Join the Study UK: STEM thematic webinar series for Indian students

This popular series is back but with a difference! The series will be used to promote the UK’s vast and world-class education offer to Indian students across range of institutions. The focus will be on positioning the UK as the destination of choice for students across socio-economic backgrounds in India.

Locally, students and faculty across Indian institutions and schools shared positive feedback on the webinars, as they appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from UK HEIs and learn about the UK education sector, and across specific, carefully curated themes.

This series is for serious students and for valuable interactions, that lead to increased interest in students to apply to the UK. Local schools and colleges are very keen for us to bring this back and are looking forward to meaningful engagements with UK HEIs again this year and to build long term relationships with the UK.

The British Council is thus delighted to present the Study UK: STEM Thematic Webinar Series which aims to facilitate UK institutions to engage directly with prospective students and influencers.

The numbers reflect this strong interest in the UK. There were 98,747 visas granted to Indian nationals in 2021, an increase of 90% compared to the previous year and Indians are the nationality with the second highest number of sponsored study visa grants in the UK. Data shows a 57% increase in numbers with over 84000 Indian students choosing to study in the UK in 2020-21.

These webinars will highlight specific subject areas/ courses in line with local student demand and provide an opportunity for your institution to showcase expertise in the subject, while also presenting opportunities on what the UK has to offer to a wide cross section of people.

The webinars will target both private and public schools and colleges across India and will inspire students to learn about the UK and study there, apply for UK scholarships and engage more strongly in the India-UK relationship. This will be a part of the GREAT campaign in India.

ODA funded, the webinars are delivered in-country and are funded by GiA. The objective of the webinar is to promote the economic development and welfare of the country. Through STEM Thematic webinars, we will raise awareness and promote the UK’s strengths in education and as an outcome our commitment to promote UK Higher Education.

Online panel discussion: The thematic webinars will be hosted by the British Council through live stream sessions during the year ensuring it reaches not just metro cities but second and third cities as well. Academic speakers from participating institutions will cover specific topics as listed below:

Webinar details:

Each thematic session will last for an hour. Maximum three UK HEIs are invited for a webinar (representing one speaker each).

The webinars are designed to promote the UK as a whole and not to promote individual HEIs to students. Each UK HEI will be given a certain aspect to discuss in the session through a 10-minute presentation/ slide show following which they can share their contact details with the students. The aspects that HEIs will cover typically will be around how to apply for the subject in the UK, scope of the subject in industry and employment, career opportunities, various ways of studying the subject, alumni testimonials.

All 3 HEIs will interact with the audience throughout the entire duration of the webinar and answer QA about studying the subject in the UK. QA typically includes answering specific questions on the HEIs courses and application criteria, career opportunities etc.  The sessions will be promoted through our website and social media and student will receive post event mailers on the session alongwith your contact details, should you choose to share these.

Participating HEIs will be expected to get alumni or current Indian students to the session to talk about their first-hand experience of the subject and the British Council could also bring alumni from our various programmes.

The session will be chaired and moderated by the British Council. We will hold technical rehearsals and the British Council will be happy to advise the participating UK HEIs on their plan for the webinars.

Sample timetable

Time: 11.00 – 12.30 (event starts at 11.30) BST

Length of webinar:  60 mins (3 presentations + 1 Q&A session)

Event rundown:

11.00                          Panelists log in

11.30                          Webinar starts

11.30 – 11.35             Welcome message by the British Council 

11.35 – 12.20             Presentation by 3 participating UK HEIs (10 min each)

12.20 – 12.30             Q&A session – lead by the British Council

12.30                           Close

Webinar promotion: Each webinar will be promoted through the British Council’s channels and local network across multiple markets to engage with target audiences.

This event is free of charge for the UK HEIs as well as students. UK HEIs will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

*Post-event emailers will be sent out to all students with the UK HEI details so they can get in touch as needed. While the British Council is unable to share data directly with UK HEIs due to GDPR rules, the post event mailer ensures students have details of UK HEIs as an easy reference.

Target Audience:

• Higher education institutions and school representatives
• Undergraduate students (prospective students from premium schools in India (equivalent to A levels)
• Postgraduate students from Indian HEIs