Application Form and the Application for Admission form.

Details of all the degrees offered by Griffith University can be accessed at:

http://www.griffith.edu.au/academicprogramsandcourses/


Application deadline: October 31, 2006

The Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of: Academic merit, demonstrated leadership ability (applications should include at least one professional reference), personal character (applications should include one reference) and the applicant’s personal statement.

All scholarship applicants will be advised of the outcome of the scholarship by the end of November 2006. The scholarship recipient will have until December 31 2006 to accept the scholarship. If the offer is not accepted by this time, it will be withdrawn.

For more information, please contact Stefan Watts, Founder, Study Options.