Last year, at 23, Chiara, a graduate from the University of Bristol, enrolled on a master’s course in Galicia, Spain.
The draws were threefold: the opportunity to study in a second language, the chance to immerse herself in a new and varied culture, and the €591 (£512) tuition fees – a fraction of the cost of studying the equivalent course in the UK.
Chiara had been living in A Coruña, Galicia and working as an English language assistant the year before enrolling in her studies. She had fallen in love with the city, and was searching for a way to stay which would also help her career goal of working in immigration and social work.
Studying in Spain was not new for her, as she completed a year abroad at the University of Granada as part of her undergraduate geography degree.
With sky-high master’s fees at home, and an already growing student loan from her time at Bristol, where she took out the maximum fee and maintenance loans she was eligible for, the option to re-enroll at a university in the UK was not financially viable or academically appealing.
Holding a firm grasp on the language, an understanding of the Spanish higher education system and a desire to return to education, Chiara began to explore her options and found a year-long master’s degree in advanced research and innovation methods in social analysis at the University of A Coruña.
As a dual national, holding British and French citizenship, Chiara qualified for EU fees, at just €591. International fees for the course sit at €738.60 (£644).
Chiara says that as well as the fees, life in the UK is more expensive than Spain.
“Wages are less in Spain, but then you need less money. The values are different, so people are more community and family focused, and you spend less money.”
Further to the financial draw, courses in Spain tend to include work experience and internships as a compulsory module, which help students get a grasp of potential careers.
“Nearly all courses include work experience, it’s quite common. I think it’s a really important thing to do to have that incorporated into the course,” says Chiara.
“It gives you a bit of experience of the real world because at the end of the day it’s not just studying, you really need to see where your studies can lead you. I think without going and working, it’s really hard to know sometimes,” she adds.
Additionally, she says the style of academia is quite different to that in the UK. In Spain, it is normal to space out your degree over multiple years, gaining work experience in between semesters of studying.
“The classes are very different, maybe it is just in Granada and Coruña, but I have never been in a class of more than 30 people – whereas in Bristol I was in a class of 200,” she explains.
Across Europe, higher education is remarkably cheaper than in the UK, whether studying as a European student or an international student.
UK tuition fees for postgraduate study are often around £10,000. The maximum government loan to cover this is £13,206, and this has to be paid back alongside undergraduate loans, at a rate of 6 per cent over £25,000.
It means that when combined, someone on an average wage can end up paying 15 per cent of every pay rise towards their undergraduate and postgraduate loans.
At public universities in Germany, there are no postgraduate course fees – and the option to study in English or German.
In Spain, the average cost of a master’s at a public university for an international student is between €1,000 (£871) and €3,500 (£2,641), with fees often cheaper in smaller cities.
But studying abroad is not only a way to escape the trap of the UK student loan system, it can also set young Britons apart in a competitive job market.
The wage premium for foreign language skills can range from 11 per cent and 35 per cent to your salary – according to multiple different studies – depending on the language and the country you are based in.
Chiara has found other benefits of studying in Spain too. There is a further push for language learning facilitated through subsidised government language schools which offer year-long, examined courses across the country for €160 (£139).
She has enrolled in French classes this year, developing her skills in the language she spoke with her family growing up.
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