UK schools are swamped by Chinese students

bobbycheung

I have just read in an UK education forum that Roedean School's nickname is "Beijing High" and it is described as "essentially an all Chinese math/science factory".  This girl in the Sixth form said only one in eight of the girls in Six Form are English/American.  For the same reason, Cheltenham Ladies College is called "Hong Kong College".  Schools in UK are now increasingly swamped by students from PRC/HK.  What do you think of this trend?  I mean even in the International Schools in Hong Kong, you won't find so many Chinese students or at least not at such a high ratio.

mrshoho

I think nothing after reading this, why don't u share your thoughts?

bobbycheung

I am considering the idea of sending my kids to UK to study.  But I now realise that there are some UK schools where 90% of the students are Chinese.  Even in top schools like CLC, I heard that they also have a large number of Chinese students.  Some people are saying that when you have so many Chinese students in a school, they often talk to each other in Chinese and sometimes they don't even interact with the English students.  So I am thinking if there is really a lot of difference between sending my kids to UK or asking them to finish their study in HK.   Can parents tell me the pros and cons of studying in UK as opposed to studing in an IS in HK?   

mrshoho

I see this happening every where, not just in the UK.  

Arcana

If you think the only reason of studying overseas is to learn English, there is no point in studying there based on the fact.

bobbycheung

Arcana 發表於 12-3-22 09:39
If you think the only reason of studying overseas is to learn English, there is no point in studying ...

I don't think the only reason of studying overseas is to learn English because you can do it in HK's IS.

caa

回復 bobbycheung 的帖子

I think sending children overseas is a very big decision, so both parents and the children should personally visit the schools and have a real look, not just based on hearsay.

Arcana

bobbycheung 發表於 12-3-22 10:05
I don't think the only reason of studying overseas is to learn English because you can do it in HK's ...

That’s the point.  If you think learning English is not the only reason of studying overseas, “UK schools are swamped by Chinese students” would not be your concern.

bobbycheung

Can parents tell me the pros and cons of studying in UK as opposed to studing in an IS in HK?   

bobbycheung

caa 發表於 12-3-22 10:23
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I think sending children overseas is a very big decision, so both parents a ...

Yes, you are right.  I don't know what actually happened at Roedean, but I know a CLC student who said to me that there are a large number of Chinese/HK girls there.  Can parents tell me how many Chinese students there are in your kids' UK schools?

caa

bobbycheung 發表於 12-3-22 11:19
Yes, you are right.  I don't know what actually happened at Roedean, but I know a CLC student who sa ...

I think you better check and verify with the schools you aim at.

Mighty

Chinese people are everywhere.  So you cannot avoid it.  But may be if you choose a less famous school in a small town in U.K., then there might be less Chinese.  One con that I can think of is you dont see your child so often is he/she is overseas.

powerpuff

原帖由 bobbycheung 於 12-03-22 發表
本帖最後由 bobbycheung 於 12-3-22 00:16 編輯

I have just read in an UK education forum that Roede ...

個個都是找那幾間agents, 參加同樣的教育展，介紹的都是那幾所＂名校＂，到入學當然有很多同道人啦！

FattyDaddy

When I went to a boarding school in UK almost 40 years ago, there were only 8 ethnic Chinese students (4 from Hongkong plus 4 from Singapore and Malaysia) out of a total of 300 across all the years, and guess what, "they often talk to each other in Chinese and sometimes they don't even interact with the English students".

Swamped or not swamped, the behaviour is the same

bobbycheung

FattyDaddy 發表於 12-3-23 06:28
When I went to a boarding school in UK almost 40 years ago, there were only 8 ethnic Chinese student ...

In that case, the situation now is in fact better your old days because one could at least learn better Chinese language when one is surrounded by hundreds of ethnic Chinese students.  

Seriously, I have just read Annie40's another thread referring to 賈安娜's article on this topic.
http://www.edu-kingdom.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2278090

It's said there that sending a kid overseas to study in the hope that he will learn and become independent is not really a legitimate reason.

We see a lot of IS students going overseas each year.  What are the pros of doing so?

Choisumwong

After reading the content of discussion, what is true is that many able students are looking for top schools in UK. A large number of Chinese in CLC is misleading.  Chinese students speak Chinese is not a shame  in UK schools.  Chinese students in top schools require good English level to be admitted. Top schools in UK are better than so-call international schools in Hong Kong in terms of teacher-to-student ratio, school facilities, student activities, academic level and top university admission.

caa

Choisumwong 發表於 12-3-23 12:37
After reading the content of discussion, what is true is that many able students are looking for top ...

Can't agree more

bobbycheung

Choisumwong 發表於 12-3-23 12:37
After reading the content of discussion, what is true is that many able students are looking for top ...

May I know the ratio of Chinese students in CLC?  I did not say that Chinese students speaking Chinese in UK schools is a shame.  It is just that if my kids go to UK, I would hope that they would mix well with English students (and students of other nationalities) as well and not to form a group exclusively amongst the Chinese themselves.  In schools such as Roedean where the majority is Chinese students, perhaps it is difficult to do so. Could parents tell us what is the ratio of Chinese students in other UK schools?

Regarding the issue of top university admission, I have also done a little bit of research.  I looked at Westminster school where it had 90 out of a total of 189 students going to Oxbridge in 2010.  With a figure of 47.6%, Westminster is probably the top school in UK.  However, when I looked at the degree subjects they chose to do in universities, I found that out of the 189 students, 4 did Architecture, 6 did economics, 2 did Law and 8 did Medicine.  So there were only 20 odd students taking these so called "popular degree courses" and remember they didn't all do the subjects at Oxbridge.  The same happens at Wycombe Abbey.  25 out of a total of 64 students (ie. 39%) went to Oxbridge for 2009-2010.  Out of these 25 "Oxbridge" students, 1 did Law and 3 did Medicine.  In CLC, 13 out of a total of 126 students (ie. 10%) went to Oxbridge in 2010.  I couldn't find any details as to the subject courses they took.  I could only suspect that CLC's situation is similar.  I am not in any way saying or implying that these results are no good.  In fact, if we are aiming to go to Oxbridge (and doing whatever subject courses it takes to get in), then these schools will probably give you the best shot.  However, if you are aiming to do Law, Economics, Architecture and Medicine etc., the chance is that you will probably do it in Bristol U, UCL, Warwick U and LSE etc. (and all of them are good universities) which, I believe, is not totally beyond the reach of the kids who study in IS in HK.   I might be completely wrong and I would like to hear parents' views.

seasamestreet

We were live in a small city a  year ago, my son's school have 4 chinese students, two of them are sibling, one is half british half Malaysia, my son is half chinese too.

Choisumwong

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I think oversea students in CLC is about 10-20%. Chinese/asian students, according to my information, occupy about 10%.
Top schools will have their own policy to make sure their oversea students will mix well with other local students.
Target on top university not just applies to UK, but also USA. It should be subjuct-based. Students in oversea will be encouraged by teachers and friends to take subjects they like and enjoy for whole life , not just law and medicine like in HK.