Daily summary of the latest news and opinions from the world of independent education bought to you by Education Advisers...
Prestige and the weak pound draw wealthy Arabs to UK schools
Enrolment of Middle East students to Britain’s top public schools is on the rise, as the country’s leading educational establishments draw an increasing mix of international pupils.
Britain’s most prestigious schools are set to welcome a fresh intake of international students in the next three weeks as the 2017/18 academic year gets underway.
Enrolments in British schools from the Middle East rose by almost 14 percent over the last year, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC).
Chinese students make up the highest proportion of overseas pupils by far, with the number of Chinese pupils in UK private schools increasing by more than 190 percent in the past 10 years.
According to Knight Frank’s 2017 Wealth Report, the number of ultra-high net worth individuals worldwide – including the Middle East — has jumped by 42 percent in the last decade to 193,000, and these super-rich are looking overseas to educate their children.
In a survey of nearly 900 private bankers and wealth advisers, 40 percent with clients in the Middle East said the super-rich individuals they work with – earning $30 million or over – are more likely to look overseas for a good school for their children than to educate them in their own country.
The Knight Frank survey also stated that the UK is set to become especially attractive to the ultra-wealthy, now that the fallen value of the pound has made it cheaper to send their children to UK private schools.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1143746/world
Medical school places to increase next year
An extra 500 medical school places in England have been confirmed for next year by the government.
The Department of Health announced in October it planned to add up to 1,500 more places each year - a boost of 25% on current student doctor numbers - and says it will hit that target by 2020.
It is part of a plan to use UK-trained doctors to ease NHS staffing pressures.
But the British Medical Association says the plan will not address the immediate shortage of medics.
Training to become a doctor takes at least five years and currently about 6,000 graduate each year.
The government wants many of the new training places to go to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve diversity in the medical profession.
Medical schools will be able to bid to run some of the extra course places.
Those that can demonstrate they are targeting under-represented social groups, such as poorer students, will be favoured, as will those covering regions that struggle to attract trainee medics - rural areas and costal towns, for example.
The extra training places in England will ultimately mean 7,500 home-grown doctors should graduate each year.
Currently, about a quarter of doctors working in the NHS trained outside the UK.