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Expats: Education "better abroad"

Two thirds of Britons living abroad say their children are receiving better education overseas, research has revealed.

A poll of more than 2,000 expat parents found 93% believed their offspring had benefited from living abroad.

The upsides included better education (67%), and learning to be self-reliant (82%). Three quarters of those surveyed also felt their children got a boost from living in a different culture and learning a new language.

New Zealand was ranked as having the best schools, followed by Canada and Singapore. The study was carried out by NatWest with think tank Centre for Future Studies.
Dave Isley, from the bank, said: "What we know from this latest report is that most UK expats are experiencing far-reaching benefits, such as an improved quality of life. However, it seems that the children of expat parents are also benefiting in many ways. Parents are reporting that their children are learning to be more independent and learning from the different cultures they are being exposed to."

The report found 55% of Brits living abroad reside in non-English speaking countries.
A total of 2,034 expats living in New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, France, Australia, Hong Kong, China, US, South Africa, UAE, Portugal and Spain were polled about their quality of life between August and October last year.

Source: The Press Association.
Publication date: September 15th 2009

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