Going Global: New data reveals the search for university accommodation goes online
- US, UK and Canada revealed as most searched for countries for university information (Google)
- 46% of searches for UK higher education are from outside UK, growth of 9% in six years (Google)
- Top overseas nations visiting luxury student accommodation website revealed as Thailand, Egypt and China (Collegiate AC)
The world is getting smaller, and a case in point for this is that of the world of higher education. With every year that passes, the number of international students that look outside of their home country in order to pursue a university career grows, with 2014 figures of non-UK acceptances at UK universities standing at a record level of 64,915 students, according to UCAS, an increase of 4.7% on the previous year.
A prominent factor in the evolution of the globe’s higher education community is the use of the internet in searching for a university. Making the world far more accessible and meaning that finding out about universities in far flung corners of the globe is far easier, new data released by Google has revealed the most popular countries searched by people looking outside of their own country of residence for information on universities.
The results make for interesting reading, with the United Kingdom ranking second only to the United States, with a 26% and 35.4% share of world university searches respectively, with Canada trailing far behind in third place, with just 8% of global reach.
With an impressive draw for the global student community, the UK has also witnessed the number of those from overseas searching for UK university information growing dramatically in recent years. Most recent figures reveal that almost half of the searches for UK higher education are today from outside of the UK (some 46% in 2014), an impressive growth of 9% in six years.
The concept of using the World Wide Web to search for university information also extends to the search for university accommodation, as has been noticed by leading provider of luxury student accommodation in the UK, Collegiate AC. The company, that takes its bookings via its website, has noted an extraordinary influx in the last year, with overseas interest, especially, on the rise.
Heriberto Cuanalo, CEO of Collegiate AC, explains,
“With students’ lives increasingly active online, as well as expanding numbers of students arriving to study in the UK from overseas, we have certainly noticed this growing trend reflected in our online booking figures and the positive feedback we are getting from both students and their parents about the online booking process.
“Feedback has shown us that the ability to clearly compare accommodation options, view the range of facilities on offer and the ease of the online booking process are all key factors when choosing their university accommodation online and therefore these are the things that we have focussed on getting right on our website.”
Collegiate AC has revealed that after those from the UK, the largest proportion of visitors to their website are from Thailand, with a share of 3.07% of visits, followed by Egypt at 2.98% and China as the third highest non-UK nation, with 2.64% of web visits. This marks an interesting change on 2014 figures when US visitors ranked top for non-UK visits, followed by India in second place with 2.36% and China third with 2.30%.
Cuanalo concludes,
“We are proud to welcome students from around the world to our luxury accommodation throughout the UK and are embracing the growing role that the internet is having in this.”
For more information, visit www.collegiate-ac.com or contact Collegiate AC on 01235 250 140.