My Exchange at King’s College London
I completed a law exchange at King’s College London. One of the main reasons I chose King’s College London is because the campus is situated in the heart of the city. King’s law school operates in a wing of Somerset House along the River Thames and is nestled beside the theatre district and Covent Garden. I really enjoyed the proximity to the hustle-bustle of London city, and the law school is within a five-minute walk of the Royal Courts of Justice making it perfect for law students! I thought the campus was really beautiful, and studying in the Maughan Library reading room made me feel like I was in Harry Potter!
The law courses at King’s college have either a lecture or seminar format. I found the courses delivered through lectures to be very similar to the law courses at the University of Auckland. The courses delivered through seminars had quite a different teaching format. The seminars consisted of small group discussions and were reliant on significant self-directed study in advance of classes. During my exchange I spent a lot of time exploring different areas of London and taking full advantage of the abundance of free museums and galleries scattered around the city. I would really recommend exploring beyond the central boroughs, as there are so many beautiful parks and areas to visit. It is also very easy to explore cities beyond London by train, like Cambridge, Brighton or Bath. You can experience the quaint English countryside as a day trip on the train which I found added a lot to my experience! As expected, I found the cost of living in London to be higher than in Auckland, in particular when buying lunch or dinner out. So I would highly recommend cooking at home and saving your coffee outings for catching up with friends. A cost I underestimated when planning for the exchange was public transport. The London tube is absolutely fantastic and getting to campus each day was a breeze – but this came at a significant cost. It was easy to spend upwards of $90 NZD on public transport for the week so I would be conscious of this when putting together your budget!
The main club I joined at King’s was the climbing/bouldering club. This was an amazing way to make friends, as the club had weekly climbing nights. However, the primary way I met other students was through my law courses. King’s has a lot of exchange and international students, so all of my courses were brimming with students from all over the world, primarily Europeans. This really enriched the classroom experience, as students could bring their own unique perspective on the law coloured by their own jurisdiction. I found people to be really friendly and met some of my closest exchange friends just through talking to other students in class.
A highlight of my exchange was experiencing the London theatre scene, and attending as many plays and musicals as my budget would permit. I am so grateful for all of the amazing people I met while in London, from the world-class academics to my wonderful new friends. Living in a city with a population upwards of 9.5 million was certainly an adjustment, but I absolutely loved it and am eternally grateful for the adventure.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
The highlight of my academic experience at King’s College London was participating in seminar style classes. This is where course content is delivered through collaborative seminar discussions rather than the traditional lecture style that most law courses are delivered in at the University of Auckland. In this context you can directly engage with the academic teaching the course, and the small group setting is really useful for exploring your ideas with your peers.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
I would personally recommend the climbing club if you like climbing/bouldering or want to give it a go. This is a really social club, and the weekly climbing sessions made it very easy to make friends!
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
My first tip is to make sure you submit your application and any additional documentation at the earliest available opportunity. The way student accommodation is allocated to exchange students is on a “first-come first-served” basis, so by the time my application was processed all the university accommodation was full! Staying in university accommodation would have been a great way to meet more people, especially students in different faculties.
I would also recommend making use of any opportunity that King’s provide for the exchange students to come together for events. The university did not create many events or opportunities for exchange students to meet each other, and this meant most of the students I met were from my law courses or through extra-curricular activities. While this did not hinder my experience and I still had an amazing time, it would have been great to meet more students studying other subjects, so when these chances come up you should go for it!
I really made the most of my weekends to explore wider-London or get out of the city and see other parts of England. The course load at King’s is not very heavy, so I would recommend working hard when you need to during the week so you can harness your weekends for going on adventures and seeing new places!
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?
I did not create a strict budget for my exchange.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
From an academic perspective, I really enjoyed the law course I took that focused on criminology and the criminal justice system. This course was really enlightening and I enjoyed exploring the parallels between the English and New Zealand criminal justice systems. In particular, how many criminal justice systems around the world suffer from similar deficiencies. Having the opportunity to take this course alongside many other exchange students was also really valuable, as it made me cogent of the unique features and similarities between other jurisdictions.