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Opportunities for non-language students

Study Abroad Opportunities for non-language students

General information
Who can apply, and for what exchanges?

How to apply for Study Abroad
Cost of Study Abroad

Introduction

Attention Second Arts non-language students: you will receive an email from the College Office advising of a study abroad information session to be held on Wednesday, 28th January at 6pm. Please read that email carefully so that you are fully informed of the options and the processes involved in applying for study abroad.

The exact details of the exchange places that will be on offer will not be known until Tuesday, 27th January. In the meantime, you may consult this TEMPORARY list of study abroad partners and subject combinations. Please understand that some of these opportunities may turn out to be unavailable to you, as the selection process for another student cohort is still underway and so some exchanges may reach capacity in the meantime.

Who can apply, and for what exchanges?

It's important to note that in general, places at Erasmus (European) partner universities are intended for either BA Joint Honours or BA Government students; students on other programmes may be eligible to apply for non-EU exchanges.

Students who have already been invited to apply for Erasmus exchanges through their denominated programmes (for instance, Global Media or BSc Psychology) are not eligible to apply for the above-listed Erasmus exchanges, but may be eligible to apply for non-EU exchanges.

If you are a BA Joint Honours student who is not studying a continental language, it may be possible to study abroad. We have a number of partner universities that offer courses taught through English. Students thinking of applying for this opportunity should, as a general rule, be expecting to achieve Second Year Semester 1 results averaging 60% upwards. Joint Honours students will spend a full academic year studying their two degree subjects abroad, and will be expected to secure 20 ECTS in approved courses in each of those subjects (that's 40 ECTS in total) in order to pass the year. This means that you can only be nominated to a host university where you can find 20 ECTS' worth of suitable courses related to each of your degree subjects.

There will be a very limited number of exchange places available, and at least some of them will be linked to specific subjects, most notably Soc. & Pol., Archaeology, Classics and Philosophy.

Some exchanges are also open to a range of subject areas.

Keep in mind that subjects like Maths and IT are very difficult to accommodate: at most of our partner universities, they are taught at an advanced level that will be unsuitable for Arts students.

Unfortunately some Joint Honours students will find that, due to their particular subject combinations, there may be few (or no) study abroad options available to them.

The best pathway for a non-language student who is intent on study abroad is the BA Global experience.

BA Government students are also eligible to apply for relevant Erasmus exchange places but they may only go on study abroad in Semester 2 of their Third Year. They should attend the information session and follow the same application procedure as Joint Honours students.

BA Joint Honours, BA Government, BSc Psychology and BA English & Creative Writing students are eligible to apply for exchange places in non-EU destinations. They should attend the information session and follow the same application procedure.

There are a number of scholarships available for Boston College, USA. Any student whose programme allows a year or a semester of study abroad may apply, with the exception of BSc Psychology, since Boston College cannot offer sufficient Psychology modules to exchange students.

STUDY ABROAD APPLICATIONS

After the information session on 28th January, students will be invited to apply for available exchange places via an online form. The strict deadline will be midnight on Wednesday, 4th February, 2026: no late applications will be possible. Applications will be reviewed in the following weeks and in some cases, shortlisting will apply and candidates may be called for interview.

Successful candidates will be nominated to partner universities abroad.

Please note once again that the number of exchange places is very limited and the process will always be highly competitive, with the award of places depending on academic performance and the quality of applications.

For reference -

BEFORE COMPLETING YOUR APPLICATION, you will need to consult a list of available options. As mentioned above, the updated 2026/27 list will be posted here on 27th January.

EXAM RESULTS: In the application form, you will be asked for your First Year results in each of your subjects. These must be the official results, not your own estimate. You should be able to access your results on Canvas.
You will also be required to provide your provisional Semester 1 results from Year 2.
Please note that where students provide incorrect exam results on the form, it may invalidate their application.

COST OF STUDY ABROAD: When making an application, it's important to consider the cost involved in spending a semester or a full academic year studying overseas. This can be a substantial amount of money, especially in the case of destinations outside of the EU, where students will not receive Erasmus funding. Global Galway (the University's International Office) has a useful page about financial planning for study abroad, and it includes a document showing estimated costs for study abroad at non-EU partner universities.