Chinese students grapple with study and language pressures, report finds

Recent research has revealed new insights into the experiences of Chinese students studying overseas. The 2025 Chinese Overseas Students White Paper by Xinhuanet, aims to understand the overarching situation of Chinese students studying abroad.

The paper – written by Xinhuanet and supported by Haima Zhongji Group, an overseas academic tutoring brand founded in the UK that specialises in the field of supporting overseas Chinese students in their education – collated responses from students studying abroad and people with study abroad experience.

The respondents cover 23 provincial and municipal administrative regions of China and 33 countries.

Where and at what level Chinese students are studying?

The majority of Chinese students opted to study in English-speaking countries namely the UK, Australia, US, Canada, and New Zealand.

Notably, the UK attracted far more Chinese students to study there than any other country at 35.36% followed by Australia: (22.72%), the US (16.79%), Canada (3.81%), and New Zealand (3.32%).  

As well as the UK’s international reputation in education, researchers behind the paper suggest that a significant factor in the UK’s popularity is its one-year master’s program.

Outside of English-speaking countries, Singapore (7.47%) and Japan (1.44%) attracted international students from China. In total, only 3.6% of students study in other countries, this includes studying in Korea, France, and Thailand.

The single largest age demographic of Chinese students studying abroad is the 18 to 25 age group at 39.07%. Students in the 26 – 32 age group make up 28.55% and the 33-39 age group is 22.01%.

There are smaller but not insignificant numbers of older and younger Chinese also studying abroad. People under the age of 18 represent 3.83% while over 40 make up 6.54%.

This age breakdown reflects the level students are studying at. The overwhelming majority are master’s students at 62.17%, followed by undergraduate study at 29.44%, PHD at 6.15%, high school at 1.82%, and other at 0.43%.

The number of under 18 and high school students represents the small but not insignificant number of Chinese parents who view and can afford to get their children to study abroad before the bachelor’s level as a significant opportunity for them.

What challenges to Chinese students face abroad?

While studying abroad, Chinese students face a variety of different challenges including academic, cultural, and homesickness. By far the biggest issue outlined in the paper is academic with 31% of students finding study pressures the biggest hurdle and 22% stating language barriers.

Outside of academic challenges, 15% of students find adapting to new cultures and lifestyles most difficult, 15% loneliness and homesickness, 10% interpersonal relationship, economic pressures 8%, and other issues 1%.

The report shows that when international students encounter difficulties in life or study, they most often turn to classmates or teachers for help accounting for 34.03%; followed by seeking help online (21.30%), asking family members for help (21.30%), asking the university for help (16.20%), or even asking the Chinese embassy (2.31%), with 4.86% turning to other resources for help.

The fact that only 16.2% turn to the university for help, below talking to family or seeking help online reflects a concern that universities in the UK are not providing enough support to Chinese students.

Meanwhile, the conversation around English proficiency in the UK made mainstream headlines last year when a BBC investigation suggested that international students do not have sufficient English levels, often relying on others to write essays for them.

This white paper offers suggestions for difficulty with English and academic challenges. It states these difficulties “may be because international students have little experience in writing foreign essays and need to have certain logical thinking and expression skills” as well as “difficulties related to the need for international students to adapt to foreign teaching methods and exam content”.

Interviewees expressed that despite studying English for a long time and getting good IELTS results, there are still challenges due to how they learnt English and difficulties in an academic setting.

One interviewee expressed: “As an international student, the first problem you face abroad is the language problem. Even if you get 6.5 or 7 points in the IELTS, you may not be able to understand 100% of what is said in class. Our domestic education is more inclined to the right and wrong grammar and spelling, it does not really teach you how to express your own ideas in English or how to receive information conveyed to you by others in English.”

“Everyone has learned English from elementary school to college, but there is no real opportunity for you to use it,” they continued.

Another respondent explained: “No matter how fluent you are in English, you still can’t understand these [academic] documents. I chose the psychology course at that time, and the pressure was very high. In this situation, you will fall into a state of self-doubt. You will wonder if you have not learned English well enough or if you have not understood it well enough.”

The same interviewee described how they struggled with understanding professional terms in class, choosing often to write down words according to their pronunciation and looking them up after class.

Despite such difficulties, only a quarter of students take up extra English language learning. Those that do find it a worthwhile experience. Overall 77% of students said that their language problems were completely solved, 11% of students said that they had improved, while only 12% of students said that they were still not solved.

How do post-graduation expectations match up to reality?

In total, 45.22% of respondents aim to continue studying abroad once they have finished their degree. Only a small minority are expecting to find work abroad at 6%. While 25.65% wish to find work in China and 11.74% continue their studies in China. Outside of these options, 8.7% answered other (including starting their own business) while 2.61% looked for self-improvement in another way.

For students returning home, family is the single biggest factor driving the decision at 32%. The cultural environment follows at 24.8% followed by the stable social environment at 23.2%. Other smaller factors include domestic policies favouring international students at 7.2%, investment opportunities at 1.6%, more job opportunities at 8.8%, and other reasons at 2.4%.

When returning home, wishes often do not line up with reality for returning overseas students. This is most notable when it comes to pay where students assume they will be on a far higher salary then in reality.

For bachelor’s students, the research showed that only 4.65% and 14.88% thought their salary would be less than 4999rmb (£560) or 5000-6999rmb (£785) per month respectively. However, over half of the students, 25.58% and 27.44% respectively, were on these salaries upon returning to China.

At the other end of the scale, 13.95% expected a salary of over 20,000rmb (£2,225) a month, something only 1.4% achieved.

Despite the challenges they face, and failing to meet salary expectations upon returning to China, Chinese international students are still overly satisfied by their overseas experience, the report outlined.

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