Our top 5 most popular stories in 2017

The year 2017 has been nothing short of amazing and eventful for the world of education and for us here at Study International.

Throughout the year, we’ve seen a series events and developments that will shape the future of the education field. And before we usher in the new year, we have looked back at 2017 to see which stories resonated the most on our site, and we can only thank you, our readers, for your continued readership and support.

With that in mind, here is a list of your top five favourite stories of the year:

5. 10 most beautiful historic university campuses in the UK

Inside view of the famous iconic St John’s College buildings of Cambridge University in Cambridgeshire. Source: Travelling.About/Shutterstock

Part of the charm of studying in the UK is that this dream of walking through iconic institutions isn’t too farfetched. The wee little islands of the United Kingdom are home to tales of Kings and Queens, knights of the realm, and treason and intrigue spanning centuries. Many of the grand buildings that witnessed these events still stand.

There’s nowhere better to gain inspiration for your studies than in some of the most remarkably beautiful campuses in the world while sharing your study room with some of the plotters, planners, politicians and history makers of the past.

4. Malaysian medical university to start prepping students for US residency test

The course offered by IMU aims to prepare graduates for overseas studies and opportunities. Source: Facebook/IMU

The course to prep Malaysia’s International Medical University (IMU) students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) – a set of qualifying examinations for medical graduates to practise in the US – aims to “elevate standards” of medical education in Malaysia and to prepare graduates for overseas studies and opportunities.

3. Australia: Major win for university staff as ‘457’ visa eligibility relaxed

Restoring medical research roles into the eligible occupation list allows Australia’s research institutes to remain globally competitive, according to Cunningham. Source: Shutterstock

In a reversal to the changes made to the popular visa for skilled migrants in April, the Turnbull government announced university staff have been added back into the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). The new changes took effect on July 1, 2017.

Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson welcomed the announcement, saying it sends an “important signal of reassurance to an estimated 3,000 researchers and university staff on current 457 visas who had faced an uncertain future”.

2. Forbes names world’s best global one-year MBAs

The University of Hong Kong’s MBA was ranked seventh in the world and the best in Asia by Forbes. Source: Shutterstock

IMD on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland was ranked first by Forbes in 2017. Its class of 90 members represents 44 different nationalities, with a requirement of the programme that applicants speak at least one language besides English.

Second is Insead – which has campuses in France, Abu Dhabi and Singapore – and prides itself on being “the business school for the world”; followed by Spain’s IE Business School which boasts a graduate employment rate of 89 percent within three months of finishing the course.

1. 1. British university ‘sorry’ after wrongly giving students 300 coffee cups’ worth of caffeine

2. Tiny sample cups of coffee steam as they are handed out at the company’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, March 24, 2010, in Seattle. Image via AP.

   A fine of £400,000 was slapped on the university for the “life-threatening” effects caused by the experiment blunder.

   Alex Rossetta and Luke Parkin, both sports science students, had volunteered to participate in a test to measure the effect of caffeine on exercise. When the lab miscalculated their dosage, they ended up taking the equivalent of 300 cups of coffee.