University students set sights beyond greater region

Luxembourg nationals are increasingly opting to study in English-speaking countries, the country's Higher Education body has revealed.

Since its creation nearly 10 years ago, the Centre de Documentation et d'Information sur l'Enseignement Supérieur (CEDIES) has noticed a steady rise in students venturing beyond institutions in neighbouring France, Germany and Belgium.

Universities in the UK and US are now commonly chosen by Luxembourg nationals.

“We've seen a clear growth, particularly in Luxembourg applicants studying in the UK. About 10 to 20 years ago Luxembourg students would study in the UK but often it was just to train as future English teachers. Now we're seeing more young people studying subjects such as Maths, Engineering, Sciences and Design,” CEDIES chief Dominique Faber told wort.lu/en, adding: “It's mainly because of the quality of the training: the universities have a good reputation and students can study dual honours degrees.”

Academic tourism

During the academic year of 2010-2011, CEDIES recorded 1,063 Luxembourg students in the UK, with the largest proportion studying at London institutions (277), compared with 1,957 in France, 2,638 in Belgium, 2,893 in Germany and 3,049 in Luxembourg.

The wave of academic tourism to the UK may seem all the more surprising given the lack of preparation many Luxembourg students do before making their higher education choices.

Luxembourg national Charlotte Helminger is in her final year at Manchester university, an institution she chose last-minute while on her gap year.

“To be honest, I didn't choose to go to the UK at the first moment. I wanted to study in Germany or France or Austria like most of my Luxembourgish friends. Studying in England just sounded way too complicated, the deadlines were really early and my English was far from great. My mum kind of got me into it, saying I should at least apply and then decide. When I was finally accepted in Manchester I was convinced it was the right choice.”

Information shortage

In her desperation for information on how to apply, Charlotte sought advice from the International School of Luxembourg (ISL), despite having never studied there.

She said: “I had very little support in Luxembourg. I went to my old high school which I had left a year earlier and asked whether they could help me with references or at least explain me how to get through that whole UCAS thing. My school was really unhelpful but I was lucky to find a former teacher who wrote my reference (to be fair, my decision to apply was very last-minute. The deadline was on the 15th of January and I showed up at my school on the 13th). I asked at the International School of Luxembourg for help and a great and super-friendly woman helped me to get and know everything I needed.”

Parental encouragement

Parental encouragement appears to play a major role in the growing trend of Luxembourg students studying in the UK, and to a lesser extent the US.

ISL High School Higher Education and Careers Counsellor Ros Geuss receives more than 60 calls per year from parents of students in national schools asking for advice, clarification and information about higher education options and application requirements.

“Either it's about the UK, US or Canada, and occasionally Australia. Primarily, it's the UK. Most calls we get are from the parents, or if we offer the TOEFL English proficiency test. We get people started in finding answers to their questions by signposting them to other organisations such as CEDIES, which offers wonderful guidelines and booklets and literature written by people who understand the US and UK education systems,” said Ms Geuss.

Missing the boat

Despite the fact that support does exists for young people wishing to study in English-speaking countries, many who would like to are missing out because of a lack of information or preparation.

“A lot of students will call me after the deadlines. They have missed the boat for America. Unless they want to apply the following academic year, they're stuck,” said Ms Geuss, adding: “The difficulty also is that when people contact me to ask about courses, they're asking questions which our students have considered two years earlier. We encourage them to start thinking about HE when they are 16-17 years old. We get them doing self assessments four years before the baccalauréat. The thing is that students must be proactive but they must be proactive early.”

To find out more about Higher Education choices, visit the student fair at Luxexpo from November 10-11.