Study Abroad Office

Incoming Students

More students all over the world are spending a period of study in another country as part of their degree. Study Abroad is extremely worthwhile and enjoyable both educationally and socially. It can be an important experience in career terms, showing that you are a person who is naturally outgoing and adventurous, and open to new ideas and methods of working. Study Abroad students tend to have a wider experience of life in general than those who stay at their home university throughout their degree - and it shows!

The University of Essex has been admitting Study Abroad students since 1979. Originally the programme was set up to cater for Junior Year Abroad and exchange students from the United States but the programme was later extended to include students from Japan, Latin America, Asia, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Many of these students are in the second and third years of their degrees though some are in their fourth year and some are postgraduates. Approximately 250-300 students take part in the programme at Essex each year.

Study Abroad students register with the University as ‘occasional’ - or non-graduating - students. The courses that you can enrol for, subject in some cases to meeting pre-requisites, are listed in the hard copy Course Catalogue which is included as part of the Study Abroad application pack.  The course catalogue is also available on-line. The on-line version is always most up-to-date.

Students from European universities

Students who are enrolled on degree programmes at European universities can study abroad at Essex in two different ways. 

If your university has an ERASMUS exchange agreement with Essex, then you may be eligible to study at Essex as an exchange student.  Exchange students do not pay tuition fees to Essex.  For more details of the ERASMUS programme please click here.

If your university does not have an Erasmus agreement with Essex, or if the exchange places are already full, you can still study at Essex as a fee-paying study abroad student.  European fee-payers should follow the ERASMUS links for information on ECTS credits and grades, but should use this application form.  Fees for students who are ordinarily resident in the European Union in 2010-11 are:

The application deadline for October entry is 1 May and the deadline for January entry is 1 November.

Students from institutions outside Europe

If your university has an exchange agreement with Essex, then you can apply to come to Essex as an exchange student and will not pay tuition fees to Essex.  If you are not a student at one of our exchange partners, you can either enrol directly with Essex as a fee-paying study abroad student, or you can enrol with us via an agency such as IFSA-Butler or IRSS.

Our application form is here.   The application deadline for October entry is 1 May and the deadline for January entry is 1 November.

Academic Information

Why choose Essex?

Pre-arrival information

Study Abroad (non-European Union) fees in 2010-11 are: