INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

Staying in Touch

It is essential that you keep in touch with your department and the Study Abroad Team here at UCL, and that you check your UCL email account regularly.

Respond to departmental and Study Abroad Team requests for information as soon as possible and, in the case of work assignments, by the deadlines set.

If you do experience difficulties of any kind while abroad, no matter how small, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Contact your Study Abroad Tutor or the Study Abroad Team for help and advice.

Keeping Your UCL Email Active

All correspondence from your department and the Study Abroad Team will be sent via your UCL email address. It is important that you regularly log in to your account to keep it active.

Accounts that are left dormant for too long are frozen and passwords will only be re-issued over the phone if you have already registered for the User Authentication System. To register, please follow the instructions on the UCL ISD website here.

Otherwise, if you need to re-activate your account, please contact the IS Helpdesk on +44 20 7679 5000. A password can then be sent out to a specified address.

Your Contact Details Abroad

Let your friends and family, and anyone else who needs to know, have your address and telephone number abroad as soon as possible.

You are required to provide UCL with accurate details of where you are living and how you can be contacted and to notify us of any subsequent change in these details.

You should keep these details up to date on Portico.

Let Us Know How Your Year Abroad Is Going

We really hope that you are enjoying your time abroad, and we would love to hear how you are getting on.

Please feel free to send us your photos and news throughout the year, or add them to the UCL Study Abroad Flickr group.

Support

The UCL Student Support website is a useful source of support while you are abroad.

The website includes advice pages on various student issues and also has an online student support group that uses peer support to provide help.

Useful UCL Contacts

• UCL Dean of Students (Welfare)
• UCL Student Centre
• UCL Student Funding
• UCL Support Services

FCO Travel Advice Pages

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office's travel advice pages are full of useful, detailed and up-to-date information, as well as containing contact details for your nearest British Embassy or Consulate.

FCO Social Media Updates

In May 2013, the FCO Locate service was replaced by a range of social media channels dedicated to Travel Advice and overseas crisis support for UK citizens.

Students abroad are now advised to subscribe to email travel updates for the country they are going to be resident in via the FCO website.

You can also follow updates from the FCO via Facebook and on Twitter (@fcotravel). There may also be a UK consular Twitter for your host country - please visit consular websites for details.

Study Abroad Handbook

The Study Abroad Handbook contains invaluable information. All students going abroad should receive a copy. If you do not have one please download one.

Moodle

The UCL Students Abroad Moodle course contains a variety of resources and information relating to your study abroad placement.

It is also a useful tool to help you keep track of the forms and documents you are required to return to UCL over the course of your year abroad.

Academic Requirements of Your Year abroad

The way in which your time abroad is assessed academically will vary according to which department you are in and which study abroad option (university study, language assistantship or work placement) you have opted for.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand how your year abroad will be assessed and what is expected of you academically. You are expected to familiarise yourself with details of all work to be undertaken during your period abroad (work either set by your department at UCL, or undertaken at the institution(s) you are attending abroad), and to comply with all relevant deadlines and requirements relating to submission and assessment.

For information or advice about the academic requirements of your year abroad, please contact your Study Abroad Tutor.

Students from the School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS) may find it useful to consult the year abroad assessment pages on the SELCS website here.

Administrative Requirements of Your Year Abroad

During the course of your time abroad, you will be required to complete and return several forms and documents to the Study Abroad Team by specified deadlines. All study abroad forms are either available here and from the UCL Students Abroad Moodle course, or will be sent to you by email at the appropriate time.

Many of these study abroad forms have a course-unit value (and hence failure to submit them to UCL by the stated deadline will result in failure of the relevant course-unit), or constitute a compulsory requirement for passing the year abroad. It is therefore important that you pay close attention to the paperwork requirements and deadlines of your year abroad.

Students participating in the Erasmus programme will also have to submit additional paperwork relating to their Erasmus placement(s).

You can keep track of all the administrative requirements of your year abroad via the UCL Students Abroad Moodle course.

If in doubt, please contact the Study Abroad Team.

Representing UCL Overseas

UCL's exchange programmes work on a reciprocal basis, which means that we depend on attracting students from our partner institutions to UCL in order to be able to continue sending UCL students abroad in future.

We depend on our students who are abroad to act as good ambassadors for UCL, and to help us encourage students from their host institution(s) to study abroad at UCL. This could involve:

• Participating in a study abroad or exchange fair at your host university.
• Entering into contact with students at your host university who will be coming on exchange to UCL.
• Assisting with UCL promotional activity in your host country. This could entail, for instance, accompanying a member of UCL staff to a higher education exhibition in your host city and speaking to prospective students about your experience of studying at UCL.
• Generally behaving in a way which reflects positively both on you as an individual and on UCL as an institution.

Please email the Study Abroad Team if you have been asked to participate in any events by your host university. We can provide you with prospectuses, display materials and other UCL promotional material.

Accommodation for Returning Students

Application forms to enter the ballot for UCL accommodation will normally be available from the Student Residences Office during February.

The deadline for the receipt of applications is usually early March, with the allocation ballot taking place shortly after that.

Please note that very few places are available for returning students. For further information, please contact UCL Student Residences.

Selecting your Final Year Options

When contacted by your department, it is important that you respond as soon as possible to requests for information about your choice of final year options.

Course selection, like enrolment, will take place online via Portico and it is essential that you check your UCL email account on a regular basis for instructions, and that you observe published deadlines.

UCL Careers Service

By studying abroad it is likely that you have developed skills which will be very attractive to potential employers.

You are advised to consult the UCL Careers Service early in your final year, as for some careers it is around October that you should be submitting your job applications.

If you have not previously obtained advice on preparing your CV, make sure you do so now. If you already have a CV, update it to reflect your newly acquired skills and take it to the Careers Service for expert advice on how you might further hone and improve it.

Advising Future Study Abroad Students

Early to mid-way through the autumn term of your final year, many departments will organise meetings and information sessions for 2nd year students who will be studying abroad the following year. You will be invited to participate in such meetings and talk about your own experiences.

Your contribution to these meetings is highly valued, as there is no one better placed to relate first-hand experiences of the year abroad.

Study Abroad Fair

You may also be asked to help promote study abroad to 1st and 2nd year students at the annual UCL Study Abroad Fair, which is held in November.