1. Program Description

As a result of the Brexit referendum and the resulting process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, Freie Universität Berlin's partnerships will run through the Direct Exchange program beginning in the academic year of 2023-24 and will no longer be part of the Erasmus+ Europe program.

Our UK exchange opportunities are mostly subject-specific. Under the following link you will find a summary of exchange opportunities by subject that we have compiled. Attention: this list is not necessarily complete and without guarantee!

Please note that the decision to study for one or two semesters determines the need for a student visa. For study stays of less than 6 months, the general regulations for European entrants apply. For study stays longer than 6 months (i.e. yearly places), a student visa is required with all the associated costs and bureaucratic steps. Under the following link, we have compiled a FAQ on how to apply for a Student Visa in the UK.

Freie Universität Berlin will prospectively offer spots at the following partner universities. Please note that additional costs may apply, e.g. for health insurance, medical certificates, and various administrative fees. We kindly ask you to inform yourself in advance.

1.1 Bachelor students

University-wide:

• Lancaster University
• London School of Economics and Poltical Science
• Royal Holloway and Bedford College, University of London
• University of Birmingham
• University of East Anglia
• University of Exeter
• University of Leicester
• University of Reading
• University of Sussex

Subject-specific:

• Cardiff University
• Durham University
• Queen Mary University of London
• Ulster University
• University of Bath
• University College London
• University of Cambridge
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Essex
• University of Glasgow
• University of Leeds
• University of Manchester
• University of Nottingham
• University of Southampton
• University of Warwick

1.2 Master students

• Durham University
• University College London
• University of Birmingham
• University of Exeter
• University of Glasgow
• University of Reading
• University of Southampton

1.3. PhD students

• Durham University
• University College London

2. Application

Students of Freie Universität will apply for a spot in the general UK program; a ranking of the preferred partner universities will be made in the online application form.

2.1. Application deadline

For the academic year 2025/26: 28^th January 2025

2.2. Duration

Information about the possible duration of your exchange (a semester or full academic year) can be found on the sites of the respective partner universities. The academic year usually starts in Septmber and ends in May of the following year.

For semester spots, students can apply for a stay of one or two semesters; for academic year spots, students can only apply to go abroad for the full academic year.

2.3. Prerequisites

1. Application is open to fully enrolled students of Freie Universität Berlin, who at the time of their application should be
   a) in their 3rd semester of their Bachelor
2. Applicants should have a very good level of English proficiency – please read below for further information.
3. Applicants should have very good academic standing (the minimum GPA is higher at most of our UK partner institutions, around 1.7 - 2.0 or better on the German scale).
4. General restrictions
   a) Students cannot take courses in the departments of medical schools as well as pharmacy.
   b) Students will have limited access to courses in clinical psychology, journalism and business administration.
   c) Students of law could apply for the direct exchange under certain conditions: https://www.jura.fu-berlin.de/international/studierendenaustausch/outgoings/zentrale_progr/index.html
5. Subject area restricitons: Please be aware that many of our UK partnerships are limited to specific subject areas. Please refer to the individual university pages for more information.

2.4. Application documents

Please send in your applications documents as early as possible to get potential questions or issues out of the way in time. Feel free to come by our office hours for a personal consultation.

The following documents should arrive at our office on the day of the application deadline:

1 - Online application form

The online application form will be online about 4 weeks before the application deadline. Here is the link for the online application.

2 - Certificate of enrollment

With details of your study program and your current semester (Fachsemester). You can download your current certificate of enrollment from the student’s administration website (Zedat Portal).

3/1 - A print-out from Campus Management (only BA and MA)

“Leistungsübersicht über begonnene und abgeschlossene Module” – available in your Campus Management under the tab “Noten & Punkte”.

3/2 - Copy of your diploma (only MA & PhD)

In English including a transcript of records; the copy does not have to be certified.

For non-german undergraduate certificates: please also submit the grade conversion document from your uniassist procedure.

3/3 - Offical admission to the PhD program (only PhD)

Official document proving the admission to a PhD program at Freie Universität Berlin.

4 - Motivational Letter

A detailed explanation of your study plans in English, no longer than 2 pages.

Please include the following in your letter:

Academic interest
What made you choose your program of study? Why do you want to study in the UK? What classes would you like to take at the partner university? Which area of study in your field would you like to focus on during your time in the UK and why? What advantages can you take from this direct exchange for your studies here at Free University?

Preference list of partner universities
Please explain your choice of universities in the preference list you gave in the online application form. Briefly explain your top 3 choices. Why are these universities the best universities for your particular area of study? To help you, feel free to check our partner universities’ websites for further information. (Your preference list and explanations will only be seen by our selection committee and not by the partner universities).

5 - Letter of Recommendation

Two letters of recommendation by lecturers in English. At least one letter should be written by a lecturer of Freie Universitaet Berlin, for doctoral students from the supervisor of the dissertation. Graduate students who are new at Freie Universitaet Berlin are exempted from submitting a letter of recommendation by a lecturer of Freie Universitaet Berlin, in this case both letters of recommendation may be written by lecturers from their previous university. All referees should use our form.

Please have the reviewer fill out the form linked here and send it as a PDF document directly to the Office for International Student Mobility. After the application process has been completed, the letter of recommendation will remain with us; it will not be returned to the applicant or forwarded to offices outside of Freie Universität Berlin.

6 - Proof of language proficiency

Applicants must have a very good command of the English language, which is absolutely necessary for intensive subject studies. The language skills must be proven by a successfully completed test (usually B2 CEFR). Language certificates may not be older than 2 years, the relevant date concerning this is the application deadline of the program. For detailed information on minimum language requirements, please refer to the specific pages of our partner universities.

You can find an overview over the English language requirements of our partner universities here.

UK_English_Language_Requirements.pdf (fu-berlin.de)

Attention:

Since 01/01/2021, the language requirement of UK partner universities depend on whether you need a student visa or not.

Students from the EU who study <6 months (1-semester stay) can study visa-free. In this case, the general language requirements of the university apply. For example, a Abitur diploma with an advanced English course or school diplomas in certain countries could be recognized (see language requirements of the individual partner universities). 

For academic exchanges >6 months, the language requirements for obtaining a student visa apply.

You can find out more about the visa process over this link. If you are unsure which requirements apply to you, please contact the British Embassy in Berlin.

Tips about language tests:

We strongly recommend you to ask the TOEFL test centre to send several copies of the official score report directly to Freie Universitaet Berlin-office of student mobility (TOEFL Code: C507), as this is free of charge when passing the test. Furthermore, we can send copies of your official score report to other institutions such as the DAAD. As it usually takes about 4 weeks for official score reports to arrive, we strongly recommend taking the test as early as possible! Should you have passed one of the language proficiency test within the past 2 years, please submit a copy of your test result with your application. Please note that without a test result, you won't be invited for an interview.

Proof of language proficiency can be handed in up to two weeks after the official application deadline.

---

2.5. Submission of applications

Please name each document as follows: YourLastName_DocumentTitle (e.g. Schmid_MotivationLetter). All documents (except for the letter of recommendation) should then be sent as separate PDF-documents within one zip folder (also titled with your last name) and sent to auslstud@fu-berlin.de.

You will receive a confirmation of receipt within a week of submitting your application. In case you don't receive an E-Mail from us after a week, please get in touch with us. However, please refrain from sending several emails after having submitted your application, as this slows down our working process.

3. Further information

3.1. Tuition waiver

A nomination by the Freie Universitaet for one of our partner universities always includes a full tuition waiver; further information can be found on the pages for each partner university. 

3.2. Financing

The partner universities offer nominated FU students a full tuition waiver. Some partner universities grant an additional scholarship to cover living costs; please find more detailed information under the links of each partner university.

It is possible to apply for additional funding at the DAAD or PROMOS. Please note that the DAAD only has one deadline per year.

Further information on financing can be found here.

3.3. Enrollment as non-degree student

Our exchange agreements always include an enrollment as a non-degree student for the duration of your stay. It is not possible to graduate from the partner universities.

3.4. Credit and grade transfer

Whether you will get credit at the FU for the classes you take at the partner university will be decided by your department. We recommend talking to the responsible parties before going abroad. 

3.5. Leave of absence

Students have the option to take a leave of absence for one or two semesters.

3.6. Up-to-dateness of the published capacities

Please note that because the exchange is based on reciprocity, the final number of spots available at each partner university can only be published shortly before the application deadlines.