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Finding international placements

Students looking for work, volunteering and short term study placements are responsible for finding a suitable placement before applying for the grant.

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In order to be eligible for Go Abroad funding students must find placements that meet the following criteria:

  • The placement must be hosted by an organisation
  • It should include a structured programme activity
  • It should be relevant to your degree or future career
  • The placement has to take place outside of the UK
    International students cannot undertake a placement in their home country

How to find an international placement

Think about your objectives

  • What do you want to do – study, work, volunteering, a virtual placement?
  • What skills and experience are you looking to gain? More guidance.
  • What kind of placement would suit me?
  • Where in the world would you like to go?
  • What are the local attitudes, what support is in place, what languages do I want to learn?
  • Start researching

Start researching

  • Ask your department if they can suggest possible hosts through research collaborations or networks 
  • Speak to the Careers Service for guidance on identifying and approaching potential hosts 
  • Get in touch directly with an organisation that you are interested in working with
  • Read the advice on the international volunteering page
  • Read our blog on how to find a placement

Useful links

The following websites are useful starting points to research working or volunteering abroad:

Once you have found a placement, we can help with funding to cover the travel and living costs of working or volunteering abroad.

Some of the options you could apply for funding for include:

International Summer Schools

Universities around the world organise summer schools for international students. You could apply for funding to study at one of our partner universities. Some examples of courses they offer are below:

UniversityCountryMore information
Freie Universitat Berlin Germany http://www.fubis.org/
Dongguk University
 S. Korea   
Cologne University Germany

https://portal.uni-koeln.de/en/cologne-summer-schools
HKU University of the Arts Utrecht The Netherlands utrechtsummerschool.nl
Humboldt University Berlin Germany huwisu.de
Roskilde University  Denmark ruc.dk/en/summer-schools-roskilde-university
KU Leuven Belgium kuleuven.be
Pazmany Peter Catholic University Hungary ppke.hu/en/international/summer-school
Trinity College Dublin Ireland Samuel Beckett Summer School: tcd.ie
University of Amsterdam The Netherlands https://gsss.uva.nl/summer-programmes/summer-programmes.html
University of Bologna Italy unibo.it
University of Copenhagen Denmark economics.ku.dk/studyeconomics/summer-schools/
University of Gothenburg Sweden gu.se/en/study-in-gothenburg/exchange-student/summer-school-for-sustainability-on-campus-2022
University of Malta Malta https://www.um.edu.mt/studentlife/internationalopportunities/erasmus/incoming
University of Trento Italy unitn.it
You will need to be nominated by Goldsmiths for the Trento Psychology summer school. Apply by 29 March via our summer study placements page.
international.unitn.it/incoming/summer-and-winter-schools
University of Vienna Austria https://international.univie.ac.at/en/student-mobility/incoming-students/
University of Zagreb Croatia unizg.hr

Fees and application deadlines vary.

Foreign Language courses

The best way to learn a language is to study it in a country where it is spoken. You could study Spanish in Spain or South America, Italian in Italy or Arabic in Egypt or Morocco. Apply for funding to help with the costs. Below are some examples of reputable language courses you might want to consider:

German courses at the Goethe Institut – find out more at goethe.de

French courses at the Alliance Francaise – They run French language courses in a number of cities around the world and in France, for example in Toulouse and Paris.

Training

In the past we have sent a student from Theatre and Performance on an acting course in Los Angeles, a Computing student to a Hackathon in Berlin, and a Psychology student to a week-long training programme. Find similar opportunities and apply for funding now.

Cultural programmes

Opportunities in Germany

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers funding for a variety of courses for both graduate and postgraduate students.

Opportunities in China

There is the opportunity for an International Language Teachers Scholarship for non-Chinese citizens with some proficiency in Mandarin. This is available to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Students can study in China for four weeks over the summer. Please email Confucius (@gold.ac.uk) if interested in applying.