From Pune to Hatfield: How the University of Hertfordshire Shaped Akshay's Aerospace Engineering Career

For Akshay, studying in the UK meant figuring things out as he went rather than having everything planned from the start. From changing his course shortly after arriving to managing multiple part-time jobs alongside his studies, he learned to ask questions, keep searching for opportunities, and build his way forward even when things didn't go according to plan.

Akshay's Journey at a Glance

• From: Pune, India
• Course: Aerospace Engineering, University of Hertfordshire
• Decision: Chose to pursue his undergraduate degree in the UK after completing a diploma in Mechanical Engineering
• Challenge: Changed courses soon after arriving and worked multiple part-time jobs to fund his education
• Now: Aerospace engineering professional in the UK on a company-sponsored Skilled Worker visa

Here's Akshay, in his own words.

Q. Tell us about your background and how you ended up choosing engineering.

I was born and brought up in India and did my schooling in Pune at a small school called Guru Nanak Public School. Both my parents are engineers, so I was always sure I wanted to do engineering rather than keeping my options open the way a lot of people do. After 10th grade, I didn't go the typical 11th and 12th routes. I did a diploma in mechanical engineering instead, since that felt like the most sensible way to build an engineering base.

Q. Why aerospace specifically, and why the UK?

I took my first flight when I was around 12 and was completely fascinated. I always wanted to be a pilot, but my parents were clear that I needed at least one degree before even considering pilot studies, since the job market for pilots is genuinely uncertain. Aerospace engineering was the closest link to that dream. As for the UK, aerospace in India is still a developing field, so if you want to actually work in the industry afterward, going abroad made more sense. I also considered the US, but the fees were far too high for us, and Germany's public university route required German language skills I didn't have. The UK was really the only option left.

Q. You landed there planning to study pilot studies alongside your engineering degree. What happened?

That was the plan: aerospace engineering with pilot studies at the University of Hertfordshire. I flew out on 12th September 2018, my first ever international flight, and landed at Heathrow feeling sick and homesick before I'd even started. It was only when I got there that I realized the course didn't fund the flying hours and pilot training at all. You had to pay for them separately, and we're talking upwards of £100,000 to £150,000 to get to a commercial pilot license. Coming from a middle-class household, that just wasn't feasible, so I switched to a space technology specialization within aerospace engineering instead and got into rocket propulsion and rocket engines from there.

Q. What made you choose Hertfordshire in the first place?

I applied entirely on my own through UCAS, no consultancy involved, and ended up with six or seven offers, including Coventry, Swansea, and Leicester. I chose Hertfordshire because of its legacy in aerospace. The de Havilland Aerospace Company, one of the first aerospace companies in the UK, has roots on that very campus, and many professors there had actually worked at British Aerospace. It felt like the right place to be for someone genuinely interested in the field.

Q. Your first weeks in the UK sound rough. What happened?

I flew in about two weeks before university started, which in hindsight just gave me time to overthink everything. My accommodation was a small paying guest room I'd found online, with a single bed and nothing else, which was already a bit of a shock. Then, on the day I went for registration, another Indian student told me this university never passes Indian students and that he'd been failing there for two years. I was 18 and completely devastated. I called my parents and said I wanted to come back immediately.

My mom, surprisingly, was the firm one. She said they were fine bringing me back, but only after six months, and there would be no questions before that. I thought it was harsh at the time, but it worked. It took me about two and a half weeks to shake that feeling off, and a big part of it was my landlord, who was also Indian. He noticed I was low and took me out for dinner, showed me his payslip, and told me what he'd built after studying at the same university. That gave me real confidence that not everything you hear is true.

Q. How did your parents manage the finances for your degree?

Honestly, it was difficult. My student loan application got rejected because of our family's financial history, so my parents ended up mortgaging our house just to cover my first year's fees and living costs. That only covered year one. I went in knowing I'd need a part-time job to sustain myself, and my parents made real sacrifices those first few years so they could keep supporting me. They never once pressured me about paying it back, which actually helped me focus on the immediate challenges instead of constantly worrying about debt.

Q. You mentioned working several part-time jobs. What did that look like?

I worked six or seven different part-time jobs over my four years there. I started as a cashier at a Co-op doing night shifts, which was fine since I had good people around me. Then I did overnight stocking at Sainsbury's, which was genuinely painful, physically stocking pallets of laundry and pet food through the night. I also did an internship, and once I got that, I made it a goal to save enough from it to cover my final year fees. In between, I worked at an Indian restaurant, which I loved, and later at TK Maxx, where most of my colleagues were Indian and became close friends. I even tried McDonald's for exactly one day on the frying station and decided that wasn't for me.

The one thing I'd tell any student is to avoid night shifts if you can. They pay more, but they wreck your routine and take time away from actual studying.

Q. How did you find accommodation and manage that process from India?

I found it through a website called SpareRoom.com, just a simple Google search. The landlord's name was Vijay, and he'd hosted another Indian student before me, so I reached out to that student directly to check if Vijay was a good host. He said yes, so I went ahead. The only surprise was that the listing said it was a couple of minutes from the university, and it turned out to be a 20 to 25 minute walk. You learn to take these things as they come.

Q. What do you wish more students understood about visas and job sponsorship in the UK?

This is something I really want consultants and students to pay attention to: not every job qualifies for visa sponsorship. When I started, there were over 90 eligible skill codes. That number has been cut down repeatedly since, and the salary threshold for sponsorship has gone up from around £28,000 when I moved to roughly £55,000 now. Very few graduate roles pay that straight out of university, so if you have a few years of work experience in India before doing a master's, you're in a much stronger position. Before choosing a course, check that it is on the current sponsorship list, and look at sites like Gradcracker to see which employers are actually hiring and sponsoring visas.

Q. And where are things for you now?

I'm currently on a Skilled Worker visa, sponsored by the company I joined through my internship, and I'm expecting to complete five years on it around 2027. There's been a lot of uncertainty lately with talk of extending the path to permanent residency to ten years, which is unsettling given the size of the decisions you make around it. I took on a mortgage of close to £200,000 to £300,000 for my first home here. I've paid off all my student debt within four years, mainly by keeping my lifestyle in check, and I now save comfortably, partly because I live in the north of England, where the cost of living is much lower than in London.

Q. Finally, what do you miss most about India, and what advice would you give students moving abroad?

Food, definitely, though I've since learned to cook most of what I missed. What's genuinely challenging is being away from family. I'm fortunate that my younger brother chose to stay in India with our parents, so there's someone looking out for them. My advice to anyone moving abroad is simple: talk to people. That first bad experience with another student nearly sent me home, but once I started speaking to program directors, professors, and even strangers, I found opportunities I didn't expect. Don't let one voice decide your whole journey for you.