International Students? Come and study in Malaysia for a UK degree.

International Students? Come and study in Malaysia for a UK degree.

Furthering studies in overseas universities?

Many people asked me if I will be sending my children overseas when they reach the degree level. Actually if they are very good in their studies, they will be able to enter these very established and renowned universities. For example the Russell Group University (24 leading UK universities) If they are not so good, get real yeah. Please do not send them to some second-rate universities which are ranked even lower than the top few Malaysian universities.

International students are also coming to Malaysia

Plus the fact that many international students are in Malaysia simply because they could gain a qualification from a highly ranked UK university. We have five of those campuses. The fees are also by far lower than directly transferring there and studying for the 3-4 years yeah. Ringgit has risen versus the GBP but it’s still very expensive. If we look at past 10 years, the GBP has depreciated by 15 percent versus Ringgit or you can say the Ringgit has appreciated. Whatever lah.

Here are the 5 UK Universities’ Branch Campuses

Five universities have established branch campuses in Malaysia. Their world ranking as per QS Universities Ranking is in (bracket)

• University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (97th in the world and member of Russell Group University)
• Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (Medicine School is 95-100th in the world and member of Russell Group University)
• University of Southampton Malaysia Campus  (80-90th in the world and a member of Russell Group University)
• Heriot-Watt University Malaysia  (287th in the world)
• University of Reading Malaysia (194th in the world)

For comparison, as per QS Universities ranking for 2026, Malaya University is 58th in the world and USM is 134th in the world. Private universities such as Petronas University is 269th in the world and Taylors University is 253rd in the world. Generally, any university ranked 500 or below in this QS Universities ranking is regarded as top 2.5 percent in the world. So, all the above stated names including the ones from Malaysia re generally well regarded.

Fees in the UK are typically as follows:

Typically one year course fee for international students in Southampton University in the UK is GBP31,000 (RM170,000). A three year course would thus be RM510,000. In comparison, the fees for Southampton University Malaysia campus for an international student is around RM48,000 per year. (Bachelor of Computer Science) Info source: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/my/undergraduate/fees_and_funding.page

Graduating from a top 100 ranked university in Malaysia

In other words, graduating from a top 100 ranked university in the world right here in Malaysia is merely RM150,000 in fees plus living expenses versus RM510,000 in the UK plus living expenses. Just need to note that one must still fulfill all the requirements of entry into any course yeah. These are not some ‘university’ where if you are willing to pay the fees, you can somehow graduate… Or even some degree mills where you pay to get some printed copy and also a ceremony in some hotels without any need to study or perhaps just sending in a 20 pages THESIS. hahaha. Yes, those are still existing, just google and you will find them too.

If the course is conducted fully in English, it’s already a plus point

Any international student will benefit from studying in Malaysia because all these tertiary courses are conducted in English. Whether they are private universities or UK university branch campuses here in Malaysia.

In future, whether you are joining a Chinese or a Japanese or a Korean MNC, when these MNCs have staff meetings with their customers or counterparts in other countries, the conversation will be in English yeah. In order to join any of these MNCs, the interviews are in English yeah. So, if you can speak Mandarin VERY WELL (because you have been speaking the same language for 12 years of school and super proud of it), you will not do well in the English interview and you will not be able to join this organization.

So, please ensure no matter what school stream you are in, learn to communicate in English because it’s critical. Try joining Huawei in any country outside China and tell them that you do NOT speak English and see if you will be hired…

Happy deciding on the best country to continue your studies at degree level or beyond. Malaysia is definitely an amazing choice.

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