"Student Exchange" vs "Study Abroad"
Student Exchange Program: A program of study at overseas host institutions where an official Student Exchange Agreement has been established with UWA to exchange students on a fee-waiver basis. Programs are usually offered on a semester/year basis.Study Abroad: A term that may be applied generally to overseas study programs. At UWA, Study Abroad is generally referred to all types of overseas study programs which fall beyond the Student Exchange Program. These may include specialised programs arranged by Faculties or a study program arranged independently by students according to their choice. As no Exchange Agreement is in place, tuition and other fees may apply.
You can satisfy your UWA course requirements while on exchange.
Making your exchange study count
Everything you study on exchange must be credited towards your UWA course. If your UWA Faculty allows, you can complete the following course requirements while on exchange:
- Core/complementary credits
- Credit for options
- Credit for electives - this type of credit offers you the most flexibility as you can choose any unit, subject to Faculty rules and the unit rules
- Category A and Category B broadening units - for students enrolled in the New Courses structure, going exchange can automatically satisfy your Category A broadening requirement. We recommend that you save your broadening units for your exchange so you have more flexibility with your exchange unit selection.
Choosing your units
1. Look at your outstanding course requirements at UWA.
2. Consult your Allocated Course Advice Office to find out how much flexibility you have with your unit selection. In some cases, you may need to find overseas units with a similar content to the UWA units or you may be able to select units that are not available here at UWA!
3. Use our Student Exchange database to check restrictions and access the host universities' handbooks and view the course details of the units your are interested in.
Enrolment requirements
While on exchange, you must enrol in the 'recommended full load' required at the Host University. Equivalent to a 'full time load' at UWA. Study load varies depending on the contact hours, assessment method and workload required at each individual university.
Consult the Accepted Full Load Equivalents document below to determine the accepted full load required at each of our partner universities:
Once you are accepted in the Exchange Program, we will prompt you to seek approval from your UWA Allocated Course Advice Office for all units undertaken overseas. Your initial selection of units will be made at the time of application but you won't need formal approval for this. Your unit selection may change due to a number of reasons including:
- changing your preferred study location
- units at you host university may have changed
- units at your host university may not be available
- units originally approved may not be suitable.
Whatever the reason, each time you make changes to your unit enrolment overseas you must gain approval from your UWA Allocated Course Advice Office.
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
