Home and Away

Ellie Cawthorne finds out about the changing experiences of students studying away from their native countries on the global campus - foreign students in the UK, and UK students abroad.

A British student abroad in 2014 describes his first day at his Dutch University. Indira describes the culture shock of the 'real' Britain outside the international student halls. The culture shock.

The number of British students studying abroad is rising rapidly, as the increase in tuition fees makes the prospect of studying at European universities increasingly attractive. Simultaneously, international students who gain degrees at British Universities enjoy increased status in their home country.

This ebb and flow within academic communities is not new. Travel and the exchange of ideas and of students, says academic Hillary Perraton, has been one of defining factors of university education since the 12th century.

We compare the experiences of foreign students today with those of their predecessors, documented through diaries, letters and autobiographies. Why have so many world leaders of the 20th Century, from Nehru to Bill Clinton, emerged from British universities?

Producer: Lucy Dichmont
Series Producer: Nick Baker
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.