Want to study abroad?
Social Policy Study Abroad Programme
The School for Policy Studies runs an exchange scheme with the Department of Public and Social Administration at City University of Hong Kong. We encourage students who are interested to spend a semester studying abroad to earn credit points. In each academic year, up to six semester-long places are available. Students will be selected on the basis of academic merit and suitability. The schemes are only available to second year social policy students. Therefore, planning has to be done during your first year at Bristol.
About the City University of Hong Kong
City University offers a variety of courses in public and social administration with some emphasis on Chinese issues, and all courses are taught in English. Students can attend either the first semester (from the first week of September to the third week of December including exam period) or the second semester (from the second week of January to mid-May including exam period). City University offers free accommodation (double room shared with a local student) on the campus for incoming exchange students in 2006/07 (to be confirmed).
The student resident hall is only a 10 minute walk to the university main campus. The student canteen is open until 9pm in the evening. Moreover, there is a possibility that students may competitively seek a bursary of HK$3000 from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at their arrival. A study trip to China (or Macao) is also planned in May with possible 40% subsidies. A student visa is required to stay in Hong Kong as well as health insurance.
Credit points
Students are required to take the equivalent number of courses in the exchange scheme. For example, if you need 60 credit points in teaching block 2, you need to take 3 courses whilst at your host university. For Joint Honours students, you need to consult/inform your tutor in Sociology/Politics/Philosophy about your intention of studying abroad. In any case, both Single and Joint Honours students must agree the number and choice of courses to be undertaken with the programme director. There is restriction on which units you can select other than you must avoid units that are similar to ones that you may have already undertaken or plan to take at Bristol.
This is a great opportunity for students and we hope that you will be encouraged to apply for a place. An application form is available from Jacqui Perry, Social Policy Office, 6 Priory Road. Application forms need to be accompanied by a short statement (not more than 500 words) explaining why you would like to participate as a student on the exchange programme.
The deadline for application is March 2008. Students are required to reach an average mark of 55% in their first year to be qualified to take part.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
Misa Izuhara, Study abroad coordinator
Room 2.2
10 Woodland Road
Tel: +44 (0)117 954 5576
Email: M.Izuhara@bristol.ac.uk
What our students say
The fondest memory of my life to date so far is my 6-month exchange to Hong Kong. I have travelled greatly but have never been to such an exciting city… the locals, the international students and nightlife make it an incredible experience for any undergraduate. The university also offers a huge range of subjects to study and your timetable is pretty flexible if you fancy travelling around South East Asia cheaply on the weekends. Somebody from the Social Policy department also comes to visit you whilst you are away and everybody is allocated a buddy to show you around as well as a mentor. Everyone is in the same boat as you. A lot of the students there are also from other top institutions from around the world. A lot of my useful contacts in London now come from Hong Kong. Yasmin Greenfield-Metin, BSc (Hons) Social Policy, 2011
The exchange gave me the opportunity to experience another culture and style of education whilst still being well looked after by the host university. Hall life at the university helped me to make friends with students from all over the world. Hong Kong itself is an amazing city; although the sheer number of people concentrated into small spaces takes a while to get used to, the delicious food, efficient transport and impressive architecture more than make up for it! Finally, I have found the Hong Kong exchange programme to be highly beneficial to job and other graduate interviews; a great way of standing out from other applicants, the exchange aptly demonstrates ability to adapt to new situations and work with people from many different backgrounds. I highly recommend it! Joanna Wroe, BSc (Hons) Social Policy, 2012
Applying to Bristol
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Careers
When it comes to choosing a career, Social Policy graduates will often have best of both worlds; the degree can be "vocational", if you so wish, across a range of public, private and voluntary services; but it is also a non-vocational degree, if you want to compete for the range of vacancies that still require a graduate with no specification as to subject.