Living and Studying in the Highlands

Living and studying in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland offers many advantages for students, not least the chance to combine university-level learning with an excellent standard of living.

The UHI Millennium Institute is comprised of 13 partnership colleges and research institutions spread out over the Highlands and Islands. This means course programmes are very flexible.

The UHI is different to many Scottish universities because they take into account family and work commitments so students can make studying fit into their lives. This is the reason why it has nearly twice the number of part-time students as other institutions in Scotland.

Non-traditional study

Glenda Johnson from UHI says, "There are many students over 25 who have established careers and don't want to sign up to 'traditional' study. UHI provides an opportunity for them study when and how they want."

Students who live too far away from college can attend tutorials by using video conferencing at one of the 80 learning centres.

Andy Brown, Head of E-Learning says, "The system can support hundreds of people using the system at the same time. We routinely have multiple conferences running simultaneously throughout the day. Students scattered throughout Scotland can participate in tutorials if they can get to a learning centre.

"Whoever is speaking is shown on screen. So if the lecturer is speaking, everyone will see the lecturer. The lecturer can choose to see the last person who spoke or lots of small screens of everyone. This means a student in Perth can have a face-to-face conversation with someone in Inverness," she says.

Impressive support

Navaneeth Mylsamy from India shows that it’s possible to move colleges but still be signed up to the same course. Navaneeth came to Scotland two years ago and has been studying for an HND in Engineering Systems at Perth College UHI.

At the end of his first year, he relocated to Inverness because there weren’t enough students to continue his course at Perth. "My transfer was very smooth," he says. "I didn't need to do anything; I just had to travel to Inverness."

Navaneeth was impressed with the teaching and support.

"The quality of teaching was very, very good. My first language is Tamil and if I didn’t understand something, my lecturer would stay behind afterwards to chat.

"If I wanted to speak to lecturers I would just do it. All the lecturers are very friendly. Friends from other universities say they can’t do this. They would have to make an appointment if they want to speak to a tutor."

Studying environment

The International Development Officer, Anna Kociolek, agrees that UHI is an exceptional studying environment because of their support.

"We're very different from big universities, where students can become just numbers.

"Our tutors know their students by name and students are really well looked after. If they have a question or need advice, students always know where to go." she says.

Glenda Johnson adds that other options of studying at UHI include doing online courses but that students always get enough support, no matter what kind of course they’re doing. "We get a lot of praise for our tutor support," says Glenda.

"Students always say whenever they need advice they never feel isolated."

Related links

• UHI Millennium Institute
• UHI Students’ Association
• Studying at the UHI Millennium Institute
• A list of the learning centres across the Highlands and Islands
• Courses available through distance learning
• Courses available through flexible learning
• Courses available through part-time learning
• Courses available through part-time learning
• Pavla Sykorova
• Read more features about education, universities and research in Scotland
• Case studies about people working in education
• Student Life