Outbound mobility: study or work abroad

There are many different ways to achieve a global experience abroad. Whether you are looking for the classic study exchange for a semester or year, experience working overseas in your chosen field or a short term research placement, we’ve got you covered. 

We have different options for studying abroad depending on your chosen subject area.

If you are interested in gaining work experience during a sandwich year, doing this abroad can be a fantastic addition to your CV! Not only are you able to test out a career path you may be interested in, but you are able to challenge yourself further and gain new skills by doing this in a different country.

Don’t speak a second language? No problem at all! All of our study abroad opportunities are delivered in English (unless you are studying a languages degree).

Start your journey

To gain a place with one of our exchange partners, you will go through an internal application process. This usually takes place in the second year (with the exception of the International Business course).

You won’t need to do any of this before you apply to the University of Portsmouth.  Information will be provided to you during Welcome Week at Fresher's Fayre and throughout your first year of study. More information can be found on our MyPort webpages.

We also have a dedicated Moodle site that you can enrol onto once you are registered at the University. This Moodle site contains all of the information you will need and provides an easy guide on how to apply for your study or work mobility and funding to support yourself while you are abroad.

University Wide Exchange Programme

The University of Portsmouth has a number of exchange partnerships which enable undergraduate students from all subject areas to apply to study with them for one semester or a full academic year (depending on individual course restrictions). The semester or year abroad mobility will be recorded on your University of Portsmouth transcript when you graduate, and you will also receive a transcript from the partner university for the period of time you spent there.

As an exchange student, you would not pay any tuition fees to the partner university, but you would be expected to cover accommodation, travel and general living costs. You may be eligible to apply for additional funding to support your exchange mobility.

Exchange spaces at the partner universities are limited, therefore your application will be assessed by nominated colleagues in your faculty, and you may be invited to attend an informal interview as part of the process. We advise you to speak to your exchange coordinator prior to starting your application. If you're not sure who to contact, send an email to goabroad@port.ac.uk and we will point you in the right direction!

If you are successful in your application, you will be formally nominated to the chosen partner university, and will be contacted by them in order to begin their exchange student application process.

Funding

If you choose to do an activity abroad for at least 4 weeks, then you will have the opportunity to apply for an external grant from the Turing Scheme. You don’t have to do this alone, our team is here to help guide you through the process.

The grant helps to pay for any extra costs of living overseas, such as your rent, food or bills, but you shouldn't rely on it as your main budget, or to cover your initial costs.

There is also extra funding available from the Turing Scheme to support students from low-income backgrounds, those with special educational needs and disabilities. Whatever your background, we can help you! Contact us by emailing goabroad@port.ac.uk to find out more.

In addition, you may also have access to other sources of funding, such as the Student Maintenance Loan, local and regional government grants or existing savings.

Where can I go?

We have study destinations around the world. Where you can go will depend on the subject area you choose to study. Our current destinations, partner universities and areas of study are listed below either by school, faculty or our University Wide Exchange programme.

You can also link directly to our partner universities' websites from there.