Tayne's Exchange to Nottingham Trent University | England
My name is Tayne Edwards and I studied abroad at Nottingham Trent University in the UK in Semester 2, 2019. At Murdoch University, I
am studying Global Politics and Policy.
The key factors for myself choosing to study at Nottingham Trent University were...
I wanted to study in The United Kingdom due
to my degree, I felt that the UK was best place to further my studies into
politics as the UK was largely where the discipline was founded. I chose
Nottingham because I felt it would be a good compromise between the more
expensive cities like London and the more rural options.
A little about Nottingham Trent University...
I spent most of my time in the city campus of Nottingham Trent Uni. This was really cool as it meant that everything was really close to the main city centre and there was lots to do after class. I took 6 subjects total, each class was only 1.5 hours, but there were lots of readings assigned and the tutorials were very in depth considering the time frame. The classes were also much smaller which allowed for lots of one-on-one teaching which allowed me to get to know the professors well which I felt helped greatly with my learning experience.
The UK University system works in
terms. Not semesters like, here, an academic year is three terms. The exchange
program covers the first term which ends early to mid-December. Not in January. Which is what the university
says as that is when the second term finishes. It is a bit confusing and can
lead to booking flight dates waaay after your exchange is finished and then
having to rebook them, which will be expensive. Which is something I absolutely
did not have to do.
A little about the city I lived in, Nottingham…
Nottingham was an excellent city
to live in, it is very similar to Perth in the way that it is a fairly large
city with a relatively small population, so walking around felt like walking
around Perth. The public transport system was a bit of a hassle for me as an
exchange student. The main form of public transport is bus. And for students
you must buy a bus pass for 6 months to a year. Which costs approximately $400-600
AUD. As I was only planning to stay there for a maximum three to 4 months, I
didn’t feel this was worth the cost. But most of the time, everything was
within a 30-minute walk. Getting around England however is really easy and
relatively cheap. Every weekend I was able to go to a different city for as
little as 10 pounds by bus, they aren’t anything fancy, but if you’re on a
budget you can get a return trip to London for about 50 pounds, compared to
double that by train. Everywhere is very accessible through this method. I
really enjoyed eating at fast food places that we don’t have here in Australia,
most notably Taco bell, much to the chagrin of my English friends. But there
were so many different restaurants you could get anything you felt like. The
only problem was that they didn’t stay open very late. With most of the places
closing by around 9pm. The locals were very friendly, and were always very
happy to help me out if I got lost or needed help.
The best parts of my experience…
The best part of my exchange
experience was the ability to travel around the UK and have many new
experiences. Nottingham is such a multicultural city and meeting people with
very different life experiences and backroads was amazing. In my exchange
group, there were people from France, Germany, Columbia and spain. Getting to
know all these people, as well as my roommates, was an amazing experience. In
addition. The nightlife of Nottingham is quite something. It is a city with two
highly competitive universities. And the university spirit is very important
there. At night the city would be energized by different student events and
parties which were amazing fun. And the Rugby derby, when the two universities
would play against each other was very fun. Anyone who comes to the Nottingham
Trent university, I encourage to get involved in the uni socail life as much as
possible to maximize their enjoyment.
Some of the challenges about studying abroad…
One of the main challenges was living in a
house with six other boys, while it was a big house and we all got along really
well most of the time. Having one kitchen, and one living room leads to
sometimes getting sick of one another. for the most part however, we were able
to deal with these issues as they came and it wasn’t a big problem overall. I
did get homesick towards the end as Christmas neared, being away from the
family, especially in a country where they go ALL OUT, for Christmas. It can be
a very lonely time, luckily however, I did have many friends to help out with
that. Overall the culture of the UK and Australia are fairly similar, despite
some differences in colloquialism. There was no major cultural challenges,
however, the do dip their pizza in mayo which I find insane.
A little about my accommodation whilst studying abroad…
I
lived in a very nice 6-bedroom share house with six other guys all not from
Nottingham. The accommodation was quintessentially English which I found very
pleasing, it had nice backyard and a conservatory which was an excellent place
to study when it was raining, I had a very small bedroom but that wasn’t too
big of an issue as I would just hang out in the living room or go outside. I
found my accommodation through a friend who lives in Nottingham, she invited me
to a Facebook page where students advertise rooms for sale and other things.
Some advice I would give is to clarify if the cost of rent advertised includes
bills, as some did and some don’t/the average rate for a room is around 90-100
pounds noninclusive of bills.
Funding my exchange experience…
I funded my experience through
both personal savings and OS-help loan, all in all I amassed around 10k AUD in
savings. Although I would recommend probably 15k would be ideal to account for
unexpected costs, of which there will be any, as well as to fully experience
Nottingham and the UK, as prices can vary wildly from city to city.
Whilst on exchange, I travelled to…
Advice I would give to someone considering studying abroad…
If you are going to the UK, MAKE SURE THEY STAMP YOUR PASSPORT. They will want to put you through the e-gate because you are part of the commonwealth and its easy for them, but that only gives you 30 days, I went in the first time and they told me that it was fine. But then I wasn’t allowed to register with the uni, so I had to leave the UK and come back in, I went through the French/UK border which wasn’t as fancy, so they only had stamps. But make sure that when you land in the airport you get your 6month student stamp, otherwise it’s a massive hassle. Also, while Nottingham is relatively cheap, if you plan to go to the other city’s be prepared because they are very expensive. London in particular is insane, expect to spend a conservative 200 pounds a day not including accommodation. Save about 20% more than you budgeted for because things will go wrong and when things go wrong the answer is often money.
- Tayne studied abroad at Nottingham Trent University in the UK.
EMAIL: studyabroad@murdoch.edu.au
