Parent Testimonial: Melissa’s Journey of Dreams, Friendship and Adventure

My daughter’s dream since she started secondary school was to study abroad, so she put a lot of effort into learning English on her own, without academies and in a very basic school. I let her dream, but I I had lots of questions about how to get her started with her international study journey. I thought this must be very expensive, and where do I look for information? What if I get scammed? It seemed impossible to fulfil that dream until she was told about the NCUK qualification at UPC, aimed at bilingual school students. She found out what the interview would be like and prepared to pass the IELTS exam. She started studying at NCUK and received information about universities, costs, and places to live. There was a lot of information to absorb, but it was easy to decide on her options. The difficult part was waiting to receive the acceptance letter from the University of Sheffield, her first choice. Then she applied for a scholarship and got it, plus the NCUK scholarship which was a great help.

When Melissa left Peru to study at The University of Sheffield, I felt a lot of concern for her. Who would help her if she needed something? Who would she live with? And what customs so different from hers would they have? From the first days, I felt that she was so calm about meeting people from different countries, and I imagine they were all alone and a little scared, so they supported each other. The university really helped a lot with integration courses.

Leaving your country is not easy for a child, but the excitement of learning a lot and having the world at your feet takes precedence. They can take advantage of everything they learn and they can start contacting international companies that value international students. NCUK was the best decision we made and we will always recommend it to friends.