4. Plan your study

 It is your responsibility to ensure that the courses you take while on exchange can be credited to your UC degree and do not impact on your ability to complete in your intended timeframe. 

Familiarise yourself with the requirements of your UC degree, and check for compulsory courses.  You are strongly advised to take these compulsory courses for your degree/major/minor at UC, since your UC degree completion may be impacted or delayed if you are unable to take the equivalent of these required courses at the partner university. 

Your Student Advisor can help you create a degree plan that satisfies your remaining UC degree requirements but it is your responsibility to ensure that you meet all course and degree requirements.

Engineering, Law, and other students undertaking Honours programmes

You should contact your department to find out how your grades achieved while on an exchange may be included in the calculation for determining your class of Honours, if you are eligible for it.

Check for suitable courses at the partner university you have chosen, and back-up options in case your preferred courses are not available.  UC and the partner university cannot guarantee the availability of specific courses so your plan will need to be flexible. 

Course listings for the year of your exchange are not necessarily available in advance, so  use the current listings as a guide and confirm course availability closer to the time of your exchange.

Check for any required pre-requisites, course restrictions or limitations in your area of study. Some subjects are sometimes closed or limited for exchange students, which may mean you cannot take the courses you intend to. Usually information about limitations for exchange students can be found on the webpages specifically dedicated to exchange students on the partner university website.

You cannot take courses that are similar to those you have already taken at UC. On return from an exchange, it is not possible to take courses at UC that are similar to those completed on exchange.

You also can’t usually take more than a standard course load while on exchange (the equivalent of 60 points per semester at UC). Check the credit value of each course, apply the credit conversion ratio and work out how many courses to take while on exchange.

Course transfer is not done on a course-for-course basis (i.e. taking one course on exchange does not necessarily equate to one course at UC, since courses taken on exchange may be larger or smaller in weighting than UC courses) but rather on a points-ratio basis. If you don’t know what the credit conversion ratio between UC and the partner university is, please contact us and we will be able to provide the information.

It is not possible to take research-based courses while on exchange.

Research potential courses at the partner university carefully and discuss your options with the relevant departments and/or faculty here at UC to ensure that the courses you are taking while on exchange are at the right level and can be credited to your UC degree. 

Once you have a shortlist of courses you think are potentially suitable (and available) you should provide full course descriptions to your department(s) and faculty (don't expect them to go through the whole course catalogue for you). 

Bachelor of Arts students
Provide course descriptions of your preferred courses (and back-up courses) to Liz Bond, Academic Manager at the Faculty of Arts for approval.

Bachelor of Commerce students
Discuss your courses with International Team at the UC Business School. Karina will be able to advise you on which partner university may be the best fit for your Commerce major(s). 

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) students
Engineering students must create an  Engineering Exchange Course Plan that satisfies all BE(Hons) degree requirements and have it approved by the Director of International Studies or relevant Director of Studies (if there is no Director of International Studies in your department). Engineering students must provide detailed course syllabi with their course plans to show comparability with UC courses.

Download the ‌UC Exchange Engineering Course Plan template here.

Civil and Natural Resources Engineering students - follow the instructions provided on the 'UC Global Exchange Programme' LEARN site to get your courses approved. 

Mechanical Engineering students -  consult Natalia Kabaliuk, Director of International Studies in the Department for approval of your course plan and provide the course syllabi of the courses you wish to take on exchange (including alternative or back-up course options).

Bachelor of Forestry Science students
Discuss your course plan with Jeanette Allan in the School of Forestry. 

Bachelor of Laws students
You must take a full-time course load while on exchange. Credits can be discussed with the International Mobility team. 

Bachelor of Science students
The Global Engagement team can provide you with the names of the right academic staff you can discuss your courses with at various departments. You are advised to research the courses offered by the partner universities first and provide your department(s) with the a shortlist of courses.

(You should not expect the departments to go through the whole course catalogue for you.)