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uK & ireland
uK & ireland
Society of Luxemburg Students in Britain (SLSB)
Website: slsbritain.lu
E-Mail: committ ee@slsb.lu
EDUCATIon
sysTEM
Why study in the United Kingdom?
The number of Luxembourg Students opti ng to pursue their
university career in the United Kingdom has steadily increased
over the years. Traditi onally, most Luxembourgers have been
choosing the UK because they wish to study English language
or literature. But over the years, more and more Luxembourg
students in the UK have chosen to pick a more diverse range
of subjects ranging from Architecture to Zoology. The advantage
of studying in the English language is an important factor
to that development, as is the good academic reputati on of
most Briti sh universiti es. This arti cle is an introducti on to the
Briti sh Higher Educati on System combined with some useful
informati on about the applicati on process, accommodati on
and funding. The Society of Luxembourg Students in Britain
(SLSB, htt p://slsbritain.lu/) is encouraging people to come
and study in Britain and very keen to help prospecti ve students,
which is why the SLSB publishes the “Studying in the
United Kingdom and Ireland” Guidebook, which is available to
download in PDF format on our website (htt p://slsbritain.lu/).
The Briti sh Higher Educati on System and Admission Procedures
“Undergraduate”
Most of the undergraduate degrees off ered in the United
Kingdom last only three years and students are awarded
“Bachelor” degrees. Some of the courses on off er last four
years and students are awarded “Master” degrees thereaft er.
Unlike England and Wales, Scotland off ers mostly four-year
undergraduate degree courses because it has its own, independent
higher educati on system. It is important, however,
to keep in mind that these Scotti sh undergraduate degrees
are not equivalent to the other, postgraduate, “Master” degrees
off ered elsewhere on the Briti sh Isles. The diff erence
between Scotland and the rest of Britain is also due to the fact
that students leave high school one year earlier. The disti ncti
on between undergraduate Master degrees and postgraduate
Master degrees is crucial as the former are seen as “1er
cycle” degrees, whereas the latt er are “2e cycle” degrees. The
applicati on process: All universiti es are members of the Universiti
es and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS www.ucas.
ac.uk). All applicati ons (for undergraduate courses) must be
sent directly to that insti tuti on and not to the individual universiti
es. The fi rst and most important step is to consult the
UCAS online handbook, which contains lists of all universiti es
and all the diff erent courses and combinati ons of courses
available in the United Kingdom. This handbook as well as the
applicati on forms are available online (www.ucas.ac.uk) The
deadline for applicati ons to reach UCAS is January 15, except
for Oxford, Cambridge and degrees related to medicine, for
which it is October 15. There is however also a late applicati
on system called “clearing system” where the remaining
places at universiti es are “handed out” to students who decide
late. It is however advisable to start as early as possible!
The most important aspect of the applicati on is to know what
you want to study and in what sort of environment; do you
prefer the buzz of a big city, or do you want to live in a more
quiet and/or smaller town? Either way, make sure that you
check if your university’s buildings are spread across town, or
if it is all based on one campus. For this sort of informati on,
the Internet is the best source available: all universiti es have
detailed websites with lots of informati on about courses on
off er, accommodati on etc. Do not hesitate to email the registry
or the department of a university if you have any questi
ons, they are usually more than happy to help. Aft er getti ng
an applicati on form, you can choose up to 5 universiti es to
apply to. The universiti es will reply to you through UCAS and
make you an off er (or not) to att end their insti tuti on. There
are two sorts of off ers: some are “conditi onal”, meaning that
the university expects a certain result in your baccalaureate,
like for example a “menti on bien”. On the other hand,
but more unlikely, is that you are accepted unconditi onally.
Some universiti es want you to att end an interview in order
to assess you more closely. Once all universiti es have replied
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