Enter the Dragon: Rising numbers of Chinese students demand private members’ club style UK student accommodation
- 54.2% growth in Chinese students studying in the UK over past 5 years (HESA)
- Increase of 26.5% in Chinese students booking luxury accommodation in past year (Collegiate AC)
- Private members’ club style features of luxury lounges and airport transfers heighten appeal to Chinese students
The UK’s higher education institutions are undoubtedly growing in popularity with international students, registering a growth of 0.6% in the past year, and taking the number of non-UK students studying in our universities to 388,255 for 2013/14, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). However, whilst this growth is noticeable, it is the number of non-EU students, and specifically the Chinese, that are increasing on a dramatic level.
Year-on-year from the 2012/13 academic year to 2013/14, there was a substantial increase of 4.9% in the number of students arriving in the UK to study from outside of the European Union, with China the top non-EU nation producing the greatest numbers of students with a UK university education ambition.
There was a close to 5% growth in the levels of Chinese students studying in the UK in 2013/14 and a breathtaking increase of 54.2% in the past five years. Alongside this there has been an interesting reflection in the student accommodation market.
Leading provider of luxury student accommodation, Collegiate AC, has noticed their own marked increase in interest from Chinese students, as CEO Heriberto Cuanalo explains,
“It is fantastic for the UK higher education system that more and more students from outside the EU are choosing to study here in the UK, proving that we really do offer an enviable university education to be proud of. This has certainly been reflected in the type of students booking with us to live in university accommodation that is of a higher quality and offers additional facilities that traditional ‘student digs’ do not.
“Students from China arriving to study in some of the UK’s top university cities are increasingly demanding more from their accommodation of choice, finding the benefits of having not only break-out study areas a huge draw but also extra on-site facilities such as private gyms and cinemas, allowing for maximising their efficiency and time-management.”
And it seems that the growth in interest from Chinese students in superior accommodation is far outweighing even the growth in their student numbers. Collegiate AC has seen a rise of 26.5% in just one year in the number of such students booking luxurious university accommodation, meaning that Chinese students make up over 50% of bookings for the coming 2015/16 academic year.
With life in a Collegiate AC property almost like living in a private members’ club – with luxurious lounges and even airport transfers arranged by the company, ideal for students arriving from China and other overseas nations – the focus is on providing the best possible university living experience, making not just the UK higher education system one that is enviable, but the entire living experience hugely desirable too, certainly an evolution from the scruffy university accommodation of old.
Located throughout some of the country’s finest university cities, including Birmingham, Leeds, London, Southampton, Liverpool, Exeter and Edinburgh, Collegiate AC residences also include fast broadband and free Wi-Fi, and incorporate key security features such as CCTV, 24-hour on-call support, and electronic entry systems.
For more information, visit www.collegiate-ac.com or contact Collegiate AC on 01235 250 140.