Lower tuition fees at Hong Kong universities may tempt UK students

Soaring tuition fees are leading more British students to look abroad and many could be tempted to come to Hong Kong - if they knew what the city's universities had to offer.

That's according to students contemplating coming to the city in the belief that it will work out cheaper than studying at home.

Mikaela Belcher, a 17-year-old high school student from Dorset, southwest England, found the lower cost of student life in Hong Kong "fantastic" during a taster summer course at Polytechnic University last summer.

"The courses looked brilliant - easily one of the best, if not the best," she said, comparing the university to others she looked at. "Another benefit of studying in Hong Kong is its being such an international hub."

She is now hoping to return to Hong Kong after she completes her education in England, after receiving a conditional offer to study law and literature at the University of Hong Kong.

While Hong Kong students who turn down a subsidised local university place to study abroad face bills 10 times higher than in the city, it's a different story for the likes of Belcher, who are suffering after the British government decided two years ago to charge students the full cost of a university education.