51Âþ»­

Almost every international student taking a one-year introductory course to UK study at a 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) college has moved on to an undergraduate or postgraduate programme.

A total of 98% of the students at Leicester International Pathway College (LIPC) have taken up full-time study at 51Âþ»­ after completing the integrated preparatory course.

This September saw an intake of 220 students, the highest ever number of students to enrol at LIPC, which prepares international students for UK study through support including Subject, English language and Study Skills modules.

Philip Moere, Director of Leicester International Pathway College, believes that the high continuation rate is evidence of LIPC’s success in enabling students to seamlessly adapt to life at 51Âþ»­.

He said: “This success shows a number of things; that the students are happy with the quality of education at LIPC, and that they are happy with their environment at 51Âþ»­ and in Leicester.

“The philosophy of LIPC is very much based on acclimatisation. We give international students the opportunity to acclimatise towards studying in the UK, they get to acclimatise linguistically through studying the English language, academically through studying in the UK education system, culturally by spending time in the UK, and to their new environment of living and studying in Leicester.”

Ammen Qasim from Pakistan began studying at LIPC in 2015 and after successfully completing the International Year Zero she has moved on to study Architecture at 51Âþ»­, where she is now a second year student.

She has identified the opportunity for students to settle with people in a similar situation as one of the most important factors for LIPC’s success.

Ammen said: “The most helpful thing about LIPC was that there were people from different countries that I interacted with. My year zero helped me to settle in to the university as well as in the city.

“I came to know more about the university during my LIPC year zero. Even when I was studying at LIPC I could use all of the facilities around the 51Âþ»­ campus, including the library and the workshops.”

Xialong Wu from China arrived at LIPC last month and is already reaping the benefits of studying at the college.

He said: “I mostly enjoy the classes because my classmates come from all different countries such as India and Poland. Our tutors are really good, they are willing to help with studies and also with daily life.

“I want to get a good degree but I also want to learn about the culture of other countries which could help me in the future when I’m working.”

LIPC aims to give students a personal learning experience and small class sizes make sure that students get the attention they need.

Xialong added: “My tutor for is really good; when he started teaching us he explained it very clearly. There are only ten students in the class so everyone can ask questions to the tutor and he is happy to answer.”

Fengjiao Huang, also from China, will be joining the International First Year Business in January after her pre-sessional English course and agrees that the individual attention she receives from her teachers is what makes LIPC so effective.

She said: “I’m studying English now and my essay writing is not very good so I’m learning how to write essays. My English language teacher is giving me the skills I need to write good essays and helps me to practice."