Cissy Ou, Study Group's area director in China, emphasized the importance of equipping students with manifold academic skills before they entered the educational systems in a foreign country. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

In collaboration with Shanghai Jiaotong University, Study Group, a London-based provider of international education, has been developing hybrid online-offline programs to better prepare Chinese students who plan on enrolling in British universities.

Its offerings targeted at business management majors, including an international foundation program and online pre-master's course, can now be taken entirely online or while based on the Shanghai Jiaotong University campus.

Digital provision combined with in-person support and access to a variety of facilities will offer a full university social experience

For students who want to enjoy a campus experience while preparing to go abroad, digital provision combined with in-person support and access to a variety of facilities will offer a full university social experience.

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Students will have access to university libraries, gyms, cafeterias and social spaces. They will also be able to participate in extracurricular activities, live in on-campus accommodations and establish important peer networks in an academic institution respected both in China and around the world.

"This flexible approach to fully online or digital access within a university campus setting broadens our appeal to students in China, allowing students to tailor their experience according to their own particular circumstances. It is just one example of how listening to the changing demands of students and the needs of our partners is driving innovation across our business," said Study Group CEO Ian Crichton.

Ian Crichton, CEO of the international education provider Study Group, believes that young people from diverse cultural backgrounds would bring different perspectives when they are working together to address global challenges. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

Study Group has been constantly expanding its partnership with universities. Starting from 2019, it has signed collaboration agreements with several renowned universities, including the University of Aberdeen and Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, and DePaul University and the University of Hartford in the United States. It matches students with the right university and prepares them for their future study abroad.

Crichton has worked in various industries and wants to "make a real difference in the world".

He upholds the importance of international education in solving global problems and forming lifelong networks. That's why he chose to join Study Group last year.

He believes that young people from different countries should work together to solve problems as they bring different perspectives.

"It's really important for you to form a network in university that will stay with you for a lifetime," he said.

China sent a record number of 151,690 students to the UK in 2021-22, more than any other country, and in fact more than the entire European Union, according to the UK-based Higher Education Statistics Agency, or HESA.

Study Group provides preparatory courses for international students to help them progress into undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in a foreign country more smoothly. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

Crichton encourages students from the Chinese mainland to study in the UK for their higher education where they will communicate and work with people coming from diverse cultures as well as enjoying quality education and a safe environment. Additionally, the UK also offers a two-year, post-study work visa for international students.

The group has been designing pathway programs to help students prepare for classes and life in a new country. By joining these programs, they can make new friends and adapt to overseas education systems in advance.

According to Cissy Ou, the group's regional manager for China, the "pathway program" for Chinese students is the latest of these developments designed to ease international students' entrance into an education system that functions differently from the one they are used to.

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Through offering specialized subject courses and enhancing their academic English and other skills, the program enables Chinese students to progress into undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in a foreign country more smoothly, she said.

As someone who grew up in the Chinese education system, she found that the teachers used to emphasize rote memorization and students' academic performance in exams.

She emphasized the importance of academic English, which is different from regular spoken English, and of learning the academic skills required for success in a less test-based, mnemonic educational environment.