The KU Great Britain Direct Exchange Program (GBDX) is designed to stimulate and enrich the intellectual development of KU students through a direct experience in the British academic and cultural environment, promoting friendship with Great Britain and broadening international horizons. To realize this mission, KU has signed direct exchange agreements with ten universities in Great Britain, which allow KU students to study for a semester or year abroad at greatly reduced costs. In exchange, British students from these same universities will study for a semester or year at KU.

With the exception of the Leicester program, a student participating in the Great Britain Direct Exchange may be one of a small number of KU students, or the only KU student, at a particular site. An international office is available at each site to provide student support.

Dates

All universities offer year-long exchanges. Classes begin in late September or early October and finish in very late May or June. All universities offer generous vacation and travel times.

There are also several semester-long options, although availability varies from semester to semester.

Overview

Kingston-upon-Hull is a city of 275,000 people, a major manufacturing and business center and Britain's premier east-coast port. It manages to maintain the civilities of a country town while offering all the facilities and amenities that you would expect from England's tenth-largest city. Visitors to Hull are often surprised by the greenness of the city and by the general absence of high-rise development. The modern city of Hull has a distinctively spacious and easy-paced feel.

Students at the University of Hull can take advantage of easy access to a spectacular coastline and some of the most beautiful open spaces in the UK such as the Yorkshire Wolds, the Plain of Holderness, and the North York Moors National Park, not to mention the many historic towns and cities nearby such as Pickering, Helmsley, Driffield, Beverly and York. For students wishing to travel even further, the Hull ferry port offers daily overnight service to Rotterdam, Netherlands and Zeebrugge, Belgium.

The university was established more than 75 years ago and enrolls 15,000 students in 49 disciplines.

Less-common offerings available at the Hull campus: Drama, some Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Hispanic Studies, Law (a year-long certificate program in English Law for international students is available), Music, South-East Asian Studies (an opportunity to fulfill Non-Western requirements), and Theology (Religious Studies).

Less-common offerings available at the Scarborough campus: Coastal and Environmental Sciences, Creative Music Technology, Dance, Music, Religious Studies, Theatre Studies.

Academic Program

Students may earn up to 30 hours of KU credit for the year. Most disciplines are offered in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Business, Education and Health Fields. Students are encouraged to visit each university's website to determine which university offers the best selection of courses to meet graduation requirements. Course catalogs are located in the OSA Resource Library.

Courses and grades will be posted as KU equivalents on your KU transcript and grades will figure into your KU GPA. The relevant KU academic department will make the final decision regarding posting of credit and grades, and their application toward graduation.

Hull Course Equivalencies

Accommodations

Students live in university residence halls or student apartments on or near campus. In most cases students will have a single room and will share a common kitchen and bath. Students will have meals provided, prepare their own meals, or purchase meals at reduced cost in the university cafeteria, depending on their choice of residence.

Eligibility

Open to KU students who have achieved junior status by the beginning of the program and who have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8. Exceptions may be made for sophomores with high academic qualifications who meet the course prerequisites. Some of the British sites may have additional requirements, including pre-requisites and number of credit hours completed.

Financial Aid

KU students who qualify for financial aid in the form of Stafford and/or other loans, Pell or SEOG Grants, and scholarships may apply the aid to the cost of a Study Abroad Program.

KU Study Abroad supplemental scholarships are available to KU degree seeking students. Applications available are online. The scholarship application deadline is March 1 for Fall & Academic Year programs and October 1 for Spring programs.

Note: All Great Britain Direct Exchange Program (GBDX) universities are eligible for BUTEX scholarships. Please visit www.butex.ac.uk for more information.

Application Procedures

All applicants will be required to complete several documents for each study abroad application.  Below is a list of the typical documents that will need to be completed for an application.  Please note that requirements will vary by program. 

        a. Statement of Purpose
        b. Autobiography
        c. Official Transcript
        d. 2 Recommendations
        e. Authorization to Release Student Information
        f. Any additional forms required by the specific program

For more detailed information about the application process, please visit our Application Process page.

Additional Websites

University Website: http://www.hull.ac.uk

International Office: http://www.hull.ac.uk/international/

Online Course Catalog: http://www.hull.ac.uk/05/courses/index.html

Term dates: http://www.hull.ac.uk/05/studtlife/semeter_dates/index.html

City Websites:
http://www.hull.ac.uk/05/studtlife/city_coast_country/index.html
http://www.virtual-hull.com/

Push Guide: http://www.push.co.uk/

Guardian Guide: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/universityguide/profile/story/0,9988,486076,00.html

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education departmental reviews:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/instReports.asp?instID=H-0120
(Rated excellent in: Applied Social Work, Chemistry, History, Social Policy and Administration)