What courses should I take while I’m abroad?

You must take courses in your degree subjects while abroad, as agreed between you and your academic coordinator(s) in University of Galway. These must be pursued diligently and with success and completed to the appropriate standard. There can be very serious financial and academic consequences to the failure of examinations taken while abroad. Your University of Galway academic coordinator will be able to guide you in choosing appropriate courses and you should discuss with him/her what courses you are expected to take while abroad. It’s important that you know exactly what is expected of you, in terms of the types of courses you need to take, number of credits, results, etc., before you leave Ireland. Upon arrival at the host university, you may encounter timetable clashes or other issues which may affect the choice of courses open to you. Discuss with your coordinator here at University of Galway what you should do in this case.

In many cases, University of Galway students will be required to attain 40 to 45 ECTS credits in the course of a full year studying abroad.
B.A. International non-language students will be expected to secure 20 credits in each of their two degree subjects, unless otherwise approved by the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies.

B.A. International language students will usually be required to take modules totaling 45 credits: the breakdown between their subjects is determined by their sending academic disciplines at University of Galway, but the greater emphasis will be on the language subject.

Other programme coordinators will advise as to the credit requirements for their particular courses. In all cases, students should ensure that they understand exactly what is required of them before embarking on their studies abroad, and if they have any doubts at any stage, they should consult their academic coordinator(s) immediately. It should be borne in mind that an insufficient number of credits from the year abroad can have serious implications for a student’s final degree.
Your nominating school or discipline at University of Galway and your host university abroad will require you to confirm your final choice of courses. You will use the Online Learning Agreement (OLA) for this. Please read carefully the information in  the COMPLETING THE LEARNING AGREEMENT section below.

You must normally go to a university where there is a formal link with your field of study at University of Galway. However, we have a small number of exchange places arranged on a more general basis where BA (non- language) students can take a range of courses taught through English. In these cases, students must get approval in advance from their own School(s) or Discipline(s) to say that they will accept the proposed programme of studies.

If you are a BA International student, you should ensure that both your disciplines are aware that you are going to participate in the Erasmus+ Programme. It is best to convey this information in writing. You must complete an agreed workload in your second subject while abroad, even if you are being sent away on an exchange link “owned” by one particular University of Galway Discipline or School.

Attendance at lectures and completion of the agreed programme of study are essential in all cases. Failure to fulfil the course requirements may justify a request for the reimbursement of the Erasmus+ grant.

Make sure that you understand the exam structure in your host university. Adhere strictly to all deadlines and keep a copy of any essays that you submit.

Completing the Learning Agreement

Find it at https://www.learning-agreement.eu/, noting that University of Galway students on Erasmus+ are expected to use the Online Learning Agreement (OLA) wherever possible.

The Learning Agreement is a vitally important document outlining the courses for which you are registering at the host university, along with the ECTS credit weighting of each module. It’s crucial for the recognition of your studies abroad, and is an implicit part of your Erasmus+ contract (grant agreement). On a practical level, it helps ensure that your course choices are accepted and approved by both your host university and your University of Galway coordinator, and it provides a guarantee that these courses will earn you credit towards your University of Galway degree, provided they are successfully completed. It should be signed by you and by your coordinators (at both home and host institution) before you commence your studies abroad. You should use the Online Learning Agreement, which means that you and your academic coordinators (home and host) can access a copy at any time once it’s completed. If for any reason you have to use the older, Word/paper-based version, you must ensure that your University of Galway academic coordinator has a copy, and you should keep your own copy in a safe place and back it up electronically.

Please consult the following documents: “Online Learning Agreement – Creating your Account” and “Online Learning Agreement – How to Complete”.

In Table A, you will list the courses that you intend to take at the host university, giving the course code and providing a web link to the course catalogue. Table B refers to how the courses that you take abroad will fit into your University of Galway degree programme. In a few cases, students may be substituting courses taken abroad for equivalent courses at University of Galway. However, in most cases, the period abroad will be an integral but independent element of their degree programme, with no equivalent courses at University of Galway. This is the case with programmes that incorporate a specific “study abroad” module, or a year or semester abroad that results in an “International” degree. Keep in mind that a full year of study abroad, completed successfully, should yield 60 ECTS credits towards your University of Galway degree, even if you were only required to pass 40 or 45 ECTS’ worth of courses at the host university. The same goes for a full semester of study abroad: you would expect to gain 30 ECTS credits towards your University of Galway degree provided you passed the prescribed number of courses while abroad, even if, in some cases, those courses only added up to 20 or 25 ECTS.

Language Competence of the Student – this refers to the language of instruction of your courses abroad.
If you are a languages student, you’ll most likely be familiar with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in which A1 denotes a very elementary knowledge of the language, B1 is average, and C2 suggests a very high level of proficiency in a foreign language. Essentially it’s a self- assessment system (see www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages) but you could use your OLS placement test result to indicate your level.

The language competence question sometimes causes confusion for non-language students who aren’t familiar with the above-mentioned system. If your English is of native speaker level, and you are going to use primarily English for your studies abroad, then you should simply tick the “native speaker” box. If you’re not a native speaker of English, but English will be the language of your studies, choose the level you believe reflects your ability.

If, later on, you need to make changes to your learning agreement, you can log in and add or delete courses, but the changes will again need to be approved by both coordinators.

What about my registration status at University of Galway if I am studying abroad for a whole year?

You must be registered as a student here at University of Galway for the year in which you are going abroad. Otherwise you cannot receive credit for your studies abroad. You will be able register online in late August, and you should follow the instructions at www.universityofgalway.ie/registration, “Students Returning to Next Year”. Please ensure that your normal fees to University of Galway are paid promptly and in full so that you will be correctly registered at University of Galway while you are abroad.

Exam Results

Ensuring that results are returned from your host university is also your responsibility. Since the system may be unfamiliar to you, please check the procedures that apply in that university for the issue of results, to make sure that your University of Galway coordinator receives yours before you resume your studies in Galway. Many institutions forward transcripts to University of Galway as a matter of course, but some may not and so you may have to arrange this yourself. It is your responsibility to prove that you have achieved the required number of credits at the host institution.