Amy (Sem 1, 2023)

My Exchange at The University of Edinburgh

Q&A

What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?

Academically, Edinburgh is quite different to Auckland. I found my assignments in Edinburgh were typically higher weighted (70-80% for end of semester assignments), making my work loads less evenly spread across the course of the semester. Grading is also very different, with 70% being an A and 40% being a pass. However, I found achieving an ‘A’ similarly difficult to Auckland generally.

Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?

I would highly recommend the club expo that the University of Edinburgh offers. It was a great way to meet domestic and fellow exchange students with similar interests. There is a huge abundance of clubs to join — the event took place over multiple days! — with highly specific offerings, ensuring your interests will be reflected in some way. Clubs offer really fun orientation events which are a great way to meet other people.

What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?

– Bring more money than you think you need for emergencies and spontaneous trips.

– Join clubs and take advantage of events organised by the ESN. The weekend trips around Scotland are great fun and great way to see the country.

– Try to be strategic about what you want to buy for a short-term period. Lots of second-hand shops and University organised sales will have all you need for your room, making it cheaper and more sustainable. I passed my stuff onto a friend and other people will be doing the same. However, some things you may need to need to invest in to make sure you enjoy your time there. For me, this was a really thick blanket. It is cold in Edinburgh!

How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?

My overall budget was approximately $10,500 for 20 weeks as a full time exchange student. This does not include money I spent on weekend trips in Scotland or travelling overseas during or after my exchange period. These costs are detailed below and includes my flights.

This included rent ($220 NZD approx PW for the semester), return flights ($3000 NZD approx), eating out and groceries per week ($100 NZD approx), drinking out + socialising + entertainment ($40 NZD PW). Start-up costs on bedding, kitchenware, some warm clothes and other necessities probabaly came to around 500 NZD as a one-off cost.

The exchange rate to pounds is highly unfortunate, so even though Edinburgh is seemingly cheaper, the exchange rate typically ends up making things slightly more expensive there. This is particularly true of eating out in the UK, which is a lot more expensive than New Zealand, but groceries and cooking at home is often cheaper especially if you are smart about it. Lidl has great prices and setting up a Tesco clubcard helps a lot too!

What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?

My most significant takeaways from my exchange experience were mostly personal ones. Having never lived outside of home, I learnt a lot about living on my own and managing a shared-living envionrment. Having done majority of my degree online due to Covid, I also learnt a lot about a more ‘traditional’ university experience and was able to make friends and socialise easier than I had in Auckland.

Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?

Being based in Europe is a great opportunity to travel widely at a low cost (relative to travelling from New Zealand). During my exchange period, I was able to travel to France, Germany, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, as well as around Scotland. Through a combination of cheap flights (Ryanair, EasyJet etc) and train passes this worked out relatively cheap. Some of these were during my semester period and others were once I had completed my exchange.

I highly highly recommend travelling during your exchange. Throughout your exchange you’ll meet lots of other students wanting to explore Europe so you will definitely not be alone. I was fortunate enough to travel with two other New Zealand students in European summer and have made lifelong friends!