Students who complete a full year abroad pay a reduced tuition fee rate to Newcastle University.
If you are completing a study exchange, you will not have to pay tuition fees to the host institution. This is due to the reciprocal nature of our exchange agreements.
Youcan still apply for your normal student loan or bursary for the time you spend abroad. You may also be able to claim money back on travel and other costs related to your placement through Student Finance England’s Travel Grant. Visit our Student Financial Support page to find out more.
Students participating in Erasmus+ placements can receive funding for their time abroad. Erasmus grants exist to help with the additional costs of going abroad (online/virtual placements are not eligible for funding). The grant is an important contribution to making placements more affordable, but it is not designed to fully fund the Erasmus experience. It is important to remember that your grant may be fully or partially reclaimed if you do not fulfil the requirements of Erasmus funding. These requirements will be shared with you in detail in the Pre-Departure Briefing.
We recommend that you carefully consider how you will fund your time abroad as early as possible and we strongly advise you not to rely on the grant or the timing of the payments.
If you are working abroad, you must spend at least 2 months abroad to be eligible. If you are studying, the minimum duration is 3 months. The maximum duration of a funded Erasmus+ placement is 12 months per study cycle (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees count as separate ‘study cycles’).
If you have applied for a European placement in Terra Dotta, you do not have to submit a separate application for Erasmus funding. Once your placement application has been approved, we will ask you to fill in several questionnaires to assess your eligibility. If you are eligible, we will automatically send you an Erasmus Grant Agreement to sign before the start of your placement.
There are many compulsory documents you must submit to receive Erasmus funding, these include:
Erasmus Grant Agreement
Learning Agreement
Certificate of Arrival
Certificate of Departure
These documents will be explained to you during the Pre-Departure briefing and you will be able to access the templates via Terra Dotta.
Some of these documents must be signed by your School Exchange Coordinator or your host institution abroad. If you fail to submit a compulsory Erasmus document, we may reclaim your Erasmus grant.
Your monthly Erasmus grant rate depends on your destination and whether you are working or studying abroad. The grant rate is set by the European Commission and can change every year. In 2019/20, most students doing a study placement received a grant equivalent to €370 per month, while students doing a work placement received a grant equivalent to €470 per month.
Students going to ‘more expensive’ countries receive a higher grant rate and a Widening Participation supplement is available for students who have a household income of less than £25,000.
Your Erasmus grant is calculated by multiplying the grant rate by the amount of time you spent abroad. It may be the case that the amount of funding you can receive is capped at a certain number of months. This means that you may not receive Erasmus funding for the full time you are abroad. If this is the case, we will inform you when we issue your Grant Agreement.
The Erasmus grant is usually paid in two instalments, although you may receive an additional payment if we identify you as a Widening Participation student. The first instalment is paid towards the start of your placement and constitutes 70% of your initial grant - this grant is calculated using an estimated duration depending on whether you are going abroad for the summer, a semester, or a full academic year.
You will receive your second instalment after the end of your placement, once you have submitted your final documents. At this point, we will calculate your final Erasmus grant entitlement using the actual duration of your placement as per your Certificates of Arrival and Departure. Your second instalment will be the difference between your final Erasmus grant entitlement and the value of the previous payments you have received. This may be more or less than the remaining 30% of your initial grant, depending on how long you were abroad for.
In rare cases, you may not be entitled to a second payment or you may have to repay some of your first instalment. This happens if you spend considerably less time abroad than originally estimated.
It is very important to remember that we cannot guarantee when you will receive your grant, as it depends on many factors that are outside our control. It will not necessarily be possible to pay you your first instalment before your placement starts. You must not rely on your Erasmus grant for core expenses such as food and rent.
Erasmus+ offers extra financial support to students and staff going abroad whose physical, mental or health-related conditions will incur additional costs. Students who are offered an Erasmus placement will be invited to apply for this funding prior to departure which will require documentary evidence of the support need, detailed estimations of costs and, where appropriate, confirmation that your placement can accommodate any adjustments you need.
If you have questions about going abroad with a physical, mental or health-related condition, please contact our Wellbeing Service.
Santander Universities fund scholarships which widen access to global opportunities, helping students to gain valuable overseas experience as part of their Newcastle education. Find out more about these opportunities in the following document: Newcastle Global Opportunities Santander Scholarship 2021-2022
Sign up to our Global Opportunities mailing list to be the first to hear about new scholarship and funding opportunities!
We provide the links below for your information only. Please do not consider the links as recommendations or endorsements by us in relation to the opportunity, content and views contained in the linked website.
Contact Global Opportunities for more information and support with your application. Please let us know if you are successful in your application, we would love to use your experience to help other students!
BUTEX promotes learning abroad and each year awards a number of scholarships to students studying abroad for either a semester or for a whole academic year.
Santander Scholarships is a portal to scholarships and grants funded by Santander Universities across the globe, some of which are open to students and graduates from any university or those studying in certain countries.
Grants.at is an Austrian online database of scholarships, including for students wishing to study in Austria.
DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service has a directory that lists international student scholarships for research internships, summer programmes and postgraduate study.
Jack’s Flight Club offers two £500 study abroad grants throughout the year.
The Gilchrist Educational Trust awards small grants to students who are required to spend a short period studying overseas, such as fieldwork or medical electives. Grants are also available for university expedition groups.
The Peter Kirk European Travel Scholarships awards grants to fund young people to spend between 6 weeks and three months in Europe conducting a study project of their choice.
GIFT Friendship Trust supports outgoing young UK citizens to establish friendships and direct cultural contacts through ‘homestay’ visits with indigenous communities in developing countries.
A Churchill Fellowship offers UK adults over the age of 18 full funding to travel anywhere in the world for 4-8 weeks researching a topic of their choice that can make a contribution to UK society on their return.
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Scholarship is a unique 19-month programme of language study, work placement and homestay in Japan offered to UK graduates. The Foundation also offer scholarships to support the postgraduate study of Japanese studies in the UK or Japan.
The Fulbright Commission offers Postgraduate Awards providing scholarships for UK students to study on graduate programmes at accredited US universities.
The Northcote Trust awards Postgraduate Scholarships to enable students normally residing in the UK to undertake a higher degree at an Australian university for up to three years.
The Kennedy Scholarship is an academic award for exceptional UK graduates wishing to pursue postgraduate study at Harvard or MIT.
The Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a competitive programme offering international students the opportunity to undertake graduate study and leadership training at Stanford University.
The Thouron Award provides generous scholarships for UK students to undertake postgraduate study at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme is an official Japanese Government scheme offering two positions for UK graduates: Assistant Language Teacher and Coordinator for International Relations.
Ambassador Year in China (AYC) is a unique program for university graduates to spend a year teaching, learning, and making a difference at public and private schools across China by becoming Educational Ambassadors.
Hazel’s Footprints Trust awards grants for volunteering placements of at least 6 months in educational projects in developing countries.
