The summer schools application is open to undergraduate students from across the University of Nottingham and it is a competitive application. There is a finite number of places available at each of our partner university summer schools in any given year.

The majority of international summer school opportunities available for summer 2023 are in-person. Students can apply for online courses at Fudan University through the online application, travel is not permitted for online courses.

International summer school opportunities for 2024 may change at any time for a number of reasons, including changes to arrangements with partner universities, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.

A Selection Committee will decide which applications have been successful based on the following criteria: 

1. Academic achievement to date: Minimum academic average of 45%, including autumn semester 2023 assessments. If you are applying to study abroad during your second year, your combined average to date, including your first year marks, will be used. Students who have attained an average grade of less than 45% will not be considered for the programme. Students must be in good academic standing at the time of their application, students who have completed modules which show a fail mark for the current academic year at the time of application without approved extenuating circumstances or are currently in resit will not be considered. 
2. Personal statement (included in the online application)
3. Current academic year
4. Suitability for the programme

Priority will be given to students, unless otherwise stated, who:

• Have not previously studied abroad or are not due to study abroad as part of their degree programme
• Are not in the final year of their degree programme
• Do not have resit examinations

However, students in these categories are still eligible to apply and these applications will be considered by the Selection Committee.

Students applying for a summer school hosted in a country, in which the applicant holds citizenship and permanent residence, will be de-prioritised.

The deadline to submit your application is Friday 16 February at 3pm. The deadline is strict and due to the volume of applications, we are unable to consider any late applications. 

Your application will be assessed according to your personal statement and academic marks, your application will be scored and then ranked. If places are available at your chosen summer schools you will be allocated to one of them, in accordance with the number of places available. 

In general, our partner universities and international campuses offer between 1 and 25 summer school places each year. The numbers of places offered is decided by the partner university or international campus.

This is highly dependent on the number of places provided from each partner university each year, the number of students who apply to each summer school and which summer school you have selected as your first choice.

No, putting more than one partner university summer school on your application will not affect your chances of being allocated to your first choice. However there is no guarantee you will be allocated to your first choice.

Yes, however you should be aware that if you select fewer than three partner university summer schools, you will not be considered for any other summer schools on the application.

There is a small timeframe where we can offer withdrawn places to unallocated students, however this is highly unlikely as many partner university application deadlines occur in March and April and very few students withdraw before these deadlines. If a place does become available, you will be contacted by a member of staff from the Global Opportunities team. We can only offer withdrawn places to unallocated students, it is not possible for an allocated student to change their summer school after allocation.

By email to your University of Nottingham email account no later than Monday 4 March by 5pm. 

Up to three.

Yes, you can choose either online summer schools only, in-person only or a mixture of both, but you can only choose up to three.

Research into the programmes of each partner university you are considering, remember that it is not always a requirement for you to have background knowledge of the subjects offered at the summer schools to be eligible to participate. However, some summer schools do require background knowledge, which we will indicate on the partner profile on the summer schools webpage where possible. Then you should carefully consider the type of teaching, learning and assessment; your own personality and interests, both academic and non-academic and time-differences if you are applying for an online summer school. If you are applying for in-person summer schoools, you should also consider the type of teaching, learning and assessment; the climate; the costs involved (flights, visa, insurance, cost of living).

Three summer schools are first choice only due to stricter eligibility criteria:

• Burdungy School of Business: Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Summer School (cohort)
• UFMG Summer School
• Universität Zürich: International Summer School

In order to be considered for these summer schools. For these programmes, priority is given to students whose declared household income is £42,875 or below as confirmed by University of Nottingham Financial Support and meet at least one of the widening participation criteria below:

• Your home address is in an area of disadvantage or low progression to higher education, which the University of Nottingham identifies through a post code checker tool.
• Mature student (21 or over at the start of your course)
• Students who are care experienced, care leavers, carers or estranged.

Applicants are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Students are welcome to apply independently to summer schools which are not available through the University of Nottingham, but please be aware you would not be eligible for any tuition fee waivers from the partner university or scholarships offered by the University of Nottingham.

Students in their final year or who have studied/are due to study or worked/are due to work abroad before as part of their degree programme will be de-prioritised. Final year students are de-prioritised as partner university summer school dates may clash with graduation ceremonies and in previous years this has resulted in final year students withdrawing from their allocation summer school.

Students who have previously studied or worked abroad or are due to study or work abroad as part of their degree are de-prioritised as summer schools offer study abroad opportunities to students who have either not been permitted to study abroad for a semester or full year, as their home school/department does not offer International or Inter-campus exchange, or students who are unable to commit to a semester or full year abroad.

No, all of our partner university summer schools are taught in English. Many summer schools offer classes in the local and other languages at a range of levels alongside the academic courses as part of the summer school, please bear in mind some partners charge an additional fee for language courses. 

Course information is available on the partner university webpages, where possible the links are listed on the partner university information on our summer schools webpages.

One of the best things about summer schools is the possibility to study subjects that are not available at the University of Nottingham. We encourage students to consider summer courses which you may never have had the opportunity to study before, alternatively you may wish to enhance your knowledge of a subject you have studied before or are already studying. As the universities we work with are world-leading universities, you may get the opportunity to take a course taught by a world-renowned academic. Please be aware that some of our partner university summer schools do require prior knowledge for some courses, please check if this is the case on the partner university website and where possible we will try to include this information on our summer schools webpage.

The personal statement is a question within the application, which allows you to demonstrate to the selection committee why you want to study abroad and why you should be considered for the opportunity:

Please explain your reasons for applying for international summer schools, including:

• • your motivations (academic and/or personal) for applying for an international summer school (400 words);
  • How the universities you have chosen will help you achieve your aims for your study abroad (400 words)

The maximum number of words for the whole statement is 800 words.

• evidence of your academic commitment and the academic reasons for choosing your partner universities or summer schools
• an honest presentation of who you are as a person, make it personal to you
• an excellent understanding of what will be expected of you whilst participating in the summer school, including the academic, practical, social and personal implications
• evidence that you have researched the three partner universities and summer school programmes thoroughly
• examples to show that you are the kind of person who can work to deadlines, follow detailed instructions, keep in regular contact, cope in new situations and adapt to new social environments or an online learning environment and show commitment to the course.

Yes. The personal statement should be specific to all of the summer schools you are applying to, but with emphasis on your first choice. Try to think about what you will gain from participating in your chosen summer schools. 

Yes, the word limit is 800 words for the personal statement.

You need to take a variety of aspects into account when think about where is right for you to study abroad. You might want to consider the following:

• Upfront costs: Flights, visas (if required), accommodation, travel and health insurance or any administration or hospitality package fees, which may include costs for social excursions, meals, domestic travel costs etc. that may be required from the partner university.
• Are there excursions to another country during the summer school which require a visa? Are there costs associated with the visa?
• In-country cost of living:
• Food, toiletries, clothes, local transport, study materials (academic books), regional travel, entertainment.
• Is your proposed destination expensive to travel to and from but has a low cost of living?
• Is your proposed destination cheap to travel to and from but has a high cost of living
• Exchange rates
• Ways of spending money: Cash, debit/credit cards, pre-paid currency cards.
• Is it benefical to open a local bank account?

You will need to thoroughly research your anticipated costs of studying abroad through various sources of information. You might want to consider the following:

• Looking at the approximate costs per semester under each partner university profile on the International summer schools webpage. Please be aware the costs are approximate and may be subject to change, any currency exchange rates are as of January 2023.
• Visiting the partner university websites.
• Comparison websites for flights, travel and health insurance and currency exchange.
• Cost of living abroad websites.
• Local transportation websites.

No, exchange students do not pay tuition fees to partner universities, however you may be required to pay administration, application fees or hospitality package fees which may include accommodation, meals, local transportation, social excursion costs etc. to your partner university.

Some summer schools offer optional field trips to nearby countries during the summer school. If you choose to attend any of these field trips, you are responsible for arranging and covering the costs of any additional visas required for optional field trips, in addition to the visa you may require to attend the summer school. Please be aware that optional field trip costs at some summer schools are heavily subsidised and if you choose to withdraw from your selected field trip after nomination, you may be required to cover the full cost of the field trip on top of your subsidised payment.

The University of Nottingham offers a range of funding opportunities to students participating in an international summer school in another country. Online summer schools are not eligible for funding.

Means-tested summer school bursaries

• Awards of £500 for summer schools in Europe.
• Awards of £1,000 for summer schools outside of Europe

Eligibility criteria for means-tested summer school bursaries and funded cohort summer schools

Students classed as Home students for fees purposes, who are from low-income households and meet one or more of the University of Nottingham's widening participation criteria below will be prioritised. Please note a limited number of awards are available.

For means-tested summer school bursaries or summer schools, students from a low-income household are classified as an annual household income of £42,875 per annum or below, as confirmed by University of Nottingham Financial Support.

Students classified as widening participation for the purposes of the means-tested bursaries or summer schools, are students who meet one or more of the criteria below:

• Your home address is in an area of disadvantage or low progression to higher education, which the University of Nottingham identifies through a post code checker tool.
• Mature student (21 or over at the start of your course)
• Students who are care experienced, care leavers, carers or estranged.

The Study Abroad team will work with Financial Support to find out your eligibility for means-tested awards after acceptance. Please visit the Study abroad finance webpage for further information. 

Only one award is allocated per eligible student. Applicants are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Turing funding

Turing funding is available to students classed as Home students for fees purposes, allocated to Universität Tübingen T-IES Summer School August, which is a minimum of 28 days in duration are eligible to apply for Turing funding, please be aware that Turing funding is not guaranteed and students should not rely on this funding when considering applying for in-person international summer schools.

Additional funding is available to students who meeting Turing's widening access funding criteria and priority will be given to students who meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Students with an annual household income of £25,000* or less
• Students receiving Universal Credit or income related benefits because they are financially supporting themselves or financially supporting themselves and someone who is dependant and living with them, such as a child or partner.***
• Students who are care leavers and students who are care experience. This refers to anyone who has been or is currently in care or from a looked after background at any stage in their life, no matter how short, including adopted children who were previously looked after or those who access the Care Experience Bursary in Scotland.**
• Students who have caring responsibilities. A registered carer who has commitment to providing unpaid care to a family member or friend who could not cope without their support.**
• Students who are estranged. Those who are irreconcilably estranged from their parent(s). To be considered irreconcilably estranged, the student won’t have had any written or verbal contact with either parent – usually for 12 months or more – and this is unlikely to change.**
• Students who are refugees and/or asylum seekers****

*As confirmed by the University of Nottingham Financial Support team.
**As confirmed by the University of Nottingham Support and Wellbeing team.
***Students will need to submit evidence of a minimum of two months of income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit notifications or statements.
****As confirmed by the University of Nottingham Visa and Immigration team.

For information about the amount of funding available, please visiting Universität Tübingen T-IES Summer School August partner profile.

Please visit the Turing webpage for further information.

Turing funding

Successful summer school applicants who are awarded Turing funding are not eligible for any additional bursaries offered by the University of Nottingham for an in-person international summer school.

Means-tested funding and funded cohort summer schools

Students must be classed as Home students for fees purposes and you will need to ensure that your household income has been submitted to Student Finance in order to be assessed for means-testing purposes. You must also ensure that the University has permission to view your Student Finance information so Financial Support can assess your eligibility to receive means-tested bursaries.

In the majority of cases, students allocated to a summer school, whose household income is £42,875 or below as confirmed by University of Nottingham Financial Support for the current academic year are eligible to receive a means-tested summer school bursary.

Online summer schools are not eligible for funding.

Turing funding

Students must be classed as Home students for fees purposes, and additional funding is available to students who meet Turing's widening access funding criteria, in the 'Is there any funding or bursaries available?' drop-down.

Yes, if you receive either a means-tested or automatic summer school bursary from the University of Nottingham and then withdraw from your allocated partner university prior to departure, you will be required to return the funding or bursary to the University of Nottingham. Instructions on how to pay back your bursary will be emailed to you following notification of your withdrawal.

If you choose to submit an application, you must be committed to participating in an online summer school and have thought through the implications carefully in advance. It is unfair on other students if you apply and are successful but then withdraw later when it is too late for the place to be offered to someone else. However, if you are no longer able to participate due to a significant change in your circumstances beyond your control, please inform the Global Opportunities team as soon as possible. 

Yes, once you have been successfully allocated to a partner university summer school by the University of Nottingham, you will be required to submit an application to your allocated partner university. This application process is required in order to be formally registered at the partner university and participate in the programme. You will be provided with information from the Global Opportunities team regarding how to apply to your allocated partner university. 

It is very rare that you will be rejected by your allocated partner university. Possible reasons for a partner university to reject your application would be if your average grade fell a long way below their satisfaction requirement for your participation onto the programme or if there are limited places on your chosen summer school academic course(s).

No, although many of the summer schools offer academic credit for their courses. Unfortunately it is not currently possible for you to count this credit earned towards your degree programme at Nottingham. 

In most cases you will receive either an academic transcript with the results of the course/s you studied or a certificate of attendance/completion or both from the summer school you attended. This will either be presented to you at the end of the summer school or posted to the Global Opportunities team, in which case we will inform you when your transcript and/or certificate of completion/attendance has arrived by contacting you at your University of Nottingham email address so you can arrange to collect your certificates.

Accommodation options depend on your allocated summer school, some summer schools automatically place you in allocated summer school accommodation, others reserve rooms within local accommodation that you can either apply for through the partner university or individually and others may require you to arrange your accommodation individually. It is your responsibility to secure accommodation abroad, but you will be provided with information regarding the different options, associated estimate costs and how to apply. Students who are accepted on to the programme will be able to contact other students who are attending the same summer school if required. It is recommended that you research all accommodation options and costs thoroughly as some summer schools only have limited accommodation available which cannot be guaranteed.

Available accommodation and associated costs vary depending on your allocated partner university country. In many destinations, the cost of accommodation can differ greatly depending on the kind of accommodation you wish to live in. For further information on estimated costs, please see the partner university profiles on the International summer schools webpage.

If you are accepted onto a summer school, you can check if studying overseas for a short period will affect your Student route visa and any other visa related questions by contacting our Visa and Immigration team or visiting the Visa and Immigration Support webpages.

Visa and Immigration Support webpages