International Placement Year (Engaging Globally)

Wiktoria photograph from travels in China

Spending up to a year abroad is an integral and assessed part of our language degrees. Through studying or working overseas, engaging globally gives you the opportunity to improve your language proficiency, broaden your cultural knowledge and gain transferable skills that are much valued by employers

The International Placement Year is compulsory for students taking Chinese, French, German or Spanish. Please note that there is no placement year for Italian.

During the International Placement Year students have the opportunity to develop various skills:

  • Improve your language proficiency
  • Broaden your cultural knowledge
  • Enhance your personal development
  • Gain transferable skills that are much valued by employers

What are your options?

We offer flexibility to split your time abroad between different activities.

Bordeaux

Study at a partner university

You can choose to study courses taught in your target language at one of our partner universities. If you are studying Chinese, you will be able to study or undertake a work placement in a Chinese language environment.

Work placements

Work placements

You may wish to spend time on a work placement for a company or as a Language Assistant for the British Council. This adds invaluable work experience to your academic skills. The work placement year is only available to BA Hons Languages and Global Cultures students.

Study at a partner university

You can choose to study courses taught in your target language at one of our partner universities.

Only some of the universities listed are available to MLang students. International Placement Year tutors will advise.

Studying abroad accordion

Work placements

You may wish to spend time on a work placement for a company or as a Language Assistant for the British Council. This adds invaluable work experience to your academic skills.

We provide plenty of support to identify opportunities and secure an internship.

For students studying two languages, we do not have set rules about your choice of destinations. Students taking three languages are required to spend their time in at least two language-specific environments. Beginners level students will normally spend some or all of their year in the country of their beginners level language.

The work placement year is only available to students on the BA Hons Languages and Global Cultures.

Here are some examples of where our students have undertaken placements previously:

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Student Travel Journals

Find out what our students gained from the experience in their travel journals:

A person standing in front of a fence with red ribbons with mountain scenery in the background.

My International Perspective: Studying in Xi'an

John White (Spanish Studies and Computing BA) shares his thoughts on his study abroad experience in China, where he is studying Mandarin Chinese at Xidian University.
View at a historical fortress lit-up at night time.

My International Perspective: Studying in Granada

Flo Osborne-Jones (Spanish Studies BA) shares her thoughts on her IPY experience in Spain, where she studied at the University of Granada.
A person standing in front a lake at sunset with a fountain in the background.

My International Perspective: Studying in Geneva

Lizzie Coveney (French Studies and Linguistics BA) shares her thoughts on her IPY experience in Switzerland, where she studied at the University of Geneva.
A person standing in a stadium

My International Perspective: Studying in Barcelona

Sophia Pollitt-Walmsley (Spanish Studies and Linguistics BA) shares her thoughts on her IPY experience in Spain, where she studied at the UIC Barcelona.
View from the water onto a row of colourful houses with a basilica in the background.

My International Perspective: Studying in Lyon

Lara McNaughton (French Studies and Linguistics BA) shares her thoughts on her IPY experience in France, where she studied at the Jean Moulin University in Lyon.
Two people dressed up in costumes.

My International Perspective: Studying in Taiwan

Harvey Hulse (Chinese Studies and German Studies BA) shares his thoughts on his IPY experience in Taiwan.

More articles

How do we support our students?

We aim to offer a range of support, for example:

  • Regular preparation meetings and a dedicated preparation module
  • All aspects covered: organisational, social and cultural, health and safety
  • Dedicated tutors providing individual personalised advice

We take your health and safety seriously and make sure that you feel fully prepared for any issues that may arise during your placement. We do this by integrating health and safety into the briefings and courses you will attend before you travel, and through contact and support during your placement.

two students laughing

Photo competition

Our photo competition is back for 2023/24! Our current students are invited to submit a picture of a WOW moment of their experience abroad for a chance to win this year's competition. All submitted photos will be shown on our website as well as on our Instagram, with the winning entry to be announced at the end of June.

Photo competition winners for 2023-24

Winning photo by Elysia Reed from her IPY in France

Winning photo

Winning photo by Elysia Reed (BA Hons Management and French Studies) from her IPY in France

Runner up entry by Weronika Radziszewska from her IPY in Germany

Runner up

Runner up entry by Weronika Radziszewska (BA Hons Management and German Studies) from her IPY in Germany