A helping hand for a brighter future for Sri Lankans studying in the UK

British Council

“When I made the decision to go the UK for my higher education, the British Council was, obviously, the first place to which I came! As soon as I came here, they went out of their way to assist me. They are methodical and showed me the ranking list for studying business, and pointed out which universities I should aim for based on my expected results. They give you all the material, catalogues and brochures of each university within 15-20 minutes and then they take you step-by-step through the application process and the visa process. They also assign you a contact person, who keeps in touch through phone calls and emails”

Mithila Wegapitiya

Mithila Wegapitiya graduated in Finance/ Accounting from Aston University in Birmingham in July 2014. He has for the last eight months, been working as a business analyst in the graduate programme at Virtusa.

The secret to his success is the foundation that he received in the UK. Mithila explained that when making the decision to select the country for his higher education, several options were considered; UK, Australia and USA were the three main options.

As a student who completed London A/L’s, he stated that it therefore it made more sense to study in the UK. However, the deciding factor was employment. Potential employers in Sri Lanka have a preference for employers with a UK degree and this was the factor that encouraged Mithila to take the leap in his decision to go to the UK. Another advantage of this choice is the availability of sandwich courses, allowing one year on-the-job training.

Producing employable graduates

Having speculated about the employability of UK graduates, Mithila says that his expectations have been more than met. The market has proven repeatedly that UK degree- holders are in hot demand. For example, he explained that the graduate programme he is doing at the moment is specified for UK graduates. “When we graduate, we already have that one- year work experience, which is also an advantage over people who have graduated with just their degrees” Mithila stated.

Practical and relevant programme

Aston University is associated with the practical side of business, so as soon as you go there they get you involved in nonacademic, practical business societies like Aston Entrepreneurs, Students in Free Enterprise and Aston Marketing and Investment. “I was president of the Sri Lankan Society, which helped a lot because the Sri Lankan community in the UK is very tight-knit. We had a cricket tournament, a football tournament and a Sinhala and Tamil New Year Festival, and that network helped us a lot. We also had personal mentors, who would look into how we were doing, not just academically, but whether we were fine, whether our finances were in order, whether we were homesick, and so on.” Mithila explained.

Mithila further said that the experience therefore was a holistic one that included a variety of activities apart from the formal aspect. “The experience provided by Aston helped me integrate into the student milieu and to understand the culture,” he added.

The student experience

“Everything was planned by the university – beginning with International Freshers’ Week. The foreign students were familiarised with everything – shopping, paying for groceries, living alone, cooking, and getting to know the academics and the extra- curricular activities available” Mithila explained. The support given was conducive towards making his student experience a memorable one. This also helped him get over the home sickness that is part and parcel of being a foreign student.

The impact and lasting influence of the British culture and people

Speaking about the foreign exposure received, Mithila said that the experience of being in the UK has enriched his life in numerous ways. “The exposure received has definitely changed the way I approach things, in every scenario – day- to- day, in my academic life, in my corporate life. I think it built my personality, helped me go out and present myself better. It is very different; they like to think outside the box and they are very open to new ideas. I can see the difference in my current workplace; whenever I think of something, I want to share it, whereas a local graduate will resist doing so” he explained. The Role of the British Council “The British council plays an extremely important role. I think most people when they are young, have exposure to the British Council, through the libraries and through English classes. I also went through that process – because the British Council has a recognised name, and my parents knew I would only get the best from it. When I made the decision to go to the UK for my higher education, this was, obviously, the first place to which I came! As soon as I came here, they went out of their way to assist me. They are very methodical and showed me the ranking list for studying business, and pointed out which universities I should aim for based on my expected results. They give you all the materials, the catalogues, the brochures of each university within 15-20 minutes and then they take you step- by- step through the application process and the visa process. They assign you a contact person, who keeps in touch through phone calls and emails.

They also had pre-departure events, like de- briefing sessions for new students, at which undergraduates on their summer holidays took part. So even before you go, you know the other Sri Lankans who will be there with you. I think that was very important,” Mithila said with gratitude.