Student Exchange Programmes

For a number of years the University has been heavily involved in a series of exchange schemes both within and beyond the European Union. The exchange programme supported by the European Union is known as the Lifelong Learning/Erasmus Programme. Further information is also available on the University’s Lifelong Learning/Erasmus webpages.

Students go abroad for a whole year, in-between year two and three. This is an additional year so the degree becomes a four year one. Whilst abroad, students take two thirds of the modules students do there; they also have to write a progress report, an academic essay in the summer after they return and conduct a presentation to interested students the following year.

The opportunities available for Geography students involve spending a whole year studying in one of our partner institutions. This year constitutes an additional fourth year of your studies and takes place between the second and third years of your degree.


What do I gain from an extra year studying?

There are many benefits to be gained from spending a year living and studying in another country. An improved fluency in another language, the extra confidence gained from dealing with the challenges of living in a different culture and so on, all make you more employable. In addition, you will find the year abroad an incredibly rewarding personal challenge as you find out about other cultures and, probably even more importantly, your own.

The successful completion of this additional year will result in the award of an additional qualification, a Diploma in International Studies.


So what opportunities are available?

At present we can offer five places under the Lifelong Learning Erasmus programme:

• The Department of Geography in the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Also have a look at their Erasmus site.

• The Department of Social Geography in the Radboud University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Also have a look at their External Relations site.

• The Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis at Lund University in Sweden. Also have a look at their Exchange Students site.

• The Faculty of Geography and History in the University of Valencia in Spain. Also have a look at their International Relations site.

• The Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at Eötvos Löránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
  
  
  

Beyond Europe, we have departmental student exchange agreements with:

• The University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the US. Have a look at their International Education Services site and that of their Department of Geography & Environmental Systems.

• The National University of Singapore. Have a look at their Department of Geography and International Relations sites.

There are also university wide exchange programmes that Geography students can participate in:

• Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. Also have a look at their Study Abroad site.

• University of Technology Sydney Australia:

  • UTS Exchange student information.

• Purdue University, West Lafayette Indiana, USA.

• University of Toronto Canada:

  • UoT Geography Department.

  
  

How do I apply?

All second year students are invited to a presentation by students who have just returned from an exchange in October. Students are then invited to write a letter of intent to the exchange co-ordinator outlining where they want to go and why; the deadline for this is in November. More details are provided in the meeting in October.

Those who want to go on a European Erasmus or departmental exchange will be told before Christmas whether they have been selected to apply for an exchange in the new year (normally all students who apply for a European exchange are successful in going to their preferred choice).

Those who want to go on a university –wide exchange have to fill in an internal selection form, available from the departmental exchange co-ordinator, write a personal statement, obtain a reference from their personal tutor and provide their transcripts. The deadline for this is normally 15th January. The selection committee will make a decision in February and this is when students will find out whether they can go ahead and apply for a university-wide exchange. Please note that there is more competition for such university-wide exchanges; students who apply for these exchanges need to have a 2:1 average.

All external applications to exchange universities begin from February onwards in year 2.

Finance issues

Students who go on an Erasmus exchange in Europe get money from the European Union. The Erasmus mobility grant for 2008/09 was €245 per month. This amount changes from year to year but is normally quite generous and means that an Erasmus exchange is an attractive option financially. Students pay no tuition fees to Loughborough or the exchange university for the year in which they are away.

Students who go on a non EU exchange (both departmental and university-wide) have to pay a reduced amount of tuition fees to Loughborough for the year in which they are away. This is normally between £600-700. They pay no tuition fees to the exchange university.

Students can also tell the student loans company that they are going on an exchange for a year; this will enable them to access another year of student loan money.

Language training

There is ample provision for language training, both at Loughborough and at the exchange universities.

For details on language training at Loughborough, please see the Learning Resource Centre

and the language lesson provision.

For information on EU financial support for language training of certain languages, please see here.

To discuss any of these opportunities in more detail please contact our International Student Exchange Co-ordinator Dr Liz Mavroudi.