Presentation for 1 st years Planning your year abroad

1. Presentation for 1st years Planning your year abroad Semester 2

2. Your Year Abroad All students can spend their third year abroad but you have to have good grades to do so. Good grades means a B average (60+) across your three first year courses.

3. Your Year Abroad Where can you go? Asia, Australasia, North America or Europe If you are studying a foreign language as part of your degree, then you go to the country where that language is spoken and if a European language then you study in that language. All other students can go where the language of instruction is in English.

4. Your Year Abroad During your year abroad you must complete and pass all of your courses. The minimum number of courses will vary between universities but you should choose appropriate courses equivalent to one full year of academic study (60 ECTS in Europe). This could be anything from 3 courses per semester to 6 courses.

5. Your Year Abroad In terms of workload, the year abroad will be similar to what is expected at the University of Edinburgh in third year (120 credits) and what is expected of students at the partner university. It is expected that you will sit and pass all examinations for your courses at the partner institution. If you pass all your courses then Edinburgh will give you the equivalent course credit for this and your honours degree will be classified only on your fourth year performance at Edinburgh.

6. Your Year Abroad Going abroad is a competitive process. Students are ranked according to the first year average mark. This means that the students with the highest average will get their first choice of University. Those lower down the average rankings may not get their first choice, they may get their second or third choice of destination. So your first year marks do count!

7. Why go abroad? What Students Think 99% reported that studying abroad had helped them to better understand their own cultural values and biases 82% said their year abroad contributed to their developing a more sophisticated way of looking at the world 98% said studying abroad for a full year increased their self-confidence and was a catalyst for increased maturity 97% revealed that it had lasting impact on their world view “The longer one lives in another culture, the greater the development of one’s ‘cultural intelligence’”. Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) survey data

8. Why go abroad? What Employers Think “Employers are increasingly demanding a wider degree of cultural understanding in response to the challenges of operating in an increasingly-integrated Europe and a globalising business environment…” Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) “The value of (a student’s) international experience goes beyond purely the acquisition of a language – it lies in the ability to see business and personal issues from other than your own cultural perspective” Head of UK Resourcing, PwC

9. Your Year Abroad