Scotland: An outstanding study choice for international students
Scotland has more world-class universities per person than any other country. Three Scottish universities are among the top 1% globally, ranked within the QS World Top 100 (QS World University Rankings 2023). The University of Edinburgh, one of our partner universities, is one of them – ranked 15th in the world.
Study where the economy is thriving
Scotland has seen an 88% increase in job postings over the past year, ahead of the UK average of 40% (SDI May 2022). With record economic growth and employment, Scotland is now the leading UK location outside of London for foreign investment (EY Scotland Attractiveness Survey 2021). A 25% increase in digital job vacancies in 2021 (Tech Nation Jobs & Skills Report 2021) – largely in Edinburgh and Glasgow – makes Scotland the ideal country to accelerate your career.
Digital technology (financial, data, robotics, and gaming) – growing 1.5x faster than the rest of the economy, due to be Scotland’s biggest sector by 2024.
Engineering (space, subsea and renewable energy) – Scotland's space sector is rising the fastest in the UK, projected to grow in value to £4bn by 2030.
Business services (investment and growth) – more businesses chose Scotland than any other non-London UK location in 2020.
Study where culture is respected
Culture is valued in Scotland. There’s a strong national heritage. But it isn’t just Scottish culture that’s celebrated here – Scotland welcomes the world to its cities and universities. In fact, Scottish universities accept more than 50,000 students (Scottish Government ‘The impact of international students in Scotland’ 2018) from 180 countries each year. At 22%, Scotland has a higher percentage of international students than the UK average of 19%.
Study where small budgets go a long way
Get more for your money in Scotland, where the cost of living is lower than much of the UK. In fact, six of the UK's most affordable cities are located in Scotland: Stirling, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Perth, and Inverness (Halifax ‘UK’s Most Affordable Cities’ 2021). Stirling is a particularly affordable student city, with the cost of living up to 61% lower than bigger UK cities like London. So not only is Stirling one of the most affordable UK cities, but it’s also one of the happiest (Rightmove Happy at Home Index 2021).