Year abroad - costs & Turing scheme

[annaspanner18]

Just looking for a sense check on what visa fees/process looks like for year abroad students (between yr 2 and yr 3).

Eldest doing Spanish as part of degree so year in Spain is mandatory. Uni has been less than helpful in providing full picture of costs (they estimated visa fee at £90, word from another recent applicant it was £398!). Add in health declaration certificate, criminal record check which both cost to get, paying for legalisation / translation of those for visa, and we're looking at about £900 before even thinking about flights and so on. (Thanks Brexit)

Unclear on how Turing programme
works - seems there may (or may not) be an award in January 🤷‍♀️.

Anyone been through this, does this all sound about right?

Sorry @annaspanner18, I meant same as a PP, DD’s grandfather (deceased years ago) was Irish. DD gained it via DH having his dad’s birth AND death certificate, which matched his own birth (British) certificate. His mum is English. Only DD’s been through the process, DH can’t be bothered.

if you’ve got the paperwork and it all matches? The Irish FBR website will have all the detail of who can/can’t apply.

DD's going into 2nd year soon. Joint Honours French and History.

If she goes to a French university, what fees are we liable for? Do we have to pay anything to her English uni during her YA?

She currently gets a maintenance loan of £4600 (or thereabouts) - will she get this during her YA?

She doesn't have an EU passport or much desire to work in France/Belgium post university (even if it were an option) so the YA seems like an expensive gap year in her case.

She says some of the MFL students at her uni do a 3 Yr degree without the YA - is this really possible?

Assuming you currently pay the £9250 yearly tuition fee, the year abroad tuition fee is currently set at £1385. This is paid to the UK university, no tuition fees are paid to the overseas uni. Student Finance’s tuition fee loan covers this.

Students are still eligible to receive the maintenance loan from SF whilst they are abroad.

For most MFL degrees in the UK, a placement abroad is mandatory. If a student is unable to do the year abroad for genuine reasons (I.e caring responsibilities), the year abroad requirement can be waived. Some universities would transfer the student onto a different degree to account for the lack of language immersion (I.e they would graduate with a degree in “French Cultural Studies” instead of a “French” degree).

Assuming you currently pay the £9250 yearly tuition fee, the year abroad tuition fee is currently set at £1385. This is paid to the UK university, no tuition fees are paid to the overseas uni. Student Finance’s tuition fee loan covers this.

Students are still eligible to receive the maintenance loan from SF whilst they are abroad.

For most MFL degrees in the UK, a placement abroad is mandatory. If a student is unable to do the year abroad for genuine reasons (I.e caring responsibilities), the year abroad requirement can be waived. Some universities would transfer the student onto a different degree to account for the lack of language immersion (I.e they would graduate with a degree in “French Cultural Studies” instead of a “French” degree).

We are a few years off this but I thought a DELF certificate or similar would be required. I see no-one has mentioned this so am off to google!

@SooLoongLoondon The year abroad at a decent university will always count towards the degree. It’s far from a gap year. They are required to do work for degree credits. This varies from uni to uni. However language immersion is always vital for most dc. Plus immersion in culture. If DC go to a uni they study different subjects. They broaden their knowledge of subjects that might interest them. Your DD could possibly take history modules. My DD enjoyed history of art modules. They might be required to do translation modules too. It’s not just a messing about year but there should be opportunities to travel too.

I think going to a uni or being a language assistant are the best options. Look at what uni actually wants from y3 abroad. It should be meaningful and compulsory and give credits, the same as any other year.

DS didn't do French so DELF didn't come up, but he had to pass exams for both the German and Japanese universities before he went proving his level of proficiency.

I hope his year was enjoyable @mimbleandlittlemy , what a great language combo. Does he know what he may want to do going into Y4 or is he still open to ideas/thinking about post grad studies?

DC need to decide what level of competence they want to return with, as not all will plan to use the language component in their day lives for employment, but the wider modules and challenge of a language based programme develop transferable skills for most sectors. One of the semesters DD will have is 100% immersion, all modules taught in local language, so not for everyone, but suits her needs. Her ab initio language semester is more daunting for her as the hours of teaching are 3 x more than current but hopefully will accelerate her competence.

Thanks @indigoemerald that's very useful.

One more question. If they're going to a French university, do they get accommodation through the French uni or do they need to sort it out for themselves (like Yr 2 at DD's English uni)?

My niece had to find her own in France, she didn't manage it online, it just got snapped up, so my sister ended up going over with her in the August to secure something in person.

@ealingwestmum, he's picking up French in Y4 and intending to apply to do his PGCE to teach MFL.

It wasn't very different at his German uni in terms of teaching hours from the UK, but the hours was incredibly hard and long at the Japanese uni. They definitely believe in working students to their full extent. A friend's dd did a year at uni in Singapore, not MFL related, and her daughter was so impressed with both the stamina of the students and the quality of the teaching compared to her very highly considered UK uni which had been a huge disappointment.

That's excellent @mimbleandlittlemy ; I'm sure he'll be in much demand in a beleaguered sector of education right now, best of luck to him.

Of DD's peers seeking accommodation with their french unis, all have had to secure it independently. DD will do the same for Spain, her Egypt uni provides accommodation on campus (but some will live off, independently by choice).

@TizerorFizz DD is a Brit sadly with no Irish or other EU links to get a passport of convenience and many of her MFL friends are in the same boat. There are also quite a number with EU passports. She just loves her French and Italian course, an MFL buff.

Her Year abroad is compulsory though doesn't require her to collect uni credits - the aim is language fluency. While she's doing two languages as she passed her French C2 in her gap year when an au pair she's going to spend her Year 3 just in Italy. She can take any courses in Italian at a Uni getting her ab initio language as fluent as possible.

The whole process of applying and visas and accommodation and funding seems shrouded in mystery and mystique. It was bad enough getting her au pair visa for her year out before Uni. As has been said - character building. My understanding is you still get your student loan and any Turing funding is means tested and prioritised to those for whom a year abroad is compulsory. This government has really messed up this funding.

@SooLoongLoondon DS has places at two French unis (Long and boring story) One uni sorted a place in Crous accommodation for him - all he did was tick a box on his application form. He's had no choice of room type or location but at least it's cheap (£225 a month for ensuite and kitchenette) The other uni sent some links to some very expensive and grotty student accommodation.

With regards to the DELPH - uni 1 required it, uni 2 were happy with an attestation from the UK uni to say he's B2 level. All his modules have to be studied in French and all have to be from the law school.

We have no idea whether DS will get Turing funding yet but he's applied. His student loan is about £1500 more than his sister (yr 2 UK uni) There's also some way of claiming money towards travel and visa costs but we haven't managed to work that out yet.

My child wants to go to Exeter with a year study abroad (humanities not languages) I think you pay 20% of the fees for the year to Exeter, I know nothing more. Do they get half accommodation? She wants to go to Spain having done Spanish GCSE so basic language knowledge, not yet at Exeter so any wisdom and costs really appreciated

Interesting reading this. I'll m naively thinking that dds year abroad - which starts in six weeks - will cost no more than a year here, though she is in an expensive uni here. Her accommodation abroad is much cheaper which is good as she's unable to work.
It sounds like it varies so much from country to country, although I might be here at the end of the academic year saying how expensive it was!

@mimbleandlittlemy My DDs friend is a mfl
tracher. Schools want French and Spanish. He had to pick up Spanish to go with French. German isn’t widespread now. Sadly.

For those thinking of French - DD went to a Swiss uni. They had accommodation for students if you applied early enough. Made life much easier.

Having been to Japan, we were told about how competitive uni places are in Japan and the work ethic. Ditto in Singapore. It’s cultural and we aren’t the same. We rely on self study but we actually have less student suicides.

Hi - DC about to start joint degree (Russian/humanities) and is due to spend third year abroad. Probably stupid question, but is this eligible for Turing funding (theoretically…) and does a similar situation re lower fees etc apply or is this only applicable to EU time abroad? Anyone have (recent) experience given year can obvs no longer be spent in Russia itself? DC keen not to spend the year in Baltics which I know is a common location currently. Thanks

Thanks @TizerorFizz - he knows that fewer schools teach German but as he learned German in a comp - which still splits the year into French and German then adds in Spanish and Latin for the best linguists - he knows there are still comps that teach German. He will be doing the French SKE course alongside his PGCE but will probably also decide to do the Spanish one as well to give himself maximum employability.

Eldest did her year abroad last year. Her university guarantees funding to those for whom the year abroad is compulsory.

The administration of Turing is terrible and universities have no idea how much money they’ll receive (and they never receive what they asked for) until mid-September.

My daughter received 70% in October ‘23 (a month after arriving) and the remainder in July ‘24 (after leaving). I assume this is the same at all universities, but I’m not sure. Students can take out a maintenance loan too.

Students do not pay full fees to their UK university -I think it was less than £2k.

Other costs she incurred before receiving any funding: £900 health insurance, which was compulsory and her EHIC wasn't sufficient; £400 travel card; visa costs, tbh cannot remember how much, but circa £100; flights; new phone contract, as she couldn’t use her UK one after 3 months; and probably a lot more expenses that I’ve chosen to forget!

Her university ran a series of lectures about the year abroad, but they weren’t much use as they were so generic. They do not advise on visas etc. Having said that, I did my year abroad in the 80s (just) before the Erasmus programme started and the university really didn’t give us any help either -and there was no google!

I would also suggest your daughter makes sure she has a bank account where she isn’t charged foreign transaction fees -they soon add up!

@mimbleandlittlemy The issue is, will there be jobs in the right schools. Hopefully yes, but much wider employability with Spanish. It’s all a bit sad as so few offer a broad spectrum of MFLs.

Thanks @Georgie8 - very useful. Crikey £900 for health insurance!

Thanks @Georgie8, she will need to sort the mobile phone when she gets there. The student GHIC is supported by insurance from the university thankfully - £900 is 😳.

She also has a Monzo which is fine for non sterling use. Can I ask @Georgie8 how much Turing funding your DD got over those two tranches?