Worried about an expensive US degree? In the UK, BAs only take 3 years; STEM degrees (BA & Msci) only 4 years (6 years for medicine).

These 3-minute recruitment videos are done with a bit of British wit, one of the things that made my year in the UK so enjoyable (I did my second MA at Brighton Polytechnic, now called Brighton University). Here, I am sharing my insights as an EFL teacher with 40+ years experience.

The online captions for each video are computer-generated, so my notes may give you some additional insights. These explanations are for mostly for non-British learners: if you are a UK citizen, you needn't read any further.

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The application process

Cambridge remind us that if you're really smart, you shouldn't be over-impressed by the name Cambridge: 20% of applicants are offered a place (~ admitted). BTW, notice how in British English an organization like Cambridge takes a plural (“Cambridge remind us” NOT “remindS us”).

27 seconds: “On average, one in five applicants are
offered a place. Why shouldn't it be you?”

43 seconds: The online application process itself is handled by UCAS (the automatic captions say: “you pass”, which is meaningless in this context):

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCAS
https://www.ucas.com/

Lots of writing is required, but it's for a good purpose:

1 minute 35 seconds: “to give you as many opportunities to shine as possible”

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What a relief to discover that Cambridge University doesn't seem to care about spreading yourself thin with non-academic fluff such as playing basketball or being a cheerleader. If you're really smart, they probably want you (one of my private students, a very talented student with no aptitude for sports that I knew of, studied Russian at Cambridge).

One of the few problems I can think of is that studying in the UK requires good writing skills, so if that's not your cup of tea, either change your attitude (improve your skills) or go somewhere else.

Another difference is that British instructors have much more experience dealing with academically-oriented EFL students, unlike teachers of ESL students in the US, many of whom have to accommodate “students” who are illiterate in their own languages.

If you are a curious person, one more advantage of studying in the UK is that Europe and North Africa are only a few hours away: dozens of unfamiliar cultures and languages to discover. What's not to like?