A semester abroad at the University of Birmingham
Studying abroad can be a daunting prospect, but have you ever heard someone who did a semester abroad with the Erasmus+ programme speak negatively about their experience? If you are a person who loves travelling and has always wanted to experience life in different places, I likely will not need to convince you to submit your application. On the other hand, if you are a person that is, just like I was, not quite sold yet on whether it is a good idea to commit oneself to an adventure of such a sizeable scale, ask yourself the question I posed at the beginning. My experience was no different to the ones I had heard and read of and confirmed to me that stepping out of one´s comfort zone by studying abroad is a valuable experience that can be beneficial in various aspects of life, so set your doubts aside and simply go for it. With that out of the way I´d now like to focus more on what life at UOB is like and share what I think can be helpful for you ahead of your journey.
Administrative processes
To begin with, just some quick words on administrative matters. As far as signing up at UOB is concerned, just keep a close eye on your emails and do exactly what is asked of you. You will be guided step by step and receive all information you need, and I highly recommend checking out some of the websites that will be advertised in order to be as prepared as you can. Should you at any point have any questions you can always email incoming-europeanexchange@contacts.bham.ac.uk, but only do so if you feel it is absolutely necessary as they get peppered with emails (meaning you may not get an answer in weeks). One thing I do want to specifically point out is that you want to be quick when selecting your room (if you live on campus, which I personally think you should 😊) as it kind of is a first come first served principle. To do that, just be aware of times and dates and keep an eye on the student accommodation website (which you will be familiar with at that point) to see if you can already book a room. https://studentaccommodation.bham.ac.uk/StarRezPortalX/Login
Also, download the “My UOB” app and log in with your UOB credentials as soon as you can to familiarize yourself with the app and to not miss out on emails that you may at this point already be receiving here. The app has a bunch of different functions, but the main ones you´re going to be using are the timetable and “my attendance” where you need to enter an attendance code which you will be given for each session of your modules. If you fail to do so your attendance will not be captured, so make sure to get that code (this can also be done after a session has already finished). I personally find that system quite weird and soon got tired of 5 people asking for the attendance code each session. It can also quite easily be exploited, but I´ll leave that to you to find and test out.
Accommodation
In terms of accommodation, I can only talk about the options on campus. As already hinted, I can only recommend to make use of the student living offers at UOB, not least because as an exchange student you are guaranteed a room! If you´d rather choose something private you can of course do that as well. The process of booking your room on campus is quite straightforward – you´ll get all the necessary information and there will also be dedicated zoom meetings where you´ll get a presentation and can ask questions. In contrast to the process of booking itself, actually choosing what room will fit you best can be quite tricky, so let me try to roughly explain what your options are. There are three university owned student villages called “The Vale”, “Pritchatts Park” and “Selly Oak”.
I personally lived on The Vale, which is the greenest out of the three and even has its own lake. This is where most freshers (first year students) live. It has lots of different housing options to choose from, ranging from “Tennis Court” which is generally cheaper and less modern, to “Chamberlain” which is a 20-storey tower built not too long ago. The biggest downside to the Vale is that it is the furthest walk to campus (about 10 to 20 minutes depending on where exactly you live, want to go and how fast you walk) and that it only has one small shop (Costcutter) which is quite pricey.
Pritchatts Park is the one I can say least about as I only ever went there around a handful of times for the “Metchley” sports pitches. It is quite a bit smaller than the Vale and the walk to campus is about 10 minutes, so about as long as it would take you from the closest housing option on the Vale, which is Tennis Court. It is also not as green as the Vale and there is definitely the least going on (in terms of community) at Pritchatts, which is down to it being by far the smallest of the villages. As far as I know there are also no shops.
Finally, there is Selly Oak which is located south from campus (the others are north) and is by far the most urban – imagine it as a sort of suburb of Birmingham. Thus, the number one argument for Selly Oak is that it contains plenty of shops, restaurants, pubs and so on, while at the same time being only about 5 minutes from campus. Just like the Vale, Selly Oak also has a thriving community and due to its proximity to all the facilities is for sure the most convenient place to live. It is also the place where most second year or above students live. Selly Oak´s biggest flaw is that it´s not visually appealing as it is quite dirty with lots rubbish on the streets, so it really is a rather nasty place in that regard.
When it comes to the flats themselves, one of the main decisions you will have to make is if you want an en-suite or if you are okay with sharing a bathroom with (usually) four others. You can also choose a meal plan (aka student living plus) with which you will get around 250 pounds onto your student ID card for you to spend at various restaurants and at a huge cafeteria at Shakleton on the Vale called Infusion, which serves great value for money meals for dinner. Generally, the more expensive your flat is the more modern it will be. On the Vale, for example, flats in Chamberlain tower or in Mason will generally be more modern than those in Maple Bank or Tennis Court, and that is reflected in their costs. The cheapest flats, which I believe are those in Maple Bank (Vale), will cost you about 100 pounds per week. If you want something on the Vale with a bit more comfort and a lot closer (5-8 minutes less walking) to campus I can only recommend staying at Tennis court for about 140 pounds per week (as advertised online, there should be cheaper ones as well). Flats in Chamberlain are advertised at about 200 pounds a week, and so are most options in Selly Oak, so if you want something on the cheaper end, the Vale is the place for you. Laundrettes are nearby for any accommodation.
I lived in a mixed sex, shared bathroom apartment in Tennis Court with four others and we, to my surprise, had no issues whatsoever in sharing our bathroom, which may have also been a lucky coincidence as we all seemed to shower and brush our teeth at different times. What also helped was that there were two toilets, one in our main bathroom and one in its own dedicated room. My flatmates were all international students, which I was a bit sceptical about at the beginning as my plan was to expose myself to as much “Englishness” as possible. In the end, at least in terms of language I kind of got the best out of both worlds as two of my flatmates were from Australia, with the other two coming from Italy and Ecuador. Two important aspects to consider when choosing if you want to live with international or English students are age and cleanliness. The vast majority, if not all the English students will start their studies at 18 or 19 years of age, whereas in Austria the average age is without a doubt a bit higher. That can result in quite significant age gaps so keep in mind whether you think that may be a problem for you, depending on your own age. That also ties into the aspect of cleanliness. Though I do feel like people in England are more mature at 18 than they are in Austria, keeping their flats tidy does not seem to be a strength of theirs. This will obviously depend on luck as you can also get international flatmates that are super lazy or vice versa, but generally I found all-international flats to be a lot less of a mess then the all-English flats. You will be able to see a short bio of people that have already booked a room in potential flats of interest during your process of booking. If you book early you will of course not be able to influence who you´re staying with as you may be the first one to book a room in a certain flat. Nevertheless, being early is, for obvious reasons, still a good idea, but keep that in mind.
As far as shopping is concerned, if you don´t live in Selly Oak you can of course go to the Costcutter at Shakleton at the centre of the Vale for groceries you urgently need like milk or bread. For proper shopping, however, I do recommend making your way to Selly Oak every now and then with a big shopping bag to do your proper shopping at Aldi, (which is said to be the cheapest) Sainsbury´s, etc. You can also do online shopping and order your groceries straight to your door, as one of my flatmates did every now and then. This will of course be more expensive and you won´t have the full range to choose from.
For more information on accommodation you can check out UOB´s YouTube channel, their website, or simply look at some pictures on Google to get a feel for how things look. Another useful tool is UOB´s campus map, on which all housing options are coloured purple: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/contact/directions
Finally, if you have any specific requests you can drop the accommodation team a ticket for any requests – they are usually quite swift to respond as well: https://universityofbirmingham.service-now.com/living
Studying at UOB
At the University of Birmingham you will be classified as an affiliate student with the department you have chosen during the sign-up process as well as a second department with which you may also take one module. All modules (a module is what most of us would refer to as a course, whereas a course refers to the degree you are studying e.g. Lehramt, …) are worth either 20 or 10 credits, which translate to 10 or 5 ECTS, so exactly half. Generally speaking, I got the impression that at UOB and likely in all of England, studying involves a lot more independent work with less help from professors during regular sessions. You can get any help you need if you ask for it, but that will often lead to tutors advising you to come to their office hours rather than being able to work on whatever needs help during a session. Keep in mind that what I am saying is highly subjective, though, and things may be completely different depending on what course you study.
Nevertheless, let me talk you through what my academic experience was like. I was affiliated with the English literature department and had sport and exercise science as my secondary. I chose three modules for 20 credits each (so 60 credits in total ->30 ECTS) – two in English literature and one in sports. All three of them had two separate sessions of between one and two hours per week. In concrete terms, I did “Earliest English”, “Discourse Analysis” and “Introduction to Teaching and Coaching” so for any specific questions on those feel free to reach out to me. Teaching in all of them involved a lot of reading we had to do outside of class, with some of it being labelled “essential” and some “recommended”. In all of my modules grading was solely based on essays between 2000 and 3500 words, which I believe is not quite effective as these essays only cover a minor proportion of what is covered in class. It also means that in class teaching becomes less relevant in the context of passing a module – make of that what you want. In my sports module there was also an exam at the end of the semester, but as an international student your semester will finish before Christmas as opposed to regular students who have examinations in January (more on that later). Therefore, you will get an alternative form of assessment, which for me simply meant having to write about double the words everyone else had to write in an essay (about the same topic). The highlight of my academic experience was a four-day field trip I did with my sports module, on which we did all kinds of fun outdoor activities like kayaking or canyoning, among others. The main aim of this trip was to bond people closer together and that target has definitely been met as I met who would soon become my best friend for the remainder of my semester.
Outside of the academic world
Now onto what a semester abroad is really all about, which is the spent away from uni. Making friends with international people is like a walk in the park as everybody is in the same boat. Just be open and talk to as many people as you can and you will find yourself at a flat party with dozens of “strangers” in no time. What I will say as well, though, is that bonding with English students is not always as straightforward which, in my opinion, is mainly down to two reasons. One of those is the issue of potential age gaps, as already alluded to earlier. When I was at UOB I was 24, so some students were up to six years younger than me which, as you can imagine, does at times mean that personalities simply don´t match. That does not usually happen with internationals as the majority of them is in their early 20s. The other main reason is that many English students already have established friend groups when coming to UOB, meaning they don´t necessarily need to talk to everyone to make friends. Another minor reason could be that to English people you will obviously be a foreigner, and the English seem to think very highly of their nationality. Minor language barriers, even if you study English, are to be expected as well and simply coming from another culture plays its part, too. By no means does that mean that making English friends is impossible, it´s actually quite the opposite. I just want you to be aware of what exactly may be hindering you.
This is where what I loved most about the University of Birmingham comes in: sports clubs and societies. English Universities offer the possibility to basically spend your entire time under their flag. Sure, there may be the odd sports club in Innsbruck that is related to uni, but that is nothing compared to what is on offer at a gigantic English University like the UOB. There are dozens of sports clubs to choose from, ranging from popular ones like football or rugby, to more niche ones like Gaelic Football or American Football. For societies, the landscape is even wider and there are literally hundreds on offer. Be it an exchange student society, a motorsport society, Harry Potter, Pokemon, dancing, skiing or Darts, UOB has a society for almost anything. If you do not wish to practice your favourite sport competitively, there are social forms of lots of sports, too, like social Netball, 6 a side football leagues and countless others, so there really is no reason to ever be bored. To help you decide what club or society you want to join there will be a sports fair where most clubs will be present and advertise their teams, as well as a societies fair. These, among many other student orientation events will take place in welcome week, which will be the first week you will be present and take place a week before teaching starts.
What I would recommend is that you join at the very least one sports team or society, as the people you meet there can very easily become your best friends for your time in England. It also makes making English friends a whole lot easier as you`ll have something to bond over right off the bat. In my case, I ended up joining both the Darts society as well as the universities American Football team. It was the latter that ended up significantly shaping my experience as almost all of my friends were lads that were part of the team. What trying to play a new sport at a competitive level meant as well, however, was that it consumed almost all my time, whether that was at practice, in classroom (for the sport) in the gym, at games, or at socials that bonded us closer together. I was fully aware that if I wanted to be part of the team, I had to fully commit to it and I am beyond glad that I did. That of course meant I had less time for other social activities or for travelling the country, but you don´t have to structure your experience at UOB the way I did – and that´s the beauty of it! There are unlimited options to use your time – whether you want to be physically active, go out a lot, have chill social nights at people´s flats, travel the country, … you name it.
While we´re at it, Birmingham also has a thriving nightlife, just as you´d expect from England´s second largest city and one with a very young population. It won´t be too long until you hear of clubs like Rosie´s, Snobs, Heidi´s or Pryzym, some of which are located at Birmingham´s main party location: broad street. There are, of course, countless pubs and other recreational facilities as well. If you are into raves, also keep the name Digbeth in mind, which is a part of Birmingham a bit further out from the centre of the city. Speaking of the city centre, there is a Bus stop at the Vale which will take you directly into the heart of Birmingham within 5 to 10 minutes, depending on traffic. You can also jump on at Selly Oak, of course. A bus ride costs 2 pounds and you can pay contactless via your credit card (which I highly recommend you get if you don´t yet have one), cash or pre-purchase your ticket on the NX bus app. The app also offers day saver tickets for 4,50 with which you get unlimited travel on all national express buses in the West Midlands. The university also has its own train station at the west end of campus from which you can travel to the city centre, but also to any destination in all of England. When making your way back home after a longer night, sharing an uber is of course also a convenient option and can sometimes even be cheaper than the bus.
Other useful tips
As briefly touched upon already, as an international student your winter term will end halfway through December and you will not be returning after Christmas. That means you will only get 3 months in England. Summer term is a bit longer and lasts from February until June – whether internationals leave early or not I do not know unfortunately.
If you choose a flight that lands at Birmingham International, take the monorail to the airport´s train station. From there, get on a train to Birmingham New Street and finally, hop on one last train to university station. Get tickets for your trains via the Trainline app. You could also take the bus from New Street, but with all your luggage that is a terrible idea.
As mentioned, get a credit card because paying that way evokes the smallest fees for paying in a foreign currency.
Official word is that if you show your student ID on the bus, you get a small discount. That memo has not yet reached the bus drivers, though, so don´t even bother trying. It would also mean you´d have to pay the exact amount in cash which you may not always have on you.
Don´t forget to bring or buy an umbrella, especially in winter.
In conclusion I want to say that I can only recommend the University of Birmingham to anyone looking to study abroad, especially if you want to stay in the UK or an English-speaking country in general. Not only is it an enormously large university that has something to offer for everyone, but it is also located right in the heart of England, making it an ideal starting point for any travels through the country. If you properly grasp the opportunity you have, are open, adventurous, and ready to step out of your comfort zone, there will be nothing to prevent you from having an unforgettable time.
Should you have any specific questions, you can also reach out to me personally.
Marco Kreutner, winter 2023
