The United Kingdom has remained the most favored overseas study destination for prospective Chinese students this year, topping the ranking for five consecutive years, according to a new report on Saturday.

A total of 39 percent of the surveyed students said they will choose the UK for overseas study, followed by the United States at 21 percent, Hong Kong at 18 percent and Australia at 18 percent, according to the report released by overseas study consultancy EIC Education.

The report said that a shorter length of schooling (72.5 percent), with a three-year undergraduate study and one or two-year postgraduate study is the biggest reason Chinese students chose the UK, followed by good education quality (67.8 percent), affordable tuition (34.8 percent) and safety (24 percent).

Sixty-seven percent of the surveyed students said they will return to China to work after graduation, only 15 percent said they will stay in the UK to work, 13 percent will continue to study in the UK and the remaining are still undecided.

Business and economics are the hottest major for Chinese students who go to the UK for postgraduate studies, with almost half of the students choosing such majors, followed by social sciences at 25 percent and engineering at 14 percent.

For undergraduate studies, accounting and finance is the most favored major, followed by social sciences, economics, law and management.