British universities are globally recognized to international students for their high-quality education and teaching. There are thousands of students who want to pursue their higher education in the United Kingdom (UK) every year. These students are from different academic levels (foundation, diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctorate), different nations, and different social and financial backgrounds. The foreign students need to pass a credibility interview to study at UK universities.
Credibility Interview
The UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) arranges an interview session to make sure that they are dealing with genuine students and only the legitimate learners are granted the British visa. A credibility interview can be represented as one of the most distinguished parts of foreign students’ visa applications.
Expectations in a Credibility Interview
Firstly, the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) wants to ensure that they are dealing only with the actual students who have strong motivation and are financially stable. The expectations of a credible interview are:
- Students’ immigration history in the UK and other states
- Students’ academic background
- Future goals of the prospective learners
- Financial stability of the intended students
- Objectives for selecting a particular UK university and course
Furthermore, the international students need to ensure that the interviewer will judge them on a different framework in order to look over how prepared and motivated they are to start their higher studies in the UK.
Format of Credibility Interview
Credibility interviews mostly take place over the phone or video conference (skype). However, in some cases, the students might be asked to attend an in-person interview. The interviewer will be making written documentation, profiling the details of the interview. This record will be used later on by the ultimate decision-makers to gauge your chance of selection.
The Interviewer of the Credibility Interview
An official UKVI staff member will take the interview. They will follow a high standard format of an official interview and will ask the students a list of prepared questions. In addition, the interviewer will not guide the applicants at the time of the interview. If the answer is too misty, too short, or too superficial the examiner will not point those out. Finally, the interviewer will ask for a quick response on students’ overall experience.
The Final Decision of Students’ Visa Application
In the UKVI, eventually the ‘Entry Clearance Officer’ will make the decision. Ultimately, they will be accepting or rejecting the students’ visa applications. Although the interviewers are not the final decision maker, they are still accountable whether they qualified as verified students or not.
Commonly Asked Questions in Credibility Interview
Some frequently asked questions in a credibility interview:
- Can you please introduce yourself in a short manner?
- What is the reason for selecting the UK for your higher studies?
- Why do you give preference to your selected university?
- Why this university and where it is located?
- What is your course module and how many credit hours does the course offer?
- Who will finance you throughout your course?
- What is your plan after completing your degree?
- Do you have any UK visa refusal history?
Tips to Help Maestro Your Credibility Interview
Here are some valuable tips and recommendations a student should keep in mind at the time of preparing for his/ her credibility interview.
- Organized and to the Point Answer: During the interview session the interviewer will surely ask you questions related to your university and course. While answering the questions do not say any generic idea or pass any vague information.
- Be Specific about your Aim: The interviewer must not feel any uncertainty that you are not aligned on your goals of studying in the UK. You also must not utter any word or expression or any intention to work or settle down in the UK as it may give them reasons to doubt your objective.
- Show Enthusiasm about Your Coursework and Research: The interviewer needs to be reassured that the students are really passionate and motivated about their university and the degree programme. The students should show them that they have done considerable research about their UK University Degree Programme.
- Explain How You’ll Manage the Living Cost: The students can talk about how well aware they are regarding the accommodation costs, transport, and other everyday costs. They also need to discuss how they are going to afford the expenses and who is going to finance them. So, the students need to be prepared for any sort of question.
- Regulate a Detailed Research about Your Course of Degree: The interviewer would want to know in a detailed manner about your course name, credit hours, duration of the course, whether it is coursework or a research-based programme.
In the end, we assume that you have found this blog convenient and it helped increase your knowledge on credibility interviews. All the best!