‘101 Things I Wish I’d Known

Before Coming to UWE’

R

FINAL REPORT YUANQING DU AND PARISHMA GUTTOO July 2016 CONTENTS

Contents ...... 1 1. Introduction ...... 2 1.1 Terminology and basic statistics ...... 2 2. Research methods ...... 3 2.1 Aims and Objectives ...... 3 2.2 Data collection ...... 3 2.2.1 Online survey ...... 4 2.2.2 offline survey cards ...... 4 2.2.3 Focus Group Discussions ...... 5 2.2.4 Face to Face/Semi-structured Interviews ...... 5 2.2.5 Social media ...... 5 2.3 Data protection ...... 5 2.4 Sample demographics...... 6 3. Research findings and discussions ...... 9 3.1 issues identified ...... 9 3.1.1 Academia ...... 9 3.1.2 Accommodation ...... 11 3.1.3 Weather ...... 12 3.1.4 Public transportation ...... 13 3.1.5 Culture differences ...... 13 3.1.6 Food ...... 14 3.1.7 Local information ...... 14 3.1.8 Work ...... 14 3.1.9 Expenditure ...... 15 3.1.10 English language ...... 15 3.1.11 Others ...... 16 3.3 General suggestions ...... 16 3.3.1 The use of student network and societies ...... 16 3.3.2 Alumni ambassador oversea...... 16 3.3.3 ...... 16 3.2 Bower Ashton focus group ...... 17 3.2.1 Public transportation at Bower Ashton ...... 17 3.2.2 Taylor university’s transfer students ...... 17 3.2.3 No praying room at Bower Ashton ...... 17 3.2.4 Lack of social events at Bower Ashton ...... 17 3.2.5 Well-being service ...... 17 3.3 Good things about UWe ...... 18 4. Conclusion ...... 19

1. INTRODUCTION

In the light of improving the experiences of international students at University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), which consists of 13.80% (3,764/27,280) of the entire student population, the need for feedback by the concerned students was identified and the ‘101 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Coming to UWE’ project was initiated by Student’s Union Officers and the Community Department. This research sought to identify different perspectives on the experiences of international students in the specific context of UWE, in order to build a picture on the barriers facing international student and the areas where more support is needed.

The campaign aimed to firstly increase engagement between the Students’ Union at UWE and our international and EU student body (showcasing our representative and supportive functions), and secondly to find out and explore the issues facing our international and EU students (understanding where we can support and positive experience we can build upon). The Students’ Union would then create recommendations internally and to the University to improve the international student experience. ‘101 Things’ was chosen as a catchy title to engage students, but the main aim was not to necessarily capture 101 different pieces of data.

The ‘101 project’ lasted for the entire academic year and massive amount of qualitative data have been collected through various means. The findings generally supported what was expected, but at same time they serve to provide empirical evidences of what international students are experiencing when studying at UWE. Specifically, accommodation and academic difficulties are the 2 most mentioned issues among UWE international students. However, the variety of accommodation issues is far more than just simply putting it as ‘the lack of accommodation options’. International students, especially oversea students have got a whole new range of problems when renting privately that home students do not have.

1.1 TERMINOLOGY AND BASIC STATISTICS

The term international students are used loosely to include both EU students and oversea students. According to UWE’s official website, there are 27,280 students registered within the 2014/2015 programme, of which 946 students are from EU (3.50%), 2,818 oversea students (10.32%) and 23,516 home students (86.20%). UWE students by origin

Home student (23,516) EU students (946) Oversea students (2,818)

2. RESEARCH METHODS

2.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of the project is to understand what international students experience and how well UWE is meeting those expectations.

2.2 DATA COLLECTION

Data were collected from international students, based on different campuses of UWE - Bower Ashton, Glenside and Frenchay.

A variety of methods have been used for data collection: • Online questionnaire • Focus group discussions with targeted student groups • Face to face semi-structured interviews • Online surveys sent to different societies and networks in UWE • Direct emails • Social media platforms such as Facebook (special attention was given to which forms of social media were popular amongst international students) • Handing out of ‘101 Things I wish I’d known before coming to UWE’ questionnaires/ cards.

Although the platform of data collection varies, they all involve the use of 101 Things card which has 4 questions listed at the back:

• Before I came to the UK/UWE, I wish I’d known… • No-one told me that… • It would have been already helpful to know… • I have struggled with… • The best thing about the UK/UWE is…

Therefore, the data collected from international students are largely shaped by the form of those 5 questions but not restricted from them. Extra demographic questions including name, student ID, email and country of origin are included for data analysis purposes only.

2.2.1 ONLINE SURVEY All international students enrolled on courses (classified as ‘live/active’ students on the University student database) were selected as respondents to the online questionnaire. This enabled the researchers to access a wide student base, which was considered particularly important to elicit a wide range of student responses. The questionnaire was sent to students via an email link to the online questionnaire and completed responses were entered into a database.

2.2.2 OFFLINE SURVEY CARDS 101 survey cards were handed out in person with venues including:

• OneZone • Library (Bolland) • Society meetings and events (e.g. Nepali network meeting, café lingua event etc.) • Students’ Union buildings and bars at UWE • Global and Academic PALs sessions • Community Hub and i-con lunch.

2.2.3 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS A focus group discussion has been conducted to target a specific student group based in Bower Ashton. The focus group setting is largely beneficial because the discussion among participants themselves generated really focused answers that have never been mentioned before.

2.2.4 FACE TO FACE/SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Semi-structured interviews provide flexibility to the authors because it is not standardised. The rationale behind the adoption of face to face semi-structured interviews was to probe into the perspectives and perceptions of students. It provides flexibility to the conversation and it encourages discussion. The authors decided to collect additional data 6 using interviews 6 months into the project because they found out online survey alone did not give any perspectives into the issues. Short and scribbled answers were given on the survey card, which consequently gives rise to the need to investigate the fundamental reasons why international students find it hard to find accommodation. Thus, more than 120 face-to-face interviews were conducted for additional in-depth answers.

2.2.5 SOCIAL MEDIA An online survey was created and was sent to students through their Facebook societies and groups they were members of, such as the UWE International Student’s Facebook page. The survey was sent either via an email link to the online questionnaire or posted on various social media platforms and completed responses were collected into a database.

2.3 DATA PROTECTION

All data collected are anonymised and participants are coded into names with 2 letters and 3 numbers (e.g. AB-031). The list of original participants’ information is only held by the authors and the student union of UWE.

All data collected are stored in one of the authors’ work computer in UWE with password protection. USBs and external hard-drives used will be password protected too. If there is printed version of data, the print outs will be locked in that author’s office pedestal. Original data have been encrypted and archived appropriately.

2.4 SAMPLE DEMOGRAPHICS

N=220; 43 Countries

Continents breakdown

Asia America Europe Africa Mixed

Asia (n=148; 16 countries)

Asian Countries breakdown

Malaysia Vietnam Thailand China Myanmar Saudi Arabia Pakistan Nepal India Sri Lanka Bangladesh Maldives Philippines Kazakhstan Oman Iraq

Malaysia (25) Vietnam (15) Thailand (20) China (19) Myanmar (5) Saudi Arabia (5) Pakistan (4) Nepal (4) India (4) Sri Lanka (3) Bangladesh (2) Maldives (1) Philippines (1) Kazakhstan (1) Oman (1) Iraq (1)

Africa (n=42; 10 countries)

African countries breakdown

Nigeria Mauritius Angola Kenya Congo Ghana Seychelles Senegal Uganda Zimbabwe

Nigeria (23) Mauritius (9) Angola (2) Kenya (2) Congo (1) Ghana (1) Seychelles (1) Senegal (1) Uganda (1) Zimbabwe (1)

Europe (n=17; 10 countries)

European countries breakdown

Italy Spain France The Netherlands Austria Iceland Greece Switzerland Europe* Cyprus

Italy (3) Spain (3) France (3) The Netherlands (3) Austria (1) Iceland (1) Greece (1) Switzerland (1) Europe (1) Cyprus (1) ‘Europe’ is the exact word that student filled in North, central and south America (n=9; 7 countries)

North, south and central American countries breakdown

Mexico Bermuda Cayman Islands Trinidad and Tobago U.S. Canada Brazil

Mexico (3) Bermuda (1) Cayman Islands (1) Trinidad and Tobago (1) US (1) Canada (1) Brazil (1)

3. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 ISSUES IDENTIFIED

Issues identified

Accommodation Academia Public transport Food Weather Job Cultural difference Expenditure English language Others Local information

Overall, 11 issues have been identified:

3.1.1 ACADEMIA 30.0% international students have raised concerns on study related issues, nearly 1 in 3 students

“We are from Nigeria, [we] are not used to the UWE ways of essays and references”

TO-004 (Nigeria)

“Before I came to the UK, I wish I’d known something about module choosing system and bike paths. It is hard to decide the modules in a short time and [so I] didn’t [choose] well.”

WL-070 (Myanmar)

Study-related issues are the most mentioned problems international students mentioned. Frequently raised issues including references, academic writings styles and the need of extra support on English. A group of Malaysian students have expressed the marking scheme might set up future handicaps due to different marking systems. A particular highlight among master students is the need for more supervisions. Study-related issues are the most mentioned problems international students, especially among Asian and African students, although the issues vary:

3.1.1.1 REFERENCING Referencing system varies across disciplines and countries. Students doing law use a complete different referencing system comparing with students doing business studies. Library and PAL sessions provide trainings on different referencing systems throughout the academic year. However, those workshops typically have quite a low turnout owing to the fact that they are not advertised or communicated effectively to students. So more direct communications could be provided to students directly from their lecturers to refer them to go to those workshops.

3.1.1.2 ACADEMIC WRITING STYLES A significant amount of students has raised the issue of different academic styles across countries. The UK education system requires a high level of critiquing and original contribution to the field while other culture has other perspectives. So the additional training already provided by academic PAL could be a great platform of teaching British academic writing style and critical thinking to international students.

3.1.1.3 EXTRA SUPPORT ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE See 3.1.10

3.1.1.4 DIFFERENT MARKING SYSTEMS South Asian students mostly expressed concerns on the different marketing scheme in the UK. While 70% in the UK often means an outstanding performance, 70% in Malaysia, for instance, means there is 30% more work needs to be done. This is especially worrying when the mark is presented on their final transcripts. Students from this particular area have shown particular interest in finding out how marks are calculated and the reason why marks have been taken away while lecturers do not always provide detailed feedback on marks.

Master students, on the other hand, have particularly highlighted the need of more support from supervisors and other teams, because “Only 4 meetings with supervisor is not sufficient”.

The authors regard the former issue as a result of cultural difference, and recommend international students to explain the differences to recruiters or institutions from their own countries directly. If a recommendation or explanation letter is needed, lecturers or tutors often are willing to support the claim with a letter of evidence. The second part of the issue, however, needs to be addressed through conversations with supervisors at university level, and 4 supervisory meetings are simply not sufficient to help a master level thesis.

3.1.2 ACCOMMODATION 20.9% international students mentioned accommodation, 1 in every 5 students

“[…] expensive accommodation [has] bad quality. And agency always con money.”

MN-101 (Vietnam)

“[Finding] the accommodation was very difficult. So you have to arrange it before you [have arrived]”

AA-107 (Saudi Arabia)

Accommodation issues are of the most mentioned problems among international students. Concerns range from over-priced properties to agencies’ hidden terms and conditions.

3.1.2.1 QUALITY OF STUDENT ACCOMMODATION The quality of the student accommodation has been mentioned by a number of students, with issues including the size of the bed, the size of the room, and the need for more en- suite bedrooms.

However, the authors think the quality of the accommodation is a subjective opinion, because quite a few students have expressed their satisfactions on the on-campus accommodations provided by UWE. Therefore, as it is hard (if not impossible) to please all students from a variety of cultures, socio-economic backgrounds, the authors would not recommend an immediate change on this issue.

Similarly, some students find it hard to live in a shared accommodation where they find housemates being noisy, untidy or having different habits. Nevertheless, the authors claim that learning to compromise and embrace diversity is an important skill in the university life. Besides, in case of extreme scenario, the students should always be able to contact senior residents, security or warden of the accommodation to resolve problems.

3.1.2.2 CHOICES OF STUDENT ACCOMMODATION Some students found it hard to find ideal places to live off-campus. The house hunting period can take months and there is always a trade-off between price and quality.

Additionally, finding the right information of available accommodation is probably one of the most commonly mentioned subthemes in all accommodation-related problems. Although SU and UWE do have accommodation fairs every now and then, some students just simply have never heard of them. This leads on to the question of effective marketing communication and whether there should be more advertising around the campus.

3.1.2.3 EXTENDING CONTRACT AFTER THE FIRST YEAR A surprising number of students interviewed have mentioned that they did not know they would have to move out of on-campus accommodation after the first year. A number of them have experienced problems close to the end of their first year, which were quite disastrous. Thus, while this is probably common knowledge among home students, oversea students might have been more used to rules in their own countries.

The easiest way to prevent such confusion might be to include this piece of information either in their accommodation induction, and repeat it 6 months after when it comes to the ideal house hunting time.

3.1.2.4 DEPOSIT, AGENCY AND GUARANTOR Regarding the practical aspect of renting off-campus, vicious agencies, the need of guarantors and the large amount of deposit required are the 3 major issues oversea students encounter.

A significant number of students have got into troubles with estate agencies around Filton and Horfield areas where they often over-charge students and fail to conduct simple maintenance tasks. Furthermore, it is not uncommon that some agencies/landlords are reluctant pay back the deposit at the end of a contract. Although the industry has introduced the Deposit Protect Scheme (DPS) to protect tenants, some dodgy agents have been cashed on oversea students’ vulnerability in various ways to make profits. That is, international students, especially oversea students either may not be aware of the industry regulations in the UK, or they might not have enough time left in the country to appeal a decision should there be a law case to claim their deposit back.

Therefore, the authors do think there should be further research in this area to find out who those dodgy agencies are. Although UWE SU might be the institution to challenge the problematic industry, a blacklist of dodgy industry agencies around the area could at least prevent oversea students falling into the vicious circle of renting private.

On the other hand, there could be additional information provided if students decide to rent privately. For example, some students were struggling to find guarantors to secure a place for renting. While home students often do not have problems in having their families or friends as guarantors for their properties, international students often do not have connections in the UK apart from the university. Moreover, private renting normally requires a substantial amount of agency fee along with 1 month and half deposits, some students were baffled to know the amount of money required in order to live off-campus.

3.1.3 WEATHER “[I have] struggled with night coming so soon”

AS-009 (Cayman Islands) “[Before I came to the UK/UWE, I wish I’d known] it rained horizontally”

FP-021 (France)

14.3% international students cannot get used to the cold and windy weather in the Bristol. Although frankly we can do nothing to change the weather (we wish we could), there can be more warnings before the students arrived at the UK.

3.1.4 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION “[I wish I’d known] how absolutely terrible public transport is.”

HO-007 (Austria)

“Bus pass recommended, however, buses in Bristol are never on time.”

JS-102 (Thailand)

Public transportation struggles have been mentioned by 12.9% of the total sample. Students complain First company buses or Wessex buses are not reliable or punctual at all, especially at peak time. However, there seems to be limited amount of things can be done when it is to do with public transport, and the authors believe the reliability and punctuality of public transportations are problematic almost everywhere around the world. Nevertheless, general advice on the purchase of annual Wessex bus pass or First seasonal tickets could more or less ease the cost and tension among international students. Additionally, the launch of Bus Checker App and First Bus App on smart phones now can be largely helpful to check live updates of bus schedules.

3.1.5 CULTURE DIFFERENCES “I have struggled with needing to find for food in the middle of the night”

YM-013 (Malaysia)

“[It would have been really helpful to know that] it takes time to settle. And don’t panic, things will come together.”

LX-066 (China)

A large number of the international students (12.27%) said it is hard to be-friend with local students and get used the different culture. Social etiquettes favoured in their own cultures might not be tolerated in another culture. Therefore, a number of students have found it hard to integrate into the UK culture.

In general, the authors agree that it takes time to integrate into another culture. However, there are always ways to understand another culture via different means. For example, Kate Fox’s book Watching the English discusses many of the cultural expectations and social etiquettes in England; the news and newspapers provide political lens in looking at specific UK decisions. And as for student union, organising various events that include both international students and home students might be a good way to provide space to bridge the gap.

3.1.6 FOOD “I wish I knew how to cook and plan my meals better.”

J-014 (Malaysia)

11.8% international students struggled with food in the UWE refectory and the UK in general. While sometimes it is hard to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds at the same time, some students have flagged practical issues regarding food. For example, Muslim students have found it hard to get halal options (especially at Bower Ashton canteen), and the lack of labelling on the halal option is another typical problem. Nevertheless, this particular issue can be easily dealt with by paying more attention to different cultural need. However, the authors think the Frenchay campus refectory has been doing well to promote food diversity and halal food labelling probably due to the fact that it is a much bigger campus with more international students.

In addition, a number of students expressed that they wish they had learnt cooking before coming to UWE. Fortunately, the monthly cooking sessions provided by Frenchay OneZone should be able to teach students how to cook. Therefore, more advertising on the teaching class is recommended.

3.1.7 LOCAL INFORMATION “It would be really helpful to know what ingredients are sold in supermarkets here, so [I can] be prepared [to know] what is not sold here.”

CO-012 (Malaysia)

19 international students (8.64%) have expressed the need to keep up with Bristol local information. This could easily be done by introducing them to a variety of Meetup groups in Bristol and various Facebook pages that already exists on the internet. For example, there is a UWE second hand trading group on Facebook already, and UWE Graduate School Facebook group, or UWE International Students Facebook group update local events and activities quite often.

3.1.8 WORK “[No-one told me that] finding jobs [are] not exactly easy.”

HN-089 (Kenya)

“I wish I’d known it’s hard to find jobs with T4 student visa.” YD-089 (China)

A large number of oversea students (8.06%) who are on T4 student visa have expressed difficulties in finding part time jobs or securing a placement during their stays in the UK. While UWE as a university has less power influencing the decisions made by Home Office, more placements tailored for international students might be useful to help solve this problem.

On the other hand, the need for National Insurance (NI) has been flagged by a couple of students. A number of relevant workshops on NI throughout the year might be sufficient to tackle this problem.

3.1.9 EXPENDITURE “I wish I had known about the bus ticket discount at the Freshers’ Fair”

TT-018 (Vietnam)

“[I have struggled with] saving money for shopping and travelling.”

NA-098 (Vietnam)

High living standard in Bristol and the UK has been mentioned by 15 students (7.11%) as something they did not expect before they came here.

Other than Home Office’s general guideline on financial requirement for T4 student visa application, the authors think Bristol-specific living standard expectation should be provided prior to new students’ arrival. Because the common division (London and outside of London) provided by Home Office does not outline the specific standard of city of Bristol. And being as the centre for the South West, some areas in Bristol does have much higher cost not only in renting, but also in day-to-day grocery consumption (e.g. Clifton and Cabot Circus).

In addition, National Union of Student (NUS) provides a whole range of discounts to students and public services like buses, local gyms and National Health Service (NHS) all have concessions and exemptions for students. This information can either be provided in the handbook prior to arrival, or been taught in a workshop organised a few times in one academic year.

3.1.10 ENGLISH LANGUAGE “The class, course and modules were great but some teachers, their accents were hard to understand.”

NA-084 (Thailand)

For some students (5.91%), English language and English accents have been a real struggle, especially when a lecturer has a strong accent. Consequently, the language becomes an obstacle for international students to settle in and get on with their studies. This is perhaps the most pressing problems that is also connected to a lot of other issues including the culture difference, the academic issues and work/placement difficulties. Even though only 15 international students mentioned this problem specifically, the issue is deeply embedded in all other related areas.

Luckily, there are a couple of places in UWE where international students could seek language support. For example, the library runs Peered Assistant Learning (PAL) sessions for both academy and language, and international college located on Frenchay campus provides language courses for additional charge. There is no medicine that cures all problem in this very subject matter, but the authors believe through practicing and adapting, international students who struggle with English will improve in the end.

3.1.11 OTHERS Other issues consist of problems from all areas. Among them the ones have been mentioned more than once are:

• Student benefits and council tax exemption --- see 3.1.9 • TV license --- see 3.1.9 • Volunteering experiences --- see 3.1.8

3.3 GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

3.3.1 THE USE OF STUDENT NETWORK AND SOCIETIES The use of student societies has been voiced by a large number of students interviewed. Students from certain cultures wish their country’s society (e.g. Chinese society) can organise more events and gatherings to help new students settle in the city and UWE.

3.3.2 ALUMNI AMBASSADOR OVERSEA Hiring oversea ambassadors who used to be a former student at UWE could be another useful suggestion to help prepare international students before they have arrived at Bristol. There are quite a lot of culture/country-specific issues highlighted in the interviews that could be prevented before students have arrived. For example, Thai students generally wish they are more prepared about the mild and rainy weather before they arrived at UWE, but some French students, on the other hand, found the weather her quite pleasant (if not sarcastically). It was suggested that having a former international student briefing in his/her own country would generally help prevent a lot of unexpected issues.

3.3.3 INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS’ PROGRAMME This programme would seek to develop the entrepreneurial and leadership skills of international students. The programme would deliver skills to a broad group of international students, and will also specifically address the development needs of those students considering applying for a Tier 1 Entrepreneurship visa at the end of their degree; enhancing their competitiveness in the application process and ensuring that they are well placed for launching their business on being awarded a visa. Consisting of a series of workshops, delivered by experts, international students will explore the “entrepreneurs’ journey” from initial idea development to developing a pitch ready minimum viable product. This project will be trialled at the University of Sheffield and would be a sector-leading, innovative approach.

3.2 BOWER ASHTON FOCUS GROUP

The focus group conducted in Bower Ashton generally resonated with what was mentioned at Frenchay interviews. However, a few Bower Ashton specific points were raised:

3.2.1 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AT BOWER ASHTON Public transportation at Bower Ashton seems to be more disastrous than Frenchay campus. There seems to be a tendency of bus drivers either forget to stop at Bower Ashton, or deliberately avoid stopping at Bower Ashton. Students who have to travel to different campuses to attend their lectures find it hard to travel to Frenchay really quickly. And traveling through the entire Bristol to attend one single lecture at a different campus seems more like a torture than an achievable target. Therefore, there is a call for inter-campus shuttle bus to tackle such problems, even though the distance between campuses will not be shortened.

3.2.2 TAYLOR UNIVERSITY’S TRANSFER STUDENTS Students from Taylor university have encountered a number of issues. Firstly, some of them were forbidden to choose different modules even they had already completed the same modules in Malaysia. Secondly, there is only one person who is put in charge of all Taylor transfer students but he/she cannot be contacted via Emails/phone calls at all. There seems to be a lack of communication between this person and lecturers which consequently has led to a lot of confusion for students.

3.2.3 NO PRAYING ROOM AT BOWER ASHTON Students claimed there were no prayer room facilities in Bower Ashton.

3.2.4 LACK OF SOCIAL EVENTS AT BOWER ASHTON Because Frenchay is the main university campus, there seems to be a lack of activities or events organised locally at Bower Ashton. So international students hope there are more opportunities specifically located at Bower.

3.2.5 WELL-BEING SERVICE One of the students has highlighted the need for more student well-being support here at Bower Ashton. He/she contacted the well-being service and there was very limited amount of support from the well-being service. He/she did not know if this was a Bower Ashton problem or a UWE well-being service in general, but he/she was quite upset with the counsellor allocated to him/her.

The authors suggest a review on the well-being service in general to address individual cases. The University of Stirling are seeking to pilot the ‘Speaking Your Language; Project - fostering international student engagement with support services through an online bite- sized mental health toolkit, delivered in 6 languages (including English.) Through this, they aim to challenge cultural stigmas around mental health, raise awareness about symptoms and strategies to address mental health difficulties and empower students to find support. This could link with UWE’s Emotional Resilience Project. Sunderland University are proposing a similar project to also tackle this issue.

3.3 GOOD THINGS ABOUT UWE

“No one told me that people here are actually really helpful, unlike what they said [as there were] discriminations everywhere.”

LJ-016 (Vietnam)

“The best thing about the UK/UWE is the friendly academic environment where I can absolutely focus on my study while I can still feel good to make friends with [both] international students and local students. Especially my supervisors are extremely nice, thoughtful and helpful.”

HD-065 (Vietnam)

Other than the problems, international students have expressed various positive things that they like about UWE/UK. For example, friendly and helpful staff members have been mentioned by 15.00% of international students interviewed. Supportive learning environment (7.73%) and the general fond of UWE (6.82%) are the second and third most mentioned positive aspects. Other positive feedback includes great facility (5.45%), diversity (3.64%), city (2.27%) and location (2.27%).

4. CONCLUSION

Generally speaking, 2 major themes and 8 minor themes have been identified through the project. Academic support and accommodation consist of 50.9% of the total concerns that international students face in UWE. Most other international student problems can be resolved easily either by providing additional information, or by running workshops during the term time, and a vast number of issues can even be prevented upon arrival. Oversea alumni ambassadors and student societies and networks have been suggested by international students as the best means of providing support and help before and after their arrivals.

The project limited itself from a variety of issues. Firstly, most face to face interviews were conducted at Frenchay campus. Even though Frenchay campus has got most of the international students, the lack of in-depth qualitative data from other campuses make the result not representational enough to cover the whole UWE international students. Secondly, only 1 focus group was conducted in Bower Ashton among a group of Malaysian students who are from the same exchange programme. Therefore, the focus group itself can only represent 1 target group instead of the whole Bower Ashton sample. After that, the data collected from other platforms like Emails and online survey do not provide perspectives or contexts but merely a percentage in total number of issues. For example, some students only wrote ‘accommodation problem’ on the survey card, which itself did not specify the kind of problems they face. Lastly, further research is needed for demographic analysis including gender, country of origin by continents, socio-economic backgrounds and etc. The authors fear that the data collected may not give voice to some students of minority backgrounds (e.g. women in academia).

Appendix: Additional Feedback via Online Form

No-one told me that beans on toast was an actual meal!

"I wish I'd known how late buses usually are! 8/10 times my bus is late. On the flip side, because it's usually late, there have been a few times when I've given myself 2-3 minutes extra to get to the stop, and then I actually MISS the bus when it IS on time hahaha..

The best thing about the UK (Bristol at least) is how friendly people are. The men are also generally mannerly, more so than men from my country. True gentlemen.

I have struggled with adjusting to the climate, somewhat. I've gotten the flu three times in four months."

"I think it is good to organize a second hand market where people can sell and buy some kitchen stuff/ other things you need to live on campus. Now new students have to buy it all new. I think this is not necessary.

The best thing about UK/UWE is that everybody is really helpful."

"Before i cme to uwe i wish i learnt how to cook

No one told me the rooms would be so small

It would have been really helpful to know that there would be no relaxing zone within the school

The best thing about UWE are that the facilities are available to all students 24/7"

"Before i came to UK, I wish I'd known more about how to get to UWE and how can i get a sim card for my phone.

And it will be very helpful that more information about renting a home in UK is provided or UWE can help international student to rent home.

Also, it will be more helpful for international student that UWE reply their email faster and provide CAS earlier for applying VISA .

The best thing about UWE is there are many support provided for international student."

I have struggled with improving my English and my scientific writing. The best thing about UK/UWE is that the educational system is well organised.

I wish I had learn programming before coming to my course (Games Technology) the format and module of the coursework. I didnt know what the subject is about and didnt know that I could allocate my timetable and choose my electives until my friend told me about it. "Before I came to the UK/UWE, I wish I’d known more about the experience, life and things to do in UK/UWE.

No-one told me that how is the life in UK/UWE

It would have been really helpful to know how and what's the feel to live in Bristol and also the studies in UWE. Was it hard?

I have struggled with the decision to further my studies in the UK or not.

The best thing about the UK/UWE is the people in Bristolor UWE are so friendly."

International students from countries where English is not the first language should be encouraged to take the study skills sessions run by the library on critical reading and writing.

"The weather changes so fast and is unpredictable.

The medical service are not that friendly oriented.

I have to walk a long distance to do my grocery shopping and the trolleys are always out of supply.

I have flat mates that are dirty."

The best thing about UWE is that they provide the opportunity to earn British pounds as a student ambassador. I am very happy that UWE provide such an equal working opportunity for me. It helps a lot when comes to covering my expenses in UK, and at the same time contribute back to my university. Thanks UWE! UWE is the best!

"Before I came to the UK/UWE, I wish I'd known how to get to UWE from the train station (Bristol Parkway). I wish I had known how to go to the City Centre and the things I could do there.

No-one told me the location of the Student Union and SU shops in which I could purchase some small stuff instead of going to big supermarkets.

I have struggled with transportation and accomodations

The best thing about the UK/UWE is that I have made friends with people all over the world. That UWE's location is accessible and easy to travel from"

"Before I came to the UK/UWE, I wish I'd known how much UWE has to offer to international students.

No one told me that, despite how close our two countries are how very different our cultures/mindsets can be.

It would have been really helpful to know about the various international societies/groups UWE has to offer.

I have struggled with living in a different country and getting use to the various differences." At first when i joined UWE, i wasnt so sure on my career. but the wide range of modules offered has given a clear vision for who i want to be