Did you know that most BU students are eligible to receive funding in order to study and work abroad? If challenging yourself in an international setting sounds like your kind of thing, then keep on reading for all the necessary details!

Sledging in Saariselkä, Lapland

The new Turing Scheme enables BU students to study or work abroad during their university degree, often during the second year for studies and placement year for work. Replacing Erasmus, the Turing Scheme means you can travel to almost anywhere outside of Europe and receive funding for time spent abroad! Getting paid to live in another country, pretty cool right?

Sunset in Lapland

I went to Spain to work as an English Language Assistant during my placement year, and Finland for a study exchange. It was honestly the most incredible experience of my life and one of the best things to come out of my degree! In Spain, I made so many friends for life with other language assistants and au-pairs, developed my Spanish skills to B2 level and experienced some beautiful sunshine. On the contrary, in Finland I made friends with international and local students, learnt a language from scratch (although it was a bit trickier than Spanish!), saw the Northern Lights, went ice swimming and husky sledding and experienced -27 degrees on a regular basis.

So, how to do it? Well, for studying abroad, make sure you’re eligible and fill out the application form. Make sure to do your research and really put a lot of work into your application – it can be quite competitive! Usually the deadline is the end of February, but there is sometimes the possibility to study abroad in your placement year, so don’t worry if you missed it!

For working abroad, it’s best to get in touch with the Global Exchange Mobility Team. They provide so much support and can give you all the necessary information, they hold drop in sessions online 1-5pm on Monday’s and 1-5pm in the Global Mobility Hub in Poole House. It’s your responsibility to find an employer, but you can receive support from the Careers team and on MyCareerHub, or even ask your lecturers for their support – mine helped me to find my job in Spain!

Kuopio Sunset – The beautiful place I was living and studying in!

So yeah, it’s pretty cool. I cannot recommend studying and working abroad enough, especially since you have so much support from the university – not just financially but also personally. Sometimes it felt scary to be so far from home, but having regular calls with my placement coordinator and the Global Exchange Mobility Team really helped me to make the most of my experience.

So, what are you waiting for? Go abroad now!

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