STA Student Handbook (Taught Programmes) 2025/26

Year Abroad for Modern Languages students

The Year Abroad is compulsory for all students on a Modern Languages degree (both joint and single honours) and a Liberal Arts degree students on a language pathway only. These degree programmes are four years in length of which the third year is a compulsory Year Abroad spent in one or more relevant countries. 

• You can choose to study, work as an English Language Assistant with the British Council or complete a work placement or internship (except for Russian and Chinese as students of these languages can only study because of Visa issues)
• You can choose to split your year between two countries and/or different types of placements (e.g. you can study in Sem 1 and work in Sem 2)
• In your first and second year there will be a set of compulsory meetings  to inform you about your options and prepare you for your Year Abroad
• There is a dedicated QMplus page with all the details for your year abroad and you will be automatically enrolled into it at the end of your first academic year. 

If you need more information, please contact: 

Russian (and Chair of the Year Abroad Committee): Nadezda Bragina. n.bragina@qmul.ac.uk

French: Laetitia Calabrese l.calabrese@qmul.ac.uk

German: Martina Deny m.deny@qmul.ac.uk

Spanish: Xelo Sanmateu c.sanmateu@qmul.ac.uk 

Portuguese:Frances Goodingham; f.goodingham@qmul.ac.uk

Chinese: Josef Mueller josef.mueller@qmul.ac.uk

Year Abroad Requirements 

You are required to spend a minimum of 24 weeks (6 months) during the academic year abroad in the country/countries whose languages are mentioned in your degree tytle. However you must ensure that you fulfil the entire duration of your placement contract even if this is longer than 24 weeks.

We recommend that you spend as much time as you can abroad between the end of your second year exams and the beginning of your final year (up to 15 months in total).

Year Abroad Exemptions

Whilst the Year Abroad is a compulsory part of any 4-year language degree, in particular cases, students may be granted exemption from their Year Abroad for one of two reasons:

1.  Native speakers of the target language who have lived and/or studied for AT LEAST several years in a country where the target language is spoken. Joint language students (e.g. French and German) who are a native speaker of one of those languages should spend their Year Abroad in a country where their non-native language is spoken or split their Year Abroad between countries where both languages are spoken.
2. Students who are experiencing serious health problems which they feel prevent them from going abroad. E.g. ongoing medical conditions which make it impossible or really difficult to live abroad for at least 6 months

Clear supporting evidence of these situations need to be presented to the YA Chair and your YA coordinator in order to be considered as valid reasons for exemption. If your YA exemption is granted, then you will be advised to fill in a change of degree programme from a Four-Year Degree Programme to a Three-Year one. You will be progressing directly to Final Year after your Second Year (programme regulations apply).