Pros and cons of living in the UK: England through the eyes of Russians

How do Russian migrants get to England?

Who has what chances to immigrate?

Residents of Russia have the opportunity to migrate to England if they study there or decide to open their own business.
The British Embassy encourages more visas to be issued to entrepreneurs and investors who will be able to contribute directly to the economy in the future. We also need creative artists: artists, directors, writers.

The people who are most likely to immigrate to England from Russia are those whom the country recognizes as economically and socially useful.

What options for obtaining visas to England exist?

In order for citizens of the Russian Federation to enter the UK, they must obtain an entry permit. There are different versions of this document:

• Visa for a tourist visit. It gives you the opportunity to stay in the country for up to 6 months in order to get acquainted with the culture and main attractions.
• If you are an outstanding, creative person who will bring something significant to UK culture, then you will need an Exceptional Talent visa.
• A family visa is intended for those whose relatives or legal spouse reside in the UK.
• For work. It has completely different durations and subtypes, depending on the type of activity abroad.
• Drawing up documents for doing business. It is designed for individual entrepreneurs who decide to establish their commercial business in the territory. This visa provides the opportunity for both permanent residence and temporary dependence, depending on its type.
• For students. Students studying at universities in England are granted a student visa. It usually needs to be updated every year.

Is there a problem with illegal migration?

Britain is breaking all its records for the influx of migrants from other countries. Last year their number exceeded 600 thousand people, which was a 28% increase from last year.

Most often, illegal immigrants get across the border hiding in the back of trucks, which indicates poor quality customs work. Migrants mainly come from Africa, Asian countries and the Middle East.

Population characteristics and quality of life in the UK

In terms of demographic characteristics, Great Britain is a typical Western European country with low birth and death rates and almost zero natural increase. This modern situation contrasts sharply with the 19th century, when, despite massive emigration to all corners of the world, the country's population almost tripled. Life expectancy is high - about 78 years.

The United Kingdom today is a multinational and multiracial state. The British make up 82% of the population (about the same as Russians in Russia). About 10% are Scots, 2% each are Welsh and Irish. About 3% of the population are naturalized immigrants from the British colonies.

Ethnically, the British were formed in the process of mixing the Romans, Celtic and Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) tribes. English is part of the northwestern group of Germanic languages. The British are famous for their love of tradition and thrift. Individualism nurtured over centuries, embodied in the principle “My home is my castle,” is combined with a desire for communication: in the life of the British, all kinds of societies and clubs, as well as spending many hours in pubs (English bars), have always played an important role. England is the birthplace of many sports games, in particular football.

The Welsh, Scots, and Scottish “highlanders” Gaels are Celtic peoples. All over the world, Scottish men are known for their original national attributes: wearing skirts (kilts) and playing the bagpipes. It is noteworthy that many Scots still wear skirts in everyday life. By their ornament one can recognize not only the historical homeland of the owner, but also belonging to one or another family. The British consider themselves reasonable, calm, patient, well-mannered and possessing a subtle sense of humor, while the “Celtics” (Scots and Irish) consider themselves romantic, easily excitable and impulsive. The Celts believe that the English are overly arrogant and cold.

If among the Scots and Welsh separatist sentiments do not find the support of the majority, then the British have tense relations with the Irish. The fact is that Northern Ireland was only annexed to Great Britain in 1922, when the rest of Ireland gained independence. Fate decreed that three peoples of different faiths were determined to live together on the same territory: Irish Catholics, Scottish Protestants (Presbyterians) and Englishmen (Anglicans). At the same time, the indigenous population, the Irish, found themselves in the minority. The smoldering religious conflict is in fact a complex knot of not only and not so much interfaith contradictions as the struggle of economic, social, political and clan interests.

The problem of immigrants, of whom there are more than a million in the country, is also getting worse. These are mainly immigrants from India, Pakistan, and the Caribbean countries. More than half of the immigrants settled in Greater London. The “Islamic” factor is becoming increasingly significant in the political and economic life of English society. An extensive network of various Islamic organizations has been created in the country, some of which attract increased attention from British intelligence services, especially after the September 11, 2001 bombing of a shopping center in New York.

The employment structure of the population is typical for a modern developed country, and post-industrial trends are especially pronounced here. 70% of the working population is employed in the non-material sector - these are the so-called “white collar” workers, most of whom work in the financial sector. Less than 20% of workers are employed in the sphere of material production, and less than 1% in the agricultural sector. The unemployment rate is changeable; in the first years of the new century it was quite high - about 6%, which indicates a not very favorable situation in the country’s economy as a whole.

The social composition of the population also has its own characteristics. In recent centuries, Great Britain has not experienced such tremendous upheavals as the Great French or October Revolutions. The old family aristocracy has still been preserved here, although its role in the life of the country has long become of secondary importance. After the deprivation of peers of lifelong seats in the House of Lords, the influence of the aristocracy was reduced to almost nothing. But it was in Great Britain that, before other countries, the middle class became the key class, uniting today more than half of the country's population. The “Middle class” is the mainstay of the modern English economy and has been the most popular class for several decades. He really is average in many ways, including in terms of income.

The working class, the main protagonist of the Industrial Revolution, today makes up less than 1/5 of the population. And K. Marx wrote that the peasantry in England ceased to exist as a class by the beginning of the 19th century.

Great Britain is a densely populated country. The population density in England is over 350 people. per km2, Wales - 130, Scotland and Northern Ireland - about 100. Another distinctive feature is the ultra-high level of urbanization, 90% of the population lives in cities, almost half of them live in cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people. The largest agglomerations (more than 1 million people): London, West Midlands with a center in Birmingham, Merseyside around Liverpool, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire (Leeds-Bradford), South Yorkshire (Sheffield-Rotherham) and Clydeside around Glasgow . Greater London has about 10 million people.

London is not only the capital of Great Britain, but also, as already mentioned, one of the world cities - the most important nodes in the framework of the modern global economic system. It was founded almost two thousand years ago (more than twice as old as Moscow). Each historical district of the city has its own history and functions. The oldest of them are Westminster and the City. Westminster is the political, administrative and religious center of the kingdom. Here is the building of the English Parliament with the famous Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, where I, Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens are buried. The City is the main business part of London, and the boundaries of the City run along the line of the fortress walls of the Roman Londinium. The Westend has traditionally been a wealthy aristocratic area of ​​the capital, while Eastend, located closer to the docks on the Thames, has been a working-class area. It is built up with unsightly, uniform, good-quality houses. Today, the visual boundaries between the central districts have largely been erased. This is due, firstly, to the rapid post-war development of the city, including the center. During World War II, London was heavily damaged by massive German bombing. Secondly, its functional structure has changed significantly and become more complex, which contributed to the erosion of the old, more rigid territorial organization. In the last decades of the 20th century. Many Londoners moved from the city center to a more environmentally friendly suburbanization “donut”, and the center began to be increasingly populated by immigrants of all stripes. There are a lot of foreign tourists in the center. Walking through Piccadilly or Trafalgar Square, you can’t help but remember the biblical Babylonian pandemonium. Particular attention is drawn to the unique elements of the famous English conservatism: telephone booths of the early 20th century, taxis designed in the 1930s, double-decker buses. Moreover, they are all equipped with ultra-modern “filling”.

After the war, eight new satellite cities of the so-called London Ring were built around London, which reduced the housing burden, but at the same time increased pressure on the capital's transport infrastructure.

The second largest city in the UK, Birmingham is the center of the West Midlands Conurbation (more than 2.5 million people). This is a classic industrial-urban agglomeration, the birth and “golden age” of which falls on the era of “coal and steel”.

In recent decades, the government has taken measures to regulate the ongoing process of decline of old industrial cities and agglomerations, associated primarily with the growth of post-industrial trends in the economy. These measures made it possible to somewhat alleviate the severity of social problems generated by massive internal migrations of the population and the death of hundreds of settlements.

A very interesting phenomenon in Great Britain is new cities. These are cities that began to be created “from scratch” according to special master plans back at the end of the 19th century. They were laid out as cities of the future: scientifically based optimal planning, creation of an extensive infrastructure, maximum consideration of environmental parameters of the quality of life. Now there are about a hundred such cities in the UK. Many of them have become R&D centers, the cores of technopolises.

In terms of key indicators of quality of life, the UK ranks among highly developed countries, although, according to UN experts, the integral assessment for the 1990s. not brilliant - 10-15th place in the world depending on the year, behind countries such as Iceland, Belgium and Australia. This is due, in particular, to the growth of the “poverty index” and the difficult environmental situation. Nevertheless, in terms of quality of life indicator such as actual final household consumption (at PPP), the UK is ahead of Germany and France. Hourly wages here are higher than in the US (£10.3 in 2000). It is also important that the differences in living standards between the city and the countryside have been practically erased.

There are geographical differences in the standard and quality of life in the UK. The highest income levels are in the counties of the south and southeast of England and southern Scotland. Living in a quiet provincial town or village is not only more comfortable, but also more prestigious than in bustling London. The population of Wales and Ulster (Northern Ireland) is traditionally poorer, which is aggravated by the crisis in a number of key sectors of the economy, especially the coal industry and shipbuilding. It has the highest unemployment rate in the UK and relatively low incomes (one third lower than the UK average).

Adaptation on the spot: life in England through the eyes of Russians

Migration is one of the most stressful situations for a person, since he finds himself in a different, completely alien environment. Despite the fact that moving to a new country, especially if it is large and progressive, is always a holiday and joy in the initial stages. But, unfortunately, as soon as a person begins to encounter difficulties in language, mentality and other aspects, life becomes much more difficult and no longer seems ideal.

The main difficulties in adaptation on site:

• Left side traffic. For residents of Russia and the CIS countries, it is quite difficult to get used to driving on the left in Britain, especially if the car has a manual gearbox.
• The language barrier. Even with a good knowledge of English, at first it will be difficult for visitors to maintain a collective conversation or understand some slang expressions, since England has a huge number of dialects and accents.
• Payment of utility bills, the system of which should be understood.

To make it more comfortable for a Russian person to adapt to a new place, he should find new friends not only among locals, but also among fellow migrants. They are ready to help their fellow countrymen and, moreover, have extensive experience of living in a new country.

To master the language perfectly, you can enroll in courses. In every city in Britain there are schools where migrants are constantly accepted and taught both grammar and spoken English. Most of the courses are paid, but if you search hard, you will find a couple of language evening schools that offer free training. For example, such as Learn Direct, ESOL, Friends Center.

Sometimes people offer to exchange language knowledge, that is, you teach them Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian or another, and they teach you English.

Great Britain - reviews from those who moved

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f1sh

https://www.the-village.ru/village/business/go/236013-velikobritaniya

Prices for electricity and gas are simply sky-high + housing and communal services bills are also very high, and if the house also has an elevator, then get ready to fork out some cash.

Living in Glasgow, on average I spent about £200 a month on utility bills.

If you rent an apartment, then add these 200 pounds to the rent, although the housing prices there were quite reasonable, you could rent a 2-bedroom apartment for 600 pounds (then it was about 30k rubles, now it’s about 56k). Those. If desired, the 800 pounds needed to live in a warm apartment can be divided by 2, i.e. 400 lbs.

Natalie Bartkova

https://knowabroad.com/moj-london/zhizn-v-londone/pervy-e-vpechatleniya-o-zhizni-v-londone.html

I read it and remembered my first impressions of London... It’s cramped! My view was cramped - there was nowhere to roam - since the houses were pressed against each other, the distance to the roadway was not great, and the roads were a bit narrow (by our standards).. and also - Russian speech.. I lived in a hotel, and decided “ “to show off” my English, but they didn’t understand me: women worked there... from Bulgaria and they asked me to communicate in Russian. since they knew Russian better than English)) such oddities. From your story I learned a lot that I didn’t know. Thank you.

Irina

https://www.baby.ru/community/view/125878/forum/post/415622208/

There is now a huge wave of emigrants there, all over Eupoppa, and even more so in old England. There are only Arabs around, they live in communities, according to their own rules and traditions. My cousin lived there for 10 years and is now planning to return. I wouldn't interfere.

Misteeq

https://childfreeadeqat.mybb.ru/viewtopic.php?id=2342

laws do protect animals, but not as much as we would like. In our town, a scandal recently broke out: two teenagers (brothers) beat their bulldog, threw him down the steps, jumped on him and filmed everything on camera. the video ended up on the Internet and then the case reached the police and later the court. the dog died from injuries, and the young bastards received a lifelong ban on keeping animals and a suspended sentence. that is, there was no real punishment - I don’t think that they suffer much from the inability to have animals or from the inability to leave the country (and then only for a year, if I’m not mistaken). but then a miracle happened - people united and survived the bastards from the town. now on social media On networks, people tell each other where they were seen and therefore have to move from place to place. So lynching really ruined their lives, and law enforcement agencies did not punish them in any way. Now people are collecting signatures to reconsider this case and demand justice.

in fact, they always threaten with imprisonment here, but they are so scary. in fact, such crimes are not particularly severely punished. Drugs are a different matter; you can get really punished for them. but petty theft, cruelty to animals, beatings, nothing is particularly strictly punished.

We do not have stray cats or dogs. If an animal is found on the street, it is taken to a shelter, where the microchip is read and the owners are found. If the owners are not found, they give it to other people. The shelter does not give out animals for free - there is a certain amount that is then spent on the needs of the shelter. Microchips have been mandatory since April this year.

Instead of stray cats, we have “stray” foxes. but not like we are used to seeing in photographs - they look very sad. mangy dirty fur, skinny bodies, tails that are not fluffy at all. They are not afraid to walk around the city, and at night they howl terribly and move containers. They are afraid of people, that is, you can’t pet a fox, but you can get very close.

For some reason there are a lot of green parrots in London. I heard that a couple of parrots escaped from the zoo and then bred in the wild. While I lived in London, I often woke up in the morning to the screams of parrots. It’s a pity there are no photos - the tree is covered with bright green parrots.

Misteeq

https://childfreeadeqat.mybb.ru/viewtopic.php?id=2342

I decided to talk about life in England, if anyone is interested

It would be very interesting to hear comparisons with life in Russia and other countries. I have never been to Russia, my idea of ​​it consists of films, TV series, stories from bloggers and various forums.

For ease of reading, I will divide everything point by point.

1) climate.

everything they write about the nasty English weather is true. We don’t see the sun for six months or more, many suffer from a lack of vitamin D. There is not as much fog as they say, but it rains almost constantly. Heavy downpours are quite rare; mostly there is a light, nasty drizzle. I heard that it also rains a lot in St. Petersburg, is this true?

2) people.

Films often show mannered Englishmen sipping tea from an antique service. in fact, there are more than enough homeless people and drunks here. and gopniks are a dime a dozen. Yesterday I was driving to work, looking at people and feeling sad - most of them look nothing at all. faces are rumpled, drunk, voices are smoky. no manners, all swearing and vulgar behavior (throwing garbage at your feet, shouting across the entire bus, etc.)

Yes, they always say “thank you,” but that’s where manners end. There are towns that are more expensive, and there are fewer gopniks there, because... all drunks and gops usually live in state houses, and in expensive towns/regions the state does not allocate houses. in the evenings I try not to leave the house and return before it gets dark, since there are also plenty of drug addicts here, as well as nationalists. There are practically no English people in London, mostly immigrants. but I felt safer there.

3) benefits.

There are a lot of benefits here; almost every Englishman has received benefits at least once in his life. Also, many Englishmen live their entire lives on benefits (from 16 years to retirement). the state allocates houses for which people pay pennies; sometimes these houses can be bought (the conditions are more favorable than if you take out a mortgage). Anyone can get in line for the state. housing, but children receive priority. then disabled people and pensioners. Sometimes you get the impression that they also have children here just for the sake of the house. if there is one child, they give you an apartment or a small house. if two children are of different sexes, each is entitled to a room, that is, parents receive at least a four-room house. vouchers are also given for furniture and repairs, the state pays part of the bills for water, gas, etc. many mothers lie to the government that they are single mothers, thus snatching up even more benefits. There are decent families who spend child benefits as they should. but there is also a considerable proportion of those who drink away their benefits. several years ago it was proposed to issue benefits not in money, but in coupons, so there was such a stink about this. Of course, coupons are not so easy to drink.

It's a shame that our taxes are spent on maintaining such parasites. and they continue to multiply.

4) child-centrism

developed as elsewhere. here they are pampered and cherished to the point of absurdity. for example, any physical Punishments are prohibited, and moral harm is also prohibited. social the services do not sleep - if someone complains somewhere, they rush at full speed to check. Children are selected almost in the wrong way. Therefore, for every bruise on a child, parents report to teachers, since they always report everything to social services. services. If you punish the foal (not physically, but for example, take away the tablet) and he complains to his parents at school, expect a visit from social services. workers who will be watching your every move for a very long time. What we have as a result: children who are spoiled beyond belief, who do not know how to behave and have absolutely no respect for adults. There are no punishments for them and they know it. This makes them go crazy and do whatever comes into their head. I, an adult, am afraid of 11-year-old girls, because they can throw out anything. not children, but some kind of animals.

5) the attitude towards Russians is very strange. at first everyone thinks that I am Polish, Canadian, etc. but as soon as they find out that she’s Russian, even their attitude changes. They seem to be afraid or very respectful, it’s hard to say. but the attitude changes instantly and for the better. Everyone as one makes jokes about vodka with glasses, and I back it up with stories about tame bears.

Well, I wrote it here. Sorry for the many letters, if you're interested, I can write more. share your opinion and comparisons with life in your country, I will read with pleasure

Galya

https://www.baby.ru/community/view/125878/forum/post/415622208/

They even turn on the heating in the most severe frosts and wash themselves from one basin in order to save water - the utilities there are prohibitive. If you are not rich, it is very difficult to find a job, only in service.

Maxim Rykov

https://www.the-village.ru/village/business/go/236013-velikobritaniya

Tax deductions in the UK are impressive: income from 11 to 43 thousand is taxed at 20%, from 43 thousand - at 40%.

In other words,

42000*0.8=33600 pounds

43000*0.6=25800 lbs.

Although, go find that other job for 43,000...

Tin

https://www.woman.ru/psycho/career/thread/3930227/

Author, I can’t, I haven’t lived in the UK, but I’ve been, and I’ve talked quite a lot with the British, I don’t like them. The French are better, a proud nation. France is a very beautiful country, more interesting than England.

Guest

https://www.woman.ru/psycho/career/thread/3930227/

It all depends on how you arrange yourself. I really like it in England. And the people around me are pleasant, and the neighbors are friendly. Yes, I will never become a “local”, but I have never felt any negativity towards myself as a Russian. I find life in England cheaper than in France, although statistics say the opposite. Very often there are big discounts on products. And not only in the summer and post-Christmas period. And a lot more goods “for the middle class”. Whereas in France there is a greater gap between expensive exclusives and low-grade consumer goods with no reasonable middle ground. England and France are beautiful in their own way and it’s stupid to compare them. But the climate is definitely worse in England. I can't say anything about French medicine. But in England it is blatantly disgusting. And compared to Germany it is at a medieval level.

Galya

https://www.baby.ru/community/view/125878/forum/post/415622208/

It’s gorgeous everywhere if you have money)))) My friend’s sister lives in London, she has 3 children. You have to retrain for work (our diplomas don’t count), it’s very difficult to adapt (the British mentality is peculiar), the rules of life and behavior are different.

Alice

https://www.woman.ru/psycho/career/thread/3930227/

No matter how long you live in England, for the locals you will always be a foreigner, despite the fact that they are mostly good people with humor, and yet with their inherent share of stiffness and a certain importance, it is quite difficult there in terms of communication, what you are used to in your homeland, you can’t just barge in on a visit, even relatives call in advance, but in different parts of England there are different people. A very expensive country, you can live, but many things will surprise you and you will not understand many things.

solo-angel

https://forum.awd.ru/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=229080

I went to the UK to study the language. This is given for 2 years.

Then you can upgrade and go to university, you can get a student loan.

4 more years.

Well, during this time, find a way to legalize yourself: either get married, or find a professional job and get a work visa.

Eureka

https://www.woman.ru/psycho/career/thread/3930227/

I lived in England for 4 years, from 14 to 18 years old. It is difficult to join the team, the British are on their own, xenophobes, full of all sorts of strange ideas about how everything should be. They sincerely consider themselves the highest nation on earth, and if you try to object, they will simply twist your head. Although they are not evil or treacherous. But they always keep their distance. Now I'm in Germany, when compared, it wins a lot. Although the Germans are also often strange - like robots performing the task assigned to them - they make contact much easier. It's easy to get into the company. But the attitude towards Russians here is not so hot - people from the Soviet Union, mostly an uneducated stratum of “Germans” from Kazakhstan, tried their best. I don’t encounter such a problem in my life, because I have a European appearance and I communicate in academic circles, but there were a couple of times on the phone that I received a completely different service when they heard my Russian accent on the other end.

Natalia-idiotino

https://www.woman.ru/psycho/career/thread/3930227/

I have been living in London for the past 3 years. It’s not difficult to get along with the English, but they will still consider you a foreigner, and every day you will have to prove that you are not a camel, and that you are worth something just like they are locals. They are reluctantly allowed into their society, in order to be friends like us. I am married to an Englishman (although he calls himself European). He was born in England, his father is German, and his mother is Dutch; Although he was born here, and people seem to consider him an Englishman, there are still people who, looking at his last name, consider him a non-local. For the British, it is very important what place you occupy in society (working class, middle class, upper class). My husband belongs to the latter and therefore it is difficult for me to communicate with people NOT of this class. I work at a school, teaching English. It’s better if you have a university education, you will be appreciated, because many Englishmen do not have an education higher than our vocational school. At school this is especially striking, and I am very surprised that until the 8th-9th grade, children can neither read nor write. Therefore, foreigners (eg Poles, Russians and other nationalities) study very well, and sometimes even better than the English themselves, for whom English is their native language. In general, England is a country of opportunity, but here, as everywhere else, you need to work to live well.

Vadim

https://nesiditsa.ru/emigration/moya-emigratsiya-v-angliyu-ili-londonskie-zapiski

I live in Britain too. The article is correct. It was somehow instilled in us in Russia and the USSR that there was paradise in the west. And people still think that way. But this is not true. It's hard to live here. For African Indians and other immigrants who have absolutely nothing in their homeland, this may be a way out - to live here.

The myth about high incomes:

My salary is 30,000 a year,

on hand 1800 per month.

50% goes to pay for housing (I live on the outskirts in a small town not in London, of course)

For an example of other expenses, paying for lunches at school for a child is 100 pounds per month.

Not by bread alone

As the author correctly noted, there is virtually no industry here. You travel around the country and don’t understand how one of the largest economies lives. There are no industrial enterprises. All the land on the island has been trampled many times over its centuries-old history; everything has already been dug up, cut down, and paved over. This reminds me of a computer game - a strategy game where one of the civilizations has completely exhausted its resources. It has many houses, a large population, all this requires resources for maintenance, but there is no prospect of just how to capture other people's civilizations.

In contrast, Russia is a developing country in a good sense with a lot of resources and therefore with prospects

One problem is that people in Russia think that their life is worse.

To be fair, I will say that the people in the institutions here are very polite. The client is used to feeling right. And it’s calm in terms of crime (not in large cities).

I dream of going to Russia one day and encountering constant rudeness and dirt there, so that I might get my face stuffed in order to say later that it seems good on TV in Russia, but it’s impossible to live there.

Denis

https://reconomica.ru/money/how much-life-in-England costs/

I was in London while still a student. I’ll say right away that this is not a country for the poor or even for people of average income. VERY expensive rent, VERY expensive communications (as mentioned in the article), good food is not cheap either. You won’t be able to find a job without advanced language skills, so think carefully about what you can offer to this country.

Labor employment in Foggy Albion

The UK is a high wage country. That is why not only Europeans, but also Russians are trying to get there.

The level of competition for jobs in the United Kingdom is high. This applies to both prestigious work positions and vacancies in the service sector. But despite this, if you are a professional in your field, you will definitely not be left without work. Britain always needs smart specialists who can work for the benefit of the country's economic development.

Who gets paid the most?

Some of the most lucrative jobs in the UK:

• Programmers and workers in other fields in the development of IT technologies.
• Architect. Designer.
• 3D artist.
• Lawyer and lawyer.
• Manager at a project and personnel management company.
• Director of private business.
• Design engineer.
• Doctors.

Important

If you want to get a well-paid job in England, then you definitely cannot do without a higher education diploma.

Professions in demand for immigrants:

• IT specialists.
• Architects.
• Engineers.
• Private entrepreneurs.

As for the attitude of the United Kingdom towards individual entrepreneurs, they are always open to such people. There is even a special visa for them, and a passport is issued more easily than for any other migrants. There are two ways: have significant capital to start a business or, if you are a student, apply for funding to a university with a business plan. The British government is interested in having as many good and resourceful businessmen in the country as possible, as this creates new jobs, boosts the economy and attracts investment.

Salaries in the land of fogs

Life in the UK is more expensive than in Russia, so salaries are several times higher, even when it comes to working in the service sector.

The minimum wage starts at 11,000 thousand per year. Basically, such wages are received either by migrants who initially earn extra money as interns, or by the indigenous population without education.

Average salaries in England by region (graph)

The net average income per capita after taxes is much lower because in England residents pay large sums to the government every month. The taxation system is clear: the more you earn, the more they deduct from you. For example, for a resident of England with an annual salary from 20,000 to 38,000 thousand pounds, the state deducts 20 percent in its favor. And with a salary of more than 38 thousand, the tax is 30%.

Earnings

Many people ask the question: what is the salary in England? Everything, of course, depends on the city of residence. Let's look at salaries in London. A school teacher receives 30 thousand pounds a year (almost 3 million rubles). The position of school director is represented by a salary of up to 50 thousand pounds (almost 5 million rubles). The average salary of a doctor is 60 thousand pounds, and private doctors receive almost twice as much. A lawyer's salary is one of the highest in London - a professional with solid work experience can earn up to 70 thousand pounds a year, and a lawyer in an international company can earn several thousand more. Directors and managers of successful companies earn more than £100,000 a year. Programmers receive from 50 thousand a year. The high salary of a lawyer attracts many - in England there is an overabundance of people in this profession, but not many professionals. Over the past few years, lawyers who work for themselves have been paid the same as freelance taxi drivers or drivers.

Quality of English education

According to statistics, 32 of the 200 best universities in the world are located in the UK. Not only local applicants, but also Russian-speaking citizens dream of getting into the country’s universities.

Levels of education

General education (preschool)

This stage is very important for children from two to five years old, because the main emphasis is on teaching discipline and socialization in society. This helps prepare the child for school.

In addition, in British kindergartens, children learn to read, draw, write, and they try to develop them in every possible way in creative directions. Unlike Russian kindergartens, the groups are much smaller, so it is easier to find an individual approach for each child.

This is interesting

In Britain, there are both private institutions of general education, where parents pay a lot of money for the education of their children, and public institutions. If you want to leave your child for more than 15 hours a week, then you will have to pay extra for this. Attending a preschool educational institution is not mandatory, unlike a secondary one.

Secondary education

Secondary school education for children is divided into several main periods:

• From 6 to 11 years of age primary education. During this period, children are taught English, mathematics, basic history, geography, as well as the development of thinking and creativity. All subjects during this period are strictly required, but their variability changes as the child moves to another stage of education.
• From 11 to 14 years of age, the time of middle school begins in a student’s life. Sciences such as chemistry, physics and biology are added to the main subjects. The rest is left to the discretion of students and their parents. They make an independent choice in favor of one or another academic discipline, depending on their preferences and hobbies.
• From the ages of 14 to 16, preparation begins for a mandatory exam for all students to certify the acquired secondary educational knowledge.
• 16 – 18 years old. For these two years, those students who intend to further enter a higher education institution remain. They are prepared for exams for admission to a university in the very subjects they have chosen.

If a student wants to start working as quickly as possible, then he leaves school after 16 years of age and goes to receive a special technical education. At school, the year is divided into 3 parts, each of which lasts 12 weeks. At this stage, the task of teachers is not only to give the child knowledge, but also to help him decide on what he wants to become in the future.

Higher education

Getting a tower in the United Kingdom is very prestigious, especially for Russian-speaking people. Some universities in England have real history, being hundreds of years old. After school, the applicant chooses several higher educational institutions:

• College.
• University.

Higher education can last from six to eight years: 3 years are allocated for a bachelor's degree, 1-2 for a master's degree and 2-3 for a postgraduate course. Students take exams to enter the university, after which they participate in a competition for places. The higher the score, the more likely you are to be accepted into the university.

One of the most memorable differences between the British education system and the Russian one is the presence of separate closed schools for boys and girls. This tradition dates back to the distant past and to this day it is believed that it distracts children less from their studies. It is also worth noting the evaluation system. If in Russia these are points, then in the UK they use a grading system from A to U.

What are the types of scholarships and grants?

Russian students can study at the most expensive universities in the United Kingdom and at the same time receive special scholarships and grants, which is a big advantage of living in England:

• Hill Scholarship. The Hill Foundation is a foundation that provides charitable support to migrants from Russia and Israel who choose to study at Oxford. This charitable scholarship fully covers the cost of study and living in the UK. Hill support is awarded only for excellent academic performance.
• Felix Foundation. These scholarships are awarded to students from low-income families who wish to study in England. The Felix Foundation fully covers the costs of training, accommodation, food and flights to the country. The most important criteria for issuing this scholarship are: to have a low-income family, to have never previously studied abroad, to have excellent academic performance, and not to get a job in England after receiving a diploma.
• British grant for artists. For one person they can allocate from 1,000 to 100,000 thousand pounds. Both Russians and foreigners can apply for this grant. The type of activity is not important: poetry, music, dancing, drawing and more.
• Scholarship for scientists. It is intended for talented researchers in the field of medicine, exact sciences and other disciplines.
• Grant for projects in the social sphere that are carried out in groups. For a good idea you get from 300 pounds to 10,000 thousand. The most important thing is to prove to the foundation commission how significant your project is for the development and improvement of society.
• Journalism scholarship, which is awarded to talented students of English universities from Eastern Europe and the former countries of the USSR.
• Sports scholarship for individuals and sports groups.
• Shell is a company that helps British university students pay for their tuition fees and other required expenses.

You can get scholarships and grants, but the main thing is to find out all the information in advance and have excellent academic performance at the university.

Languages

The official language in the state is English. It developed from Old English, using French, Norman and Latin. The popularity of English is due to the development of the British Empire, thanks to its development throughout the world and the language itself spread throughout the world and became the second most popular. Scots is used primarily in the country of the same name and is quite popular in Europe. There are also four popular Celtic languages ​​in Britain: Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and Irish.

The population of the state usually speaks several languages. This is due to the need to learn a second language before reaching a certain age - up to 14 years in England, up to 16 in Scotland. Most often, the choice falls on French and German as a second language. In Wales, Welsh is a compulsory or second language in schools until the age of sixteen. At the same time, a little more than half of all residents of this country can speak it fluently.

Grocery costs for those living in the UK

It is important for every student to distribute their finances for household needs: food, housing, utility bills. When people come to a new country, they become interested in food prices, since this is how they can understand what to expect financially from the new country.

Food prices in Britain vary by region. We have prepared for you a table of the main food products that are present in every person’s diet, as well as the average price for them.

The price of food corresponds to British wages, which is a disadvantage of living in England for migrants. And those people who smoke pay about 8 pounds for one pack of cigarettes. Prices for tobacco products surprise tourists the most.

The British are quite selective when it comes to food and drink. The basic diet of an Englishman includes:

1. Morning breakfast. For an ordinary Englishman, the morning begins with a cup of tea or coffee, followed by a hearty breakfast. The first meal should be the most nutritious to give you energy for the whole day. May include several dishes at once: oatmeal, scrambled eggs and bacon, jam with a bun, beans in tomato sauce and more.
2. Lunch, or as the indigenous population calls it, second breakfast, usually takes place in a cafe or restaurant. At this time, everyone is at work, so going home to have lunch is completely inconvenient. It includes: meat or fish, a side dish of various vegetables, salads, bruschetta, cheese and more.
3. The typical English dinner takes place late, and for many families it is the most important meal of the day as everyone is reunited around the table. Dinner almost always includes a meat dish (wings, steak, chops) and a side dish of vegetables.

The British spend the most on meat and meat products, as they are included in almost all meals. They also do not refuse to visit a restaurant with their friends or family. When it comes to saving on groceries, the British simply buy in large quantities if there are no promotions. For example, buying a large tray of eggs is cheaper than buying two small ones.

Made by them

I decided to write a series of posts about life in England. Many people have their heads full of clichés about life in the West and in Britain in particular, which have little to do with reality. Tourism is one thing, but life in the country is completely different. I already wrote something in subkey posts, so I will repeat myself from time to time

I'll start with household items. Cost of living, salaries, etc.

The level of salaries in Britain depends on the regions. In London it is higher than in the country, but the cost of living here is also higher than in the regions. Therefore, in percentage terms there is not much difference.

The minimum wage in England is £6.19 per hour before taxes. This works out to £884 per month after taxes. Minimum wage tax is 10 percent. This money is only enough to rent a room far from the center, for food and a little free money left if you eat bread and potatoes. If you eat more or less normally, then there will be no free money left.

Taxes here depend on how much you earn. The tax system is quite complex, I will not describe in detail, I will say that from approximately 20K to 38K per year - tax and other deductions are 20%. From 38K to 70K – 35%. Then 42 percent starts. If your earnings are from or above 300 thousand per year, you pay 54%. Cool really. He took half the salary and unfastened it. A huge incentive to earn more.

Salary also depends on who and where you work, of course. Next, I will write in more detail about the features of a career in Britain. If we talk about employees, then lawyers, doctors and financiers earn the most (by lawyers I mean solicitors, barristers, i.e. lawyers work for themselves, individual entrepreneurs, self-employed, if the lawyer managed to build a developed practice, then the income very high).

A fully qualified lawyer with sufficient practice experience receives approximately 50-70 grand per year, but this is in London. It also depends on the area of ​​specialization and the company. In international law firms, an ordinary lawyer can earn a hundred grand. But for these hundred grand they will tear off three skins and you can go crazy. More on this later. Doctors in the public sector receive the same amount, approximately 50-70. (private doctors are much larger)

Six figure salary i.e. In Britain, managers, directors and partners of companies usually receive salaries of 100 thousand per year and above.

Teachers earn approximately 30 thousand a year. But it depends on the length of service and the system is quite complex. School directors can earn up to 50

A remarkable fact: taxi drivers, electricians and plumbers earn almost on par with ordinary lawyers and doctors if they work as self-employed, i.e. as individual entrepreneurs.

It’s quite difficult to say what the average salary in Britain is, because it depends on so many factors: gender, industry, city, length of service

Let's look at an example slightly above average and look at the level and quality of life in this case. Let’s say a person is about 30 years old, he has a higher education and professional qualifications (these things are not interchangeable, more on this later) and he works in his specialty, that is, his position is very good, he’s quite middle class, he lives in London. In this case, a person would earn approximately 32 grand per year before taxes. After taxes per month it turns out to be a net 2000 pounds (one hundred thousand in rubles). Now the monthly expenses are broken down:

Housing : More or less normal separate housing not in settlements, a one-bedroom flat is an analogue of a one-room apartment (I will write in more detail about what this is in reality later). About 900 pounds per month. Not including bills.

Bills (electricity, water, telephone, internet) approximately £120 per month (higher in winter due to heating)

Council tax (council tax, it is mandatory, the tenant usually pays) 120 pounds per month approximately

Student loan (a loan to pay for university is provided by the government, which is then deducted from your salary, more on that later): approximately £100

Transport : monthly pass for central London only, £100. (the price of the pass depends on the metro zones)

In total , after all these payments, 660 pounds remains in hand.

Food expenses (at home) approximately £400 per month. The total remains 260.

Now we need to calculate the expenses for social life i.e. a trip to the bars on a Friday night usually results in an average of £50 (this does not include restaurants). If you go out 4 times a month, that already comes out to £200. 60 pounds left. We have not yet counted clothes, snacks in cafes, restaurants and other expenses: dentist, gym, health insurance (if a person does not want to use state medicine), etc.. But there is simply no money left for them, as you can see. There is no question of postponing anything at all.

Therefore, people generally do not rent separate housing; almost everyone rents rooms until a certain point, mainly until they start cohabiting with someone.

Let's do the math for the room. A good room, so that you can live in it and not spend time in it, costs about 600 pounds a month. Let's add the difference between the rent of an apartment and a room to the balance. That leaves us with 360 pounds. Add to this some savings on bills, and you get about £450 in the balance of “free” money

Let's consider that a person ate in a restaurant 4 times a month (about 100 pounds), bought a couple of rags - 100 pounds, traveled outside London to another city to visit friends or in nature, again on average a hundred pounds (more on inflated transport prices later). Instead of drinking or going out, you can substitute theater and spending on hobbies, and if you add more, then there will be nothing left at all

As you can see, after a month when you are active, you don’t sit at home, you don’t have a penny left in reserve, in theory you can save £150 a month, but in practice no one succeeds. If you go on vacation, you usually pay with a credit card. Almost no one from this stratum has any savings.

Let me remind you that I also took the option of a professional with good work experience, the so-called. middle class, which can rise to the upper middle class by retirement if there is a successful career and the person rises to the rank of manager.

There are also a lot of office workers who perform all sorts of administrative tasks, sorting out papers, secretarial duties, etc. In this case, the salary is from 20 to 22 thousand per year. Net per month is approximately 1200-1400 pounds. Let me remind you that we took into account a salary of 2000 net. And from 1400 you can only live from paycheck to paycheck, dressing in first-class clothes, and drinking beer in pubs as a leisure activity.

In smaller cities, expenses are lower, but salaries are also lower, so there is no saving either.

It’s hard to imagine how to plan your home in this situation. Let me say briefly for now that in England it is not customary to live with parents after leaving school, even if the parents live in the same city. Also, parents hardly help with saving for housing. They can lend, but they won’t just give.

The average cost of a two-room apartment in London is approximately 300-400 thousand. To take out a normal mortgage with normal interest rates, you need to pay a down payment of at least 10 percent. Those. 30-40 thousand down payment. I can’t imagine how the person we discussed above could accumulate them. And for people who are lower on the social ladder, it’s generally unimaginable.

Many people live on credit; almost all major purchases are made in installments with interest.

I haven’t yet taken into account the costs of family and children. Many simply cannot afford children for a very, very long time.

These are the jelly rivers and milk banks here in the west, in a nutshell. It should be noted that in general in Western Europe this is a typical situation, in other countries of Western Europe the situation is sometimes worse, in the countries of southern and eastern Europe it is much worse

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UPD: and here’s another review post by a person from the upper-middle class, a banker, as can be seen from the post - you also won’t get around much and you won’t accumulate much. all the comments that were written there were written by people who do not really understand that a banker must meet a certain status, and that he cannot buy clothes in a Primark, and so on point by point

I read the post by dear sharla_tanka about the hardships of life in London and would like to add that life in London is hard not only for those whose incomes can be called the national average. I can confirm as a banker working in the City. Unfortunately, I have to write anonymously, but I will try to respond to all comments

Things are really difficult in the world capital for all categories of the population. London is the heart of the global financial industry, and therefore global crises come here first and have the most devastating consequences. Bankers are very vulnerable to endless waves of crises - they are constantly under threat of dismissal and the threat of deprivation of bonuses for any reason, for example due to the mistake of some abnormal trader, the losses caused by which are covered by a reduction in bonuses for professionals

The typical salary for a banker is £150-250 thousand per year, including bonuses. Let's consider the option of 200 thousand. About 78 thousand taxes must be paid on this money. Another £7.5 thousand goes to National Insurance, which is essentially a social tax and funds free healthcare and many other things. This means that total payments to the state are about 85.5 thousand pounds per year. Thus, the effective tax rate is 43%

So, we have 114.5 thousand per year left net, or about 9.5 thousand per month. Now let's look at the main expenses

1. Real estate

A typical house or apartment costs between £400,000 and £1 million. Let's say the property costs 700 thousand, and we have saved up about 100 thousand for a down payment. If the mortgage is taken out for 30 years at a rate of 4% (approximately this rate is now realistically available), you need to pay 2.9 thousand per month for the mortgage. On top of this, you need to pay council tax and bills, which adds up to another £300 a month. To this are added fees for property maintenance, various types of insurance, etc. The total is about 3.5 thousand per month

2. Car

Bankers have certain status restrictions, i.e. They usually can't afford the Peugeot or Fiat that Britain loves so much. Roughly speaking, the minimum acceptable car is BMW 3. It’s better if it’s 5, and even better if it’s 6. Preferably, with the letter M. The ideal option, of course, is a Porsche or Aston Martin, but we won’t consider these options. Let's say we're frugal and can get by with just an M5. We are flexible and can agree to a used one of the same age to save money. The car needs to be changed every 2 years. Now let's try to calculate the costs. The minimum price for such a car at the moment is 60 thousand. It can be sold in 2 years for 25 thousand. Thus, the purchase price of a car for a year is (60-25)/2 = 17.5 thousand pounds. Plus, you need to set aside money for maintenance, repairs, fuel, insurance and taxes, which together amounts to about 2.5 thousand a year at best. This means another 1.7 thousand per month

3. Cloth

If you work in the City, you have to look a certain way. Suits, shirts, cufflinks, shoes and socks must be carefully selected. If you do not take famous French and Italian brands and limit yourself to more modest British ones, you will spend an average of about 500 pounds on clothes per month

4. Nutrition

Lunch each weekday costs around £7, i.e. about 150 pounds per month. We meet friends in a restaurant 3 times a week, which amounts to 50-60 pounds. Plus, there should always be oatmeal, tea, fruit, cheese and nuts at home - another £50 a week. That works out to around £800 a month.

5. Entertainment

Museums are free. Bankers have discounts on exhibitions, so you don’t have to count them. Cinema tickets once a week for two - 40 pounds, drinks with colleagues/friends 2 times a week - 20 pounds. That's £300 a month

6. Rest

After hard work for 12-14 hours a day, good rest is usually required. You need to travel at least 3 weeks a year. The typical price of a trip to a 4* hotel in Europe, America or Asia, if you go to mid-range restaurants, is about 3 thousand for a week of travel, including travel. That's approximately £900 a month.

7. Legal and accounting services

Without going into detail, that works out to be about 1k a year, or about £100 a month.

8. Transport

It makes no sense to drive to work by car - you will spend more time and pay several times more. Therefore you need to buy a travel card, which costs about 30 pounds per week, or approximately 100 pounds per month

9. Sport

Membership to a good gym costs around £100 a month

10. Education

If you want to develop professionally, you need to receive up-to-date education. For example, MS Computational Finance starts at about 17 thousand per year, which rounds up to 1 thousand per month. Or, as a hobby, you can take an airplane driving course, which starts at 25 thousand pounds per year, which translates into 2 thousand per month. Let's limit ourselves to 1 thousand

If we add up all the expenses, we get an amount of about 9 thousand per month, i.e. The budget is hard to come by. But in addition to the above, there are general expenses - furnishing the apartment, books, household chemicals, helping relatives, gifts for loved ones and many other things

And we haven’t touched on the topic of raising children yet!

Thus, it is quite difficult for bankers to save, and the budget must be monitored very carefully. For example, if the Bank of England raises rates, the price of servicing a mortgage increases sharply, and the budget may well become deficit. This is how difficult life is in London, even for bankers who, as it seems from the outside, should live so well

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Follow-up news from RT

Millions of people in the UK are at risk of freezing this winter due to soaring electricity and gas prices. Experts called this phenomenon “fuel poverty.” RT correspondent Laura Smith reports that British fuel giants do not intend to think about the population while their incomes are growing.

oko-planet.su

Demand for housing

The British authorities do not at all restrict residents of other countries in purchasing real estate. Anyone can buy a house, apartment or just land in any part of the United Kingdom.

The price of real estate depends on several points:

• City.
• District, localization.
• Type of room.
• Availability of interior and exterior finishing, their quality.

The average price in the UK for good housing is more than 250 thousand pounds. For example, for an apartment in the capital you will pay more than 500 thousand.

The average price per square meter is around £6,000. In general, the life of Russians in England is quite expensive.

Renting an apartment and house is expensive compared to Russia. It is best to rent housing with someone if you are a student or still earn little money. The average cost of a one-room apartment is 500 pounds.

Utilities are relatively inexpensive. For example, the average cost for a small single-occupancy apartment is 80-150 pounds.

Cost of living in England

The average salary in England is quite capable of covering expenses for a month, and if they are distributed correctly, there will even be money left over. But despite this, life in England is very expensive.

• Nutrition. Prices in supermarkets are quite significant. According to recent data, the following prices have been recorded: chicken (per kg) - 4 pounds or 400 rubles, a dozen eggs - 2.5 pounds or 250 rubles, smoked sausage - 13 pounds or 1200 rubles, salmon fillet (per kg) - 10 pounds or 1000 rubles English prices amaze many Russian tourists. According to numerous estimates, visitors to the capital spend from 300 to 450 pounds a month on food alone.
• Fare. A metro ticket for traveling around London (monthly subscription) will cost 100 pounds or 9,600 rubles.
• Cost of housing. A good, but most ordinary one-room apartment will cost 1,000 pounds a month, and you will have to pay 120 pounds for electricity, water and gas. In winter, this amount will naturally increase.
• Council tax (mandatory monthly tax) - £120 per month.
• Travel and expensive purchases. People from the middle stratum of society most often pay for travel or expensive purchases such as equipment, cars or expensive clothes with a credit card. Few people have any savings left. In any case, the savings are extremely small - from 100 to 400 pounds on a salary of 2,000 pounds a month.

Ways to get around the country

Should you buy a car if you live in England? There is a need for a personal car only if you have a large family or have above-average finances.

Important

A personal car in this country is a complete waste of money. Firstly, the markup for buying a car, even in comparison with the rest of Europe, is 20-30% higher. Secondly, expensive fuel. Thirdly, there are large traffic jams, especially during rush hour. There is also a huge number of police who are ready to issue you a fine for any, even the most minor, violation of traffic rules, and ignorance of the nuances does not exempt you from responsibility. It should also be noted that parking is paid everywhere.

For the British, public transport is relevant, and things are going well:

• Buses travel to all cities and are one of the most affordable means of transportation.
• Taxi. Also popular, but you can get stuck in a city traffic jam for a long time.
• Metro. This is perhaps the most popular way to get from place to place, especially among people living in London.

Each type of transport has its own nuances, as well as saving options.

The quality of roads in England is top notch, but sometimes there are cobblestones in the city center. It is also worth noting that the sidewalks are clean, not in all areas, but the central streets are pleasing.

Medicine

free of charge as part of compulsory insurance

In the UK there is a compulsory health insurance system - the National Health Service (NHS). It allows you to use many services free of charge in public clinics. The quality of these services raises doubts and dissatisfaction among many - for several years now there has been debate about whether the NHS should be financially supported or not. Without an appointment with a general practitioner (GP), you cannot see any other specialist - no matter if a person has a toothache or an itchy heel. Often referrals to another doctor are not given at all - this is a big problem for the Russian-speaking population of London, accustomed to the Russian healthcare system. Roughly speaking, if a person does not die, he will be prescribed paracetamol and sent home.

There is a private healthcare system, but only those with company insurance can afford it. People rarely buy such insurance themselves; usually it is one of the employer's benefits. I have one, but I've never used it. In general, I try to deal less with medicine in this country: we usually also bring medicines from Russia. The only thing you can buy in a British pharmacy without a prescription is a bunch of derivatives of the same paracetamol.

Sometimes, especially if a comprehensive examination is needed, people prefer to go to cheaper countries such as Turkey or Latvia - a round-trip ticket and a trip to a local doctor will cost less than in a London clinic.

Social guarantees

In England, special attention is paid to such a process as insurance:

• Features of health insurance. Some people are sure that in the UK health insurance is a mandatory procedure and without it the doctor will not provide any assistance. In fact, this is completely wrong. The country has a mandatory tax that is deducted from wages. Therefore, some medical care for English citizens is free. This also applies to migrants and tourists from European Union countries.
• Social guarantees of the state in matters of insurance. There are more and more social support organizations in England, but due to their liberality it is impossible to talk about a standardized system of social mutual assistance.

How do pensioners earn income?

The state issues pensions only to those who have worked in the United Kingdom for 10 years or more. The largest pensions are awarded to those whose work experience is more than 35 years. The weekly payment reaches 150 pounds, while an employee with 10 years of experience receives only 45 pounds. The state compensates small pensions with various benefits for food, clothing, medical services, etc.

By city

There are quite a large number of cities in the UK. All of them stand out for their beautiful and old architecture, as well as developed areas of life. The country is considered one of the main football countries in the world, so almost every city has its own football club (or several), and football stadiums attract thousands of fans every week.

London

The capital of England, home to more than 8 million people. It is the largest scientific, economic and industrial center of the state. One of the greatest cities of history and modernity. Every year it attracts a large number of not only immigrants, but also tourists who come to enjoy a walk around the city and hikes to various attractions.

Birmingham

Birmingham is a bustling and energetic city, home to over a million people. It features an interesting combination of modern skyscrapers and a large number of ancient attractions. Also one of the features is a large number of canals; Birmingham has more of them than Venice, popular for tourists.

Leeds

Leeds is home to more than 780 thousand people and is considered the museum of modern Britain. The city has a large number of attractions and monuments. Leeds is also home to the Royal Armories, which attracts large numbers of tourists every year.

Nottingham

A large city with a population of more than 750 thousand people. Known to people from all over the world who have at least once heard the legend of Robin Hood. Despite being located in one of the central counties, it is quite a bright and colorful city. It is a large industrial center.

Glasgow

The largest city in Scotland, home to more than 620 thousand people. Back in the 1970s, Glasgow was the epitome of poverty, slums and despair. However, in 1990 it won the title of “European Capital of Culture” and is currently a center of attraction for tourists from all over the world.

Medicine and sports in England

The level of medicine in the country, if we talk about free medicine, is getting worse every day. It's not that British doctors don't know their stuff well.

The standard of medical care is getting worse as hospitals and clinics are overcrowded. Doctors of a narrow specialty do not have time to examine everyone. It will take a long time to wait for your place to be examined by a doctor. The same situation exists with the queue for operations.

Attitude to sports

The British love sports, so they constantly follow various championships and matches. The national games of cricket, rugby, and football are more popular among them. In the country, most sports complexes are paid, so athletes either invest their own money or look for rich sponsors.

York

York is the best city to live in the UK.
This city has come to the fore in a number of indicators, and more and more Russians are also beginning to be interested in it. The Sunday Times has officially named it the best place to live in 2021. And since then the situation has not changed dramatically. So, here are some reasons to consider York a great city for Russians:

1. This is a large modern metropolis with a large number of IT corporations. It is no secret that one of the most profitable options in terms of relocation for Russian speakers is associated with this sector. By the way, it was York that became the first city in the UK to offer users the Internet at gigabyte speeds.
2. You can also find employment in the financial sector here. The area of ​​various scientific research is very well developed. Among other things, interesting films are shot here, including original projects, documentaries and art-house films. And this whole industry also involves the opportunity to find or organize a stable source of income.
3. The city has a very well developed coworking space , which makes it easier to start a business. There are also unique offices of the insurance company Hiscox.
4. The University of York is considered one of the most prestigious and research-intensive in the country. Therefore, you have every opportunity to get an excellent education. Russian students are welcome here just like everyone else.
5. The attitude towards migrants in York is quite calm ; no significant attacks of xenophobia have been identified.

England vs Russia

Comparison of countries by indicators:

• Corruption. In both countries, corruption is rampant, especially bribery to superiors.
• Availability of education. English education is much more valued throughout the world than Russian education. In addition, the diploma does not need to be confirmed in other countries. But if we talk about the price of education, then Russia clearly wins.
• Standard of living in England. According to the latest data, the UK ranks 15th in terms of living standards in the world, while Russia lags behind it by 40 positions. In both countries, people’s income level can be high or low, it depends only on the person himself. But as for life outside the capital, in England it is much more comfortable.
• Social guarantees. In the UK the level of social assistance is much higher than in Russia.

ASTONISHMENT

I was surprised by the style of clothing in the UK. Since here it is not customary to point fingers at each other, like here, people dress in absolutely anything. As it surprised me at the beginning, it still surprises me. I just can't get used to it. In terms of clothing, two aspects should be noted here: firstly, it is style. There are fewer stylish people here than in Moscow. And here they are concentrated in certain areas, for example, in the city, where there are many banks, or in Canary Wharf, where there are also banks and the headquarters of famous companies. There people dress stylishly, in a business-like manner, with taste, but in the rest of London - absolutely anything. I saw people in slippers and a robe. I once saw a girl who was dressed in tights, boots and a jacket on top - and that’s it.

Besides how tastefully or tastelessly people can dress, I am a little (or even “a lot”) surprised by “neatness.” For example, the fact that a girl can pin up her hair with a pen or pencil, and this is normal, no one will point a finger. And if you compare Moscow with London, then in Moscow more girls take care of their appearance (in St. Petersburg too), and in London people are more relaxed in terms of appearance.

The feeling of cold surprises me even more. That is, how people dress relative to the weather. Firstly, as soon as the sun comes out, everyone immediately thinks that it’s already summer, and even if it’s +5 degrees outside, they can go outside in shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops. They are guided not by degrees, but by sunny/not sunny. This is mainly due to the fact that they save on heating here. It is expensive, so they also try to maintain a fairly low temperature in houses, 18-19 degrees. It is also surprising how they dress children. Since I am a mother myself, I just can’t understand how a mother can wear a coat with a scarf and dress her child in a blouse. Just a blouse. Moreover, it’s +5 outside in winter. This applies to children, infants, and schoolchildren. But schoolchildren are at least active and constantly running around, but babies are not. My heart always swells when I see such undressed children. I'll probably never get used to this.

I was also surprised that there are foxes in London. For example, a fox came to the fence near our house every day for the whole month and howled with an almost human voice, it was even scary. In general, this is the norm in London. I often heard from my friends who live in private houses that foxes enter their territory, rummage in the trash, and can even get into the house if there is a cat hole. This is not uncommon.

Russian diaspora in Great Britain

Migrants from Russia try to support each other in a foreign country:

The peculiarities of the Russian diaspora in England are such that they certainly will not refuse to help their compatriots. The easiest way to meet Russian people is in relevant stores and restaurants, and also to communicate with them through a group on Facebook.

Where do Russian immigrants live? Most Russians are in London and among themselves they call the capital “Londongrad”.

Opinions of those who moved to England

Review 1: “We moved with our family to the UK 5 years ago and began to develop our business there. There were no problems with the work, but the same cannot be said about the language. The first year it was difficult to understand the local population because of their accent, but after that everyone got used to it.”

Review 2: “I came to the country to undergo training, the quality of which impressed me greatly. However, I would like to note that if it were not for the scholarship, I would not be able to exist here financially. Education is high-quality, but expensive, like everything else here.”

Review 3: “3 years ago I was offered a contract in London. I am an architect by profession and, without hesitation, I accepted this offer. Many thanks to our responsive Russian diaspora. If it weren’t for them, adaptation to a new country would have been much more difficult.”

Is life really that good in England? - a shocking story from an emigrant

Ina Art, who has lived most of her life in Great Britain, shares her impressions of some of the peculiarities of this country, which those who dream of a sweet Western “paradise” try not to notice. I have lived in England for about the same amount of time as I have lived in Russia, and I have a lot to say about local shortcomings compared to Russia.

Bureaucracy

“Oh, I came to the notary, and I had to wait in line for two whole hours!” - a Moscow friend complains. Yeah. But you left with the entire package of documents you needed on the same day. You can come to the bank, open an account there, apply for a card and still complain that it’s not online.

Do you know how this is done in England?

You come to the bank. I want to open an account.

- Yeah, come in two weeks on Wednesday at half past two, a specialist will see you. You need to bring your driver's license (no required passports here) and gas and electricity bills for the last three months.

And we will think about whether to open an account for you in our wonderful bank and we can easily refuse.

What? Fresh immigrant on a work visa? Don't have a driver's license or gas bill? Free.

Does your employer require a bank account and you have nowhere to receive your salary? Not our problems. Have a good day.

Notaries.

There are NO notaries. If you need to have a copy of a document certified, you make a copy, go to: a priest, a dentist or a school principal (you, as a fresh migrant, have just such a close circle of friends), and they write on your copy “Copy is correct, name, position, address " If they want. If they don't want to, they're free. Have a good day.

Metro

Any normal resident of a normal Russian million-plus population on the London Underground immediately experiences an attack of claustrophobia. “And THIS is the most famous, oldest, most metro??? COME ON".

Trains without air conditioning and little or no ventilation.

In the summer heat (this summer twice the temperature has stayed above 30C for more than a week), cases of fainting are not uncommon. The walls are unpainted, with electrical wires hanging down and water dripping from the ceiling.

There are rats in the tunnels. The platforms are incredibly cramped and narrow. To the credit of London gentlemen, there is no crowding even during the morning rush hours: at this time the queue for the platform can “only” extend a couple of hundred meters into the crossing.

On weekends, one or two or three branches are usually completely closed. Either they are being repaired, then a new station is being dug, or an elevator for the disabled is being completed. For tourists who are not used to checking the route on the Internet and listening to announcements at stations, there is often a considerable surprise.

PS ONE metro trip - £4.80 (380 rubles).

Connection

I'll just give you the numbers.

More or less fast internet: £32.5 per month. Cellular: £14 per month for 100 minutes and 500 megabytes.

In March 2021, the largest and most expensive cellular provider Vodafone launched a wide advertising campaign with the slogan “We covered the whole of London with our network!” They covered London with cellular communications. First on the market. In 2021.

I could have kept silent about quality, but it would be more appropriate to cry. And add to the very unstable quality a PAID support phone number. 20 pence (15 rubles) per MINUTE. Including those 20 minutes that you will listen to music while waiting for an operator to respond.

Education

You can adopt the Bologna system and other Unified State Examinations as much as you like, but the fact remains: the average Russian secondary education is much better and more accessible than the average Western one. The best (and most expensive) schools are open to the upper classes in the West, and God grant to the lower classes that they can add two and eight in their heads.

At the supermarket checkout, the cash register will do this for them, so it doesn’t seem necessary to teach this.

Not all native English speakers are able to pass the notorious IELTS at 9.0, and the point is not at all in the difference in accents, but in the sad truth: the average Englishman simply DOES NOT KNOW his NATIVE language at a level sufficient to pass the exam in it.

In England, it is quite common to find a university-educated native who has never read Shakespeare: his native literature was simply not included in the list of five subjects he studied in high school, preparing to become a doctor or lawyer. It's normal to have a degree in psychology and never hear the name "Freud." What can we say about programmers...

Service

In addition to the quality of education mentioned above, there is also its exorbitant price. A typical graduate of a typical university, after three years of study, leaves his alma mater with a debt to the state of 60 THOUSAND pounds (about 5,000,000 rubles). But not only does a higher education cost so much, a certificate for a hairdresser or massage therapist also costs exorbitantly, so this hairdresser and this fresh-faced massage therapist will charge you three bucks for their, most often, very modest quality of services.

Standard manicure: £35 Haircut: from £50 Root color: from £70

Moreover, London beauties are willing to pay triple the price for truly high-quality or at least not so obviously cross-handed craftsmen, but there aren’t any of them, there are only hacks beating off their certificates.

Russian-speaking ladies pass on the names of skilled manicurists, hairdressers, and cosmetologists (usually of Polish or Lithuanian origin) to each other in secret women’s groups on Facebook.

And there are such queues for them.

How much does dentistry cost in such conditions, given that the dentist is not a hairdresser from college, but a specialist with a higher medical education?

And so much so that dental tourism is flourishing in England: a two-week trip to Budapest for a beautiful smile, taking into account flights, accommodation and the services of an intermediary, is on average three times more affordable than the same procedures on site.

With the same quality, of course.

Some more facts about the English service.

Pharmacies, hairdressers, banks, post offices, and other establishments close at five o'clock on weekdays and are closed on Sundays.

Supermarkets are legally prohibited from operating on Sundays after 5 p.m.

On Christmas Day (December 25), nothing officially works, including the subway, trains and buses.

Quite a surprise for tourists who come for a Christmas fairy tale.

Advantages and disadvantages of permanent residence in England