Some overseas students in the UK might be surprised by certain aspects of British culture. Read this page to learn a little more about British people and their way of life.
In addition to an academic education, overseas students in the UK have the opportunity to learn about British life and culture, which can be very different to what many students might be used to in their home countries.
Initially, overseas students in the UK will notice many physical differences such as climate, food, tableware, clothing, music, architecture, etc.
Next, they will discover many differences in social behaviour such as politeness, ways of greeting people, thanking people, reprimanding people, expressing opinions, male and female interaction, teacher and student interaction, etc.
Also, they will find that the UK has its own traditions and customs that may seem quite strange and bizarre to some. For example, the tradition of partying and drinking every night throughout “fresher’s week” in the first week of university, or the custom of eating a “Sunday roast” with the whole family every Sunday afternoon, or the tradition amongst Scottish men to sometimes wear “kilts”, traditional tartan skirts.
Finally, overseas students may come to realise that many differences also exist in people’s core values, principles and beliefs. It can be surprising for some students to learn that people from other cultures / countries do not share the same set of core values, beliefs and views about the world that they hold and even used to take for granted, previously assuming those values were universally standard.
All of these cultural differences can seem a little overwhelming for some students when they first arrive in the UK. Overseas students from certain areas of the world will find student life in the UK enormously different to what they have been used to in the past and it can be quite a shock for some students to find themselves in such an unfamiliar environment. This is commonly referred to as “culture shock”. Culture shock will affect different people in different ways. It typically results in occasional feelings of loneliness and home sickness; emotions which are perfectly normal under the circumstances and should be expected to a large degree. Students might also experience sudden mood swings and high levels of emotion, feeling lost, frightened or even angry.
Leaving family, friends and all that is familiar to travel to the UK to study is a massive life change for almost every overseas student; hence culture shock and the feelings that can accompany it are totally normal and most overseas students will experience some feeling of shock and anxiety. The important thing to remember is that it will not last forever. It might take a little bit of time, but sooner or later, all overseas students should settle into UK student life, make new friends, learn many new things and become more accustomed to their new way of life.
It usually helps for students to keep in touch with their family and friends back home, who can offer useful advice and support or just a friendly ear when it is needed. It might also help to find students from the same home country to mix with as they can provide something more familiar to relate to amongst all of the different, strange, new things. Many HE institutions with large numbers of overseas students have societies/clubs for each well represented nationality as well as an international students association. These societies commonly organise social events and other activities as well as informal gatherings and can be a great way for students to make new friends.
In addition, students can talk to a counsellor or student advisor from their school, college or university. These people will be experienced in advising and guiding students through any difficulties they might be facing, many having professional counselling qualifications and some specialising in advising international students.
Note that every university and many other institutions in the UK, especially those with a high intake of overseas students, run special induction programmes for international students. These are usually held just before the normal start of the school year and typically include a full tour of the campus and introduction to all the buildings and facilities plus some faculty members as well as some planned social gatherings. It is a good opportunity for overseas students to mix with and meet other students, of the same nationality or other nationalities, who are all going through the same transitional process. It is recommended all overseas students that are invited to attend such an induction programme attend it.
Whether invited to an induction programme or not, it might help overseas students to arrive at their new institution a week or so early, to give them a little time to settle in and adjust to their new surroundings before all the other students arrive and courses begin.
For several decades after the end of World War Two, the UK welcomed an influx of immigrants from all over the globe. During this period many thousands of immigrants arrived in the UK from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia in particular. Today, ethnic minority groups make up a significant proportion of the UK’s total population. The most heavily represented groups are African, Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. In addition, other well represented groups include Chinese, Middle Eastern, Australasian and North American as well as large numbers of people from various European nations such as Poland, Italy, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia and the Republic of Ireland.
The UK’s cultural diversity is most easily seen in London and other large urban areas, with the UK’s rural areas remaining largely dominated by white, British families. London and a number of other large towns and cities have areas within them where large numbers of a particular ethnic minority group live and work. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Jewish communities within urban areas can be very large indeed and sometimes make up the majority of the population in that local area. Chinese communities and “China towns”, where many Chinese restaurants and shops can typically be found, are located in Central London, Liverpool, Manchester and other big towns and cities.
Many UK educational institutions also have large numbers of overseas students, meaning that many ethnic minorities and cultural groups are well represented on many campuses across the country.
The most prominent religion in the UK is Christianity. Churches and cathedrals can be found in every urban area including many small towns and villages. Christianity in the UK has several well represented denominations including the Anglican Church, Roman Catholic Church, Methodist Church and Baptist Church.
Although over 70% of the UK’s population identify themselves as Christians, most do not regularly attend church services, which are held every Sunday and are open to all. Indeed many Christians in the UK might only find themselves in a church at Christmas or at weddings and funerals. Christianity and religion has played a pivotal role in British society throughout its history, helping to build and shape the nation into what it is today. However, in more recent times the church has seen its numbers of active patrons and followers steadily decreasing, and consequently, its general influence on British society has diminished.
Many UK universities and large schools and colleges have their own chapel (a Christian place of worship, smaller than and subordinate to a church). Many state and independent schools and colleges are also affiliated to the Church of England or other Christian denomination, meaning that students are typically taught to abide by basic Christian values and also made to participate in prayers and other Christian practises in school assemblies. In addition, other religious groups also have their own schools, such as Jewish schools and Muslim schools, although these are far fewer in number.
Everyone in the UK has the right to practise whatever religion they wish. In addition to the various forms of Christianity, many other religions are also practised throughout the country, the most prominent of which are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism. As a result of this, many places of worship for different religions such as mosques, synagogues and temples, in addition to the large number of churches, can be found all over the UK, most easily found in urban areas where particular religions are well represented in the local community.
Christmas is primarily a Christian festival, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25 December some 2000 years ago. Every Christmas churches hold special services which many people attend, even those that do not regularly attend Sunday church services. As the UK is a predominantly Christian nation, Christmas is seen by many as the UK’s main national holiday. Christmas has however, over the years, developed into much more than a religious festival, with people that do not actively practise Christianity as well as people from other religions all happily joining in with the annual Christmas celebrations and customs.
Christmas Day and the following day (Boxing Day) are public holidays and many people, and sometimes whole companies, choose to take a break from work from the day before Christmas Day (Christmas Eve) through to the start of January and the next calendar year. Schools, colleges and universities are all closed over this period too, so it can be a difficult time to get things done as so many people are not at work and many businesses and organisations are closed.
Christmas has many traditional customs, some or all of which are followed by most people in the UK.
It is customary to give gifts to friends and family members, hence many shops and stores have their busiest period prior to Christmas each year and many shops and stores hold “January sales”, where keen shoppers can often find great bargains in many outlets that need to clear their remaining stock after the Christmas period.
Another custom is to send Christmas cards to family, friends and acquaintances. Some people send cards to everyone they know inside and outside the UK, each Christmas. Every year this causes a huge seasonal burden on the national postal service, usually resulting in postage delays.
Homes, offices, shops and even whole streets are covered in bright Christmas lights and decorations from the start of December or even earlier. Many homes put up a Christmas tree, which is covered in more lights and decorations and presents can be stored underneath it, ready to be opened on Christmas Day morning.
Many people, companies, institutions and other organisations hold Christmas parties in December, meaning that one person could end up being invited to attend several parties throughout the period.
Christmas Day is traditionally spent with family and/or close friends. A special Christmas lunch is prepared, typically a large roast turkey, with meat stuffing, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy plus a range of additional sauces, followed by traditional Christmas deserts such as mince pies or Christmas pudding served with fresh cream.
New Year’s Day is another national holiday that comes shortly after Christmas, hence many Christmas cards and salutations around this time of year often combine the two holidays, for example, “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year”.
Few special events or customs are held on New Year’s Day. Instead, it is used by most people as a day to recover from staying up late and partying the night before, New Year’s Eve, 31 December, which itself is typically either a day off or only a half day at work for many employees. New Year’s Eve celebrations are pretty universal. Most people in the UK gather with friends and family in homes, pubs, clubs and other venues to welcome in the New Year on the stroke of midnight. Many will enjoy a drink or two as they do so. Trafalgar Square in central London attracts thousands of people every New Year’s Eve for the midnight countdown and many other towns and cities have their own designated area for the public to gather and celebrate. In Scotland, New Year’s Eve is called “Hogmanay” and is a huge occasion, with the streets in the centre of Edinburgh being flooded with revelers every year.
The Easter holiday is a four day weekend, from Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive. The exact dates change from year to year but it is always sometime around late March or April.
Easter is another important Christian festival, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he had died on the cross. As with Christmas, there are special church services at Easter and although it is a Christian festival, many non-practising Christians and followers of other faiths join in the celebrations and customs. The most well known and well followed Easter tradition is the giving of chocolate Easter eggs, particularly to young children. Some areas may also have Easter parades.
Other national holidays in the UK include May Day and Late May bank holidays on the first and last Mondays in the month of May, and the August bank holiday on the last Monday of every August.
The Notting Hill carnival in West London runs over the August bank holiday weekend every year. The carnival is a three day celebration amongst the Caribbean community who settled in the area from the 1950’s onwards. Each year thousands of people of all ages and nationalities, from all over London and the rest of the UK descend on West London to see the loud, colourful and exotic parades through the streets of Notting Hill and neighboring Ladbroke Grove, taste some traditional Caribbean food and generally have a good time.
Colleges and universities are an ideal place for students to meet people of the opposite sex. Even though most overseas students are in the UK to concentrate on their studies, most young people just entering adulthood will invariably also have a desire to meet someone they like and form a relationship with. The same is true of college students throughout the world, with many couples from many countries first meeting at college or university.
In the UK, attitudes towards sexual relationships vary quite widely, with some students at college or university choosing to engage in casual sexual relationships, others only once a solid and stable relationship has already been formed over time and others that choose to remain abstinent – so it is a matter of personal choice for every student. Although no sex before marriage is a traditional part of Christianity, the UK’s dominant religion, fewer and fewer young people are choosing to save themselves until they are married, with the UK becoming more and more sexually liberated with each generation and as the influence of Christianity on British society gradually diminishes.
The minimum legal age of consent in the UK is 16. It is the same age for heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Many homosexual men and women in the UK are quite open about their sexuality, some extremely proud of it, while others choose to be more discreet and some even keep it hidden. Homosexuality is viewed by British society in different ways by different people. Most people in the UK embrace it or at least accept it as part of modern-day culture although many people still do not find it acceptable. The UK government recently passed a law to legally recognise gay and lesbian marriages.
Anyone in a sexual relationship should practise “safe sex”, to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
A common stereotype of the British is that they are a very polite nation of people. As with most stereotypes, there is some truth behind this; the British have a tradition of having good etiquette and many British people pride themselves on having good manners, but it is hard to make such a generalisation about the nation as a whole. Correct etiquette is typically taught to children from a young age, who learn most aspects of etiquette from following the examples set by their parents and other adults around them as they grow up.
Overseas students will often also be influenced by what they see others say and do, while they are living in the UK. This can include learning good etiquette such as the following;
This is by no means a complete list, just a few basic guidelines, many of which some overseas students will already follow before ever arriving in the UK. Off course, it is up to each individual as to whether or not they choose to follow these simple rules, they are not compulsory, even many British people choose not to follow all of them.
The family plays an important role in most people’s lives in the UK. This is little different from most other countries throughout the world, although the degree to which traditional family values are upheld in the UK is perhaps a little less than in many other countries. For example, in the UK it is fairly uncommon to find three generations of one family living under the same roof, although this is quite standard in countries such as China and India, where care for all family members is almost always put first and foremost.
That said, family values are still a very important part of British society. Young children learn to respect their parents and elders who in turn act as role models to younger generations, showing them the correct ways to behave inside and outside the family home. As children grow older they become increasingly influenced by other things such as television and school friends, but generally their love and respect for their parents and family remains the same, providing they have a happy and stable home environment.
The average number of children in a British family used to be above 2 for a very long time but is currently about 1.8 children (2007). As with many other developed countries around the world, more and more people are choosing to have fewer children, have children at later stages in life or not have any children at all; typically, instead giving priority to work and careers.
In 2007, just over half of all British families had a household pet (dogs and cats by far the most popular), 40% of families owned two or more cars, 65% had a home computer and about 80% lived in a mortgaged home.
The UK has the same standard class structure as most other developed and many developing countries; working class, middle class and upper class. The majority of the UK population used to be classed as working class, but now a days it is argued that the middle classes make up the biggest proportion. The number of upper class households has also been steadily increasing over the years, but this class still remains a significant minority of the total population.
Off course, different regions have different demographics. Some expensive areas of London, Surrey, Cheshire and other counties are predominantly upper class, while other areas of the UK are mostly working class or middle class. Many inner city regions of large urban areas are commonly quite deprived working class neighbourhoods, while most suburban neighbourhoods are typically middle class, with rural areas and small towns and villages being quite mixed.
The obvious main difference between the classes is the level of family wealth and income. This in turn leads to differences in location and size of the family home, standards of living conditions, material possessions and education. Naturally, a higher percentage of children from middle class families attend private, fee paying schools than from working class families, and an even higher percentage still from upper class families.
The royal family used to rule the UK until the civil wars of the seventeenth century, when the power to govern the land was taken and passed into the hands of the people. Currently, the UK is a “constitutional monarchy”, meaning that the Queen or King is the official head of state, but an elected government creates laws and policies, sets, collects and allocates taxes, and generally runs the country.
As the royal family now has little power, some people wonder what relevance they have at all in modern British society. That said, the overall majority of the UK’s population are firmly in favour of retaining the monarchy, with many families still considering themselves stern royalists and loyal supporters of the British royal family. Many thousands of people across the UK celebrated the Queen’s 80th birthday in 2006 with nationwide celebrations and many also celebrate her birthday as well as her coronation anniversary in some fashion every year.
Many people from inside and outside the UK have a fascination with the British royal family, which has grown from their long and colourful history as well as the constant media coverage of their daily lives and their portrayals in various British films, television shows and documentaries.
One important argument in favour of the royal family is the positive effect they bring to the UK’s economy through tourism. Each year, millions of holidaymakers travel to the UK, many of which want to visit Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s official residence in London, to see the daily “changing of the guard”, or to visit the Tower of London, where the royal crown jewels are on public display. In addition, the Queen and other members of the royal family often play important diplomatic roles when visiting foreign countries and when hosting visiting dignitaries and heads of state from abroad.
The UK is a democracy, ruled by a government that has been elected by the people. The home of UK politics is the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. The UK parliament has two parts; The House of Commons and The House of Lords.
The House of Commons is made up of elected politicians, who each hold a “seat” in the house, representing the constituency within the UK that elected them to government. Most members of the House belong to a political party, the main ones being the Labour party, the Conservative party (“Tories”) and the Liberal Democratic Party. The House of Commons must be elected at least every five years. The party that wins the most seats then forms the ruling government, with the party leader becoming the Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown, who leads a Labour government.
Members of the House of Lords are not elected by the people. Since 1999 the House of Lords has been undergoing a significant reform, some might call it modernisation. Most members used to inherit their seats in the House from their fathers, until this was stopped in 1999. Currently, most new members of the House are appointed by the government.
The government and individual members of the House of Commons can draft and propose “bills” (new laws and policies), which are then debated in the House before members vote on whether or not to pass them or amend them. Bills that pass through the House of Commons are then passed to the House of Lords for further scrutiny and debate, where members of that House also vote on whether or not to pass the bills or amend them.
In 1999 devolved administrations were elected for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK remains a united state, with the UK government still responsible for a wide range of national issues, including defence, national security, foreign policy, economic policy, immigration, social security and many others. But some powers have been passed to the new administrations. For example, the Scottish parliament can pass its own laws on various issues such as health and education, and also has authority to adjust the rates of income tax a little.
Small regions and even whole nation’s youth cultures can be heavily influenced by popular music. The UK can boast of a long tradition of producing some of the world’s finest musicians, singers and bands; from the legendary and revolutionary Beatles in the 1960’s to modern day, multi award winning British artists such as James Blunt and Amy Winehouse. The UK has a broad ranging music scene covering classical music, opera, jazz, rock and roll, heavy metal, pop, R&B, hip-hop, drum and bass, house and trance, amongst others.
For anyone unfamiliar with British music, try listening to some UK radio stations. For a list of radio stations broadcasting in the UK, see www.radiofeeds.co.uk, where users can also follow links to listen to live broadcasts on-line via their computer, from anywhere in the world.
Overseas students in the UK might like to visit one or more of the UK’s famous summer musical festivals. The most well known of which is Glastonbury, named after the small town in South West England it is held next to. This musical extravaganza takes place every summer around June and attracts well over 100,000 music fans as well as many of the UK’s top bands and artists as well as some from the USA and other countries. For more information, see www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Other large music festivals are held in Reading, West of London, and in Leeds, Yorkshire. For more information, see www.readingfestival.com and www.leedsfestival.com.
Student culture refers primarily to further and higher education students, aged 17+, at colleges and universities. In the UK many students choose to move away from home when they start their further or higher education, to live in institution accommodation such as halls of residence. This gives students additional responsibilities such as paying rent and bills, washing their own clothes and cooking their own meals, but also provides them with a lot more freedom to make their own choices.
Students in the UK have many choices they can make. Student life can be as wild and active or quiet and reserved as each student wishes it to be. Most UK students have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of social, sports and recreational activities throughout the year.
Every university and many other institutions in the UK, especially those with a high intake of overseas students, run special induction programmes for international students. These are usually held just before the normal start of the school year and typically include a full tour of the campus and introduction to all the buildings and facilities plus some faculty members as well as some planned social gatherings. It is a good opportunity for overseas students to mix with and meet other students, of the same nationality or other nationalities and get familiar with the campus.
Then, in the first official week of term, many institutions hold a “fresher’s fair”. This is when various clubs and societies at an institution try to recruit new, first year students (freshers), by staging various events and putting up information booths on campus. These student clubs often reflect a wide range of interests; they can be based around almost anything, such as love of a particular football team or music band, or for keen chess players or followers of a certain faith.
In addition, there are typically many other social events during fresher’s week, arranged by the institution’s student union, to keep new students busy and give them the chance to meet new people, make new friends and discover more about their institution.
Drinking is an important part of British social life in general and perhaps even more so for students, as many UK students go to college or university at the age of 18, which is also the minimum legal age to purchase alcohol in the UK. Many student social events and parties will have alcohol readily available and student union bars within universities are usually popular with students as they often serve relatively cheap drinks and are a good place to meet fellow students. They can often be full of students almost every night and especially busy on weekends. Note that all students are advised to drink in moderation, especially those who are not used to drinking alcohol. Nobody wants to get drunk and make a fool of themselves, and then regret their actions the next day.
Another important aspect of UK student culture is money, or rather the lack of it. Most British students have to pay tuition fees, accommodation and general living expenses, with little or no financial support from the government and usually without taking up part-time employment. Many end up taking out student loans from the government to support themselves through their studies and many also rely on financial assistance from their parents. However, many UK students still struggle to manage on a very limited budget. Hence many UK students try various methods of saving money, such as riding a bicycle to campus, rather than taking the bus, or staying at home and watching television in the evenings, rather than going to the pub.
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