Fee-paying study abroad

For both undergraduate and postgraduate courses, study abroad tuition fees are at a reduced rate of £8,000 per semester. For undergraduate students who will be studying at Surrey for one academic year, tuition fees will be a flat fee of £16,000.

Additional costs

In addition to tuition fees, you also will need to cover all your living costs, such as accommodation, transport, and food plus your travel to the UK, any visa fees, healthcare surcharge for stays of over 6 months, and travel insurance. The UK government estimates that students living outside London need around £1,171 per month to cover living costs and accommodation.

There may be some additional costs associated with your specific course - for details see our additional costs page.

Your academic department or study abroad/international office at your home institution will be able to give you guidance on your course and module options and any requirements. 

• Some students will need to identify similar modules (course units) to those you will be missing at your home institution ('matched modules') and get them approved by your home institution.
• Others will have some flexibility to choose your own study programme ('mobility window' or 'free electives').
• Study abroad agreements often specify pre-approved courses or modules that you can take at Surrey. 

Note that our: 

• Undergraduate programmes are three-year subject-specific courses, with students taking eight modules/120 ECTS of credits in their chosen subject each year
• Postgraduate programmes are one-year intensive courses so study abroad students can only come for one semester.

Study abroad students must study full-time at Surrey, which typically means taking 4 modules per semester, totalling 60 Surrey credits/30 ECTS credits.

To be eligible to study abroad for one or two semesters at the University of Surrey, you must:

• Be registered on a full-time higher education degree programme outside the UK.
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.6 on the 4.0-point scale, 3.3 on the 5.0-point scale, 4.6 on the 7.0-point scale, or the equivalent.
• Be studying in an appropriate subject area and at an appropriate level. - your study abroad/international office will be able to provide guidance on eligible subject areas and levels.
• Be able to identify a suitable, full-time study programme for your stay at Surrey. For taught courses, full-time study means taking 60 Surrey credits/30 ECTS credits per semester - typically 4 modules of 7.5 ECTS each.
• Non-native English speakers must meet the English language requirement for your degree programme at Surrey. Requirements vary between courses - see the Entry Requirements section of the relevant undergraduate (bachelor's) or postgraduate (master's) course overview.
  • Students who need to apply for a Student visa must submit one of our accepted English language qualifications with your application at the required level for your Surrey course.
  • Students applying for a Standard Visitor visa or an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) can either submit one of our accepted English language qualifications or a letter from your home institution confirming that you meet the English language requirement of your chosen Surrey course and providing your CEFR level.

You will study four modules per semester at Surrey (worth 60 Surrey credits/ 30 ECTS) and must submit your top four choices, as well as four alternative (back-up) choices, on your study abroad application. 

Your home university must approve your module choices, and many partner institutions already have pre-approved Surrey modules. Please ensure that your preferred modules are available in the semester and year you plan to study. 

Programme and Module Catalogue

For more detailed programme and module descriptions, see our searchable Programme and Module Catalogue - ensure you select the relevant academic year at the top first. 

Towards the bottom of each programme page, you can view a module list and click through to module descriptions that include:

• Credits, level of study, module cap (maximum number of students), semester offered, study content, assessment type and any prerequisites.
  • To avoid timetable clashes, select modules from one programme and one year of study (e.g. four modules in Year 2 Business Management, rather than mixing and matching).
• Module codes indicate subject and level (e.g. SOC2046 = Year 2 sociology; ENGM247 = master’s level engineering). Undergraduate students may not choose master's-level/level-M modules. 

Integrated master's degrees

We offer a number of integrated master’s degrees –  e.g. MMaths, MEng, MChem. If you are an advanced-level undergraduate student in your own system, we may be able to consider you for certain M-level modules – please consult the relevant Academic Exchange Coordinator at Surrey before confirming modules. You must have a subject-specific cumulative GPA of 2.6/4.0 or equivalent and a minimum of 3 years of subject-specific study.

Taking electives

If taking electives outside your main subject, choose Year 1 (FHEQ Level 4) modules unless you can demonstrate prior study in the subject. For electives in more technical subjects and modern languages, students will need to provide evidence of prior study in the subject, even for Year 1 modules.

Supporting documents

You will need to upload the following supporting documents to your application. We recommend you start preparing these well in advance. We will require all documents as full-colour PDF files. 

• Transcript of records covering each year of your degree so far, in English (most home institutions can provide this)
• A copy of your passport photo page (must include all your details; if you don't have a passport or it is due to expire within 6 months of the end of your stay, please apply for a passport as soon as possible. NB. We no longer accept EU national identity cards).
• Non-native English speakers only:  a) Students coming for longer than 6 months or coming for 6 months or less but wanting to work as well as study will require a points-based Student visa and must submit with their exchange application one of Surrey's accepted English language qualifications at the required level for your main Surrey programme (see your chosen undergraduate or postgraduate course page for the course's English language requirement). NB. We can not accept qualifications which do not meet the minimum requirement for your course and can only accept your most recent test results, apart from IELTS where you can retake the test for one skill. Please ensure you get your English language qualification in good time to apply to Surrey. If you already have a language qualification, make sure it has not expired - IELTS, TOEFL and a few other certificates must be no more than 2 years old when you start your Surrey course. b) Students coming to Surrey as Visitors for 6 months or less and only studying may submit either one of our accepted English language qualifications, a university English exam result or assessment, or a letter from your home institution confirming that you meet the requirements of your chosen Surrey course and giving your CEFR level.
• Postgraduate/doctoral students only: Bachelor’s/Master’s degree certificate, as appropriate.
• Letter of recommendation by an appropriate academic at your home university.

Your supporting documents should be uploaded to your online application before you submit it. However, if you are waiting for any documents - e.g. a new passport, English test certificate, bachelor's degree certificate, etc. - just upload a note with the approximate date you expect to be able to upload it so that we can start reviewing your application. 

Your complete application, including your supporting documents, should be submitted by our application deadline. On submission, you will receive an automatic application receipt acknowledgement email and can download a pdf copy of your application.

Confirmed modules and Learning Agreement

Once your module choices have been reviewed and approved by your Surrey academic exchange coordinator in the relevant department, we will send you an email confirming your approved modules and asking you to submit a Surrey Learning Agreement listing these. Modules should be listed in preference and semester order, and modules that are essential for your progression starred (*).

The academic year at Surrey is divided into two semesters: autumn (semester 1) and spring (semester 2).

The orientation, semester and vacation dates for study abroad students are available on our key dates for visiting students page. 

UK bank holidays and University office closure dates are available on our key dates page.

Taught courses are normally assessed by a mix of in-person and online tests and examinations, coursework and assignments - check out the module descriptions in the Programme and Module Catalogue for details (be sure to select the relevant academic year at the top first).

You will be assessed at the same time and in the same way as the other students on your course, so if assessment is by in-person examination, you must be able to stay at Surrey until the end of our exam period in late January or May-June (see our key dates). In-person exams can not be taken early or at a student's home institution.  If you need to leave Surrey early to resume classes at your home institution or to do an internship, you must select modules assessed by coursework/assignment and provide alternatives in case your top choices are not possible.

Students who have a January semester start date at their home institution are advised to come to Surrey either for the full year or for our semester 2 (February-June).

If you identify modules at Surrey that match with your home institution's modules and your home institution has approved them for credit transfer, your credits will be transferred to your degree if you pass the module.

Students on taught courses can access and download a formal Surrey transcript of records (a HEAR) 5 weeks after the end of the semester. Their home institution uses this to transfer their credits to their home degree.

We run Courses in Language and Skills for Study (CLASS) completely free of charge and you can register online for up to 3 courses per semester. All materials are provided. These are non-credit bearing courses but students can download an attendance certificate at the end of the course.

Our courses for non-native English speakers include grammar, pronunciation, speaking and academic writing.

In addition, we have courses suitable for native speakers who wish to improve their academic writing, presentation or employability skills.

Find out more about the Courses in Language and Skills for Study (CLASS) 

Please see our Study Abroad Fact Sheet for all essential information on how to apply, studying at Surrey and the great experience that awaits you when you arrive.