Exchange opportunities for Plymouth students

There are two options for combining a year abroad with your degree at the University of Plymouth: 

This page is concerned with your study abroad options. You can get further information on placement years and placements themselves from the Careers and Employability team or from your Placement Tutor. You have full access to the Careers Service’s GoinGlobal app, which has detailed city and country guides, visa information and jobs board updated by professionals within that country. 

The erasmusintern.org platform is where EU internship providers advertise their opportunities.

You can choose to study abroad for one or both semesters and this will normally take place in your second year (study abroad is not available in your first or final years). You will take modules at your host university that are equivalent to those you would have studied in Plymouth and your choices will be researched by you and discussed and agreed with your academic exchange advisor in advance. If your period of study abroad is optional, marks awarded by your host institution will not contribute to your final degree classification, which will be based on first and final year marks only.

To be accepted for an exchange you must be in good academic standing and have passed all your assessments in your first year, not having committed an academic offence, and have no outstanding debts with the University of Plymouth. 

You can study abroad with one of our Bilateral exchange partners or, if you are unable to find a suitable bilateral partner, you may be able to find a host through ISEP. More information about these options is on the panels below.
Our internal exchange application deadlines are:

You will be notified of the outcome of your application within two weeks of these deadlines. If you are successful, you will then be nominated to your allocated partner who will contact you directly with further instructions on completing your exchange admission. Global Opportunities will check that you meet the eligibility criteria for exchanges and help you with any questions you have.

The general principle for exchange is that tuition fees at your host are not payable but you will usually be responsible for your maintenance, travel, visa and insurance costs whilst you are abroad. Student Finance provide grant support towards these costs as outlined on their websites:

Our Student Funding Unit can advise you on all aspects of student funding when you study abroad, including home tuition fee reductions, bursaries and scholarships.

Whilst you do not pay tuition fees at your host university you will still be responsible for University of Plymouth tuition fees. However if you select to undertake an exchange for a full academic year, your home tuition fee is reduced by 85% - it stays at 100% if you go for only one semester.

For Bilateral exchanges you will have to cover your food and accommodation costs.

For ISEP exchanges, we will charge you an ISEP Exchange Program Fee for the food and accommodation costs of the student taking your place here and, in return, you will get an equivalent housing and meal benefit from your host for your living costs. Our fees for 2024/25 are £9,300 for the full year, £4,500 for semester 1 and £4,800 for semester 2. You will be invoiced by us for your fee shortly before you depart on your exchange and you can pay it by instalments as you receive your maintenance loan instalments.

You must make sure you notify Student Finance, in June/July, of your intention to study abroad in the following year. When you do this, they will send you a Course Abroad form which has to be filled-in by you, signed by a representative of the University, usually Global Opportunities, and sent back, by you, to Student Finance. Receipt of your completed form triggers the tuition fee reduction (for full-year exchanges only), access to the means-tested, enhanced maintenance loan and the availability of a travel grant, again means-tested, whereby you can claim back a significant proportion of your travel, visa and insurance costs incurred on your year abroad.

Grant support is available for you to study at our partners or work abroad so long as your mobility last between 1 and 12 months and is relevant to your degree. The grants are funded by the UK government with the aim of supporting the worldwide mobility of students and vary according to the country of your mobility. Find out more about:

There are no ‘admin’ charges arising from either a bilateral or an Erasmus+ exchange. If you exchange through ISEP you will pay a non-refundable application fee, and a placement fee when you accept a placement. If, after you have accepted a placement, you then withdraw this fee will not be refunded. You are also obliged to take out and pay for ISEP Student Insurance.

The following links provide possible scholarship opportunities that may help you to finance your exchange:

It is essential that you have appropriate travel insurance with healthcare cover in place before you begin your exchange, for the duration of your exchange and any periods spent abroad before and after your time at your host. The University of Plymouth is not able to provide this for you.

COE Connections International is a specialist travel insurer offering value-for-money cover for students studying abroad.

The Student GHIC lets you get state healthcare in Europe at a reduced cost or sometimes for free.

If you have a Student European Health Insurance Card (Student EHIC) it will be valid until the expiry date on the card. Once it expires, you’ll need to apply for a Student GHIC to replace it.

You can apply for a Student GHIC on the NHS website. Look for “Students studying in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland”.

Your host university will usually offer you accommodation in their halls. However, if you prefer to go elsewhere:

The Global Graduates website has location-specific accommodation advice as well as more general advice on studying and working abroad.

The Guardian’s Global Student series published, in May 2015, an article on “How to find accommodation for your year abroad”.

These websites offer student accommodation, mainly in Europe:

We've provided a useful summary of costs and support, as outlined above.

The opportunity to spend a year abroad as part of your studies is an exciting, potentially life changing, prospect. Understanding the expected costs before you immerse yourself in another culture can help you really make the most of your time without unnecessary money worries. Even ‘though you might not be exchanging with ISEP, their Budget Calculator can help you to price up your year abroad.