Who can Study Abroad?

Study Abroad programs are not open to everyone. Each institution decides individually what it can offer and to which of its students the offer applies. In some cases only students taking particular subjects or in a particular year of study are eligible. In others, what you can apply for may be limited to particular courses or tied to particular institutions abroad. Some areas of study, usually those with a very strictly defined set of domestic requirements, are likely to be excluded altogether.

Requirement of the Degree

Even when you are eligible, unless the Study Abroad element is a requirement of the degree, places are often in limited supply. This arises from the different programs structures. Most of them are exchanges, meaning that students move between two universities, one in the United Kingdom and one abroad, and numbers normally have to be kept in balance. As a result, getting a place may not be automatic even if you are qualified to apply, and programs quite often involve a prior selection among applicants. To succeed can take both persistence and drive. A few programs are purely discretionary – students can apply to go abroad and arrangements are made on an ad hoc and individual basis for each applicant. But those programs must be approved by your university, and approval may not be straightforward.

Available for Everyone

Yet, despite all the limitations, quite often some type of Study Abroad program will be available for nearly everyone, sometimes postgraduates as well as undergraduates, and there will be a wide choice of where you can go and what you can study.