Being a Pioneering Parent in Higher Education

Georgina Jones, NCUK Market Development Director

Travelling abroad for NCUK and being able to meet our Delivery Partners, their students and parents must be one of my favourite parts of my job. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been to Peru and Colombia and had to opportunity to speak to so many inspiring people looking for guidance, advice and support to study in the UK.

In Peru, NCUK have just established its first transnational education arrangement with Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), a leading university seeking to become the first bi-lingual university there. We had the opportunity to meet hundreds of students at the BMI Education Fair held at the UPC Monterrico campus, where the NCUK qualifications will be delivered.

Picture: UPC Monterrico campus

Whilst an increasing number of students are coming to the UK to study at University, there’s still a lot of uncertainty around the process and concern over the fees. The good news is that UPC and NCUK will now be able to provide that support and guidance, helping students choose the university that best suits their needs. With thousands of degrees to choose from within the NCUK Guarantee alone, plus many more universities welcoming NCUK Students each year, we know our partnership will help open many doors for Peruvian students coming to the UK.

Moving on to Bogota, Colombia where NCUK and St Peter’s International College are now starting their fourth year of teaching, I had the opportunity to meet up with those pioneering parents from the first three cohorts that decided NCUK was their son or daughter’s best route to the UK. Working with St Peter’s Director, Peter Dale and I spent some time with the parents to understand what helped them make that decision.

L to R: Martiza Nino and Alvaro Rodriguez, parents of Sofia Rodriguez; Peter Dale, St Peter’s Director; Yadira Diaz, parent of Andrea Martinez; Mr and Mrs Muneton; parents of Jose Muneton

Sofia Rodriguez, Queen Mary University of London Student

Maritza Nino, one of the growing number of advocates for NCUK in Colombia, told us her daughter loves England. When they heard about the NCUK qualification, they loved the sound of the course. Plus the fact there was a local Study Centre where her daughter could do the International Foundation Year was a real benefit – and money saver. NCUK’s 30 year history of helping students get to UK universities was also reassuring and ultimately gave her daughter a chance to get to a leading university in the UK.

Jose Muneton, University of Sheffield Student

Many of the parents hear about the qualification through their friends. Word of mouth recommendations are really important. When they came to visit St Peter’s College, they realised it was an opportunity for their son, Jose, to study abroad. They hadn’t really thought about that before and didn’t know what the options were.

Though they were initially apprehensive about stepping into the unknown, as Jose started the course he really started to connect with the teaching style, the content and what was offered. This made them feel much more positive and at ease with the qualification. They were surprised how quickly the time passed before Jose was sitting his final exams and getting his place confirmed at the University of Sheffield – ranked 82nd in the World!

Andrea Martinez, Current St Peter’s International College Student

Coming to Bogota from a small city, Santa Marta, is such a contrast in every essence. Andrea’s hometown is a much smaller city with less opportunities so moving to Bogota was a big decision. However, Andrea had spent six months in the UK and absolutely adored her time there and wanted to go back. In the end, Andrea looked for options and found out about the NCUK International Foundation Year and persuaded her mother to look at it as an option. She had looked at going straight to the UK and found it really difficult. Being able to study locally as well as get full support from NCUK on the university application process was a big advantage. Her mother is now in Bogota for a couple of weeks helping her daughter settle in before heading back to Santa Marta to promote the course to other people.

The parents, when asked if they had anything else they wanted to add chose to thank NCUK for helping St Peter’s International College.

Other parents of past and current St Peter’s International College NCUK students commented “The best way of saying how happy I am with the NCUK qualification is to tell you that I tell everyone else about it. I recommend it to others, tell them all about it and our great experience. Everyone! Everyone should know about this!”

NCUK qualifications are certainly living up to expectations and in terms of advice for other parents, “Save money, and do it because it’s worth it. It’s worth the investment.” They trusted in the qualification and have seen the results, they have seen it works.

If you’d like to study with NCUK, visit our page to find your nearest Study Centre.