Student Report
Name of the University: Aston University – Aston Business School
Exchange semester: Fall, 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
After I first received my acceptance letter from Aston University in late spring, it did not take
long before I got all the other information I needed regarding module selection, introduction
week etc. I also got a contact person who could answer all my questions regarding my stay.
This made me feel very comfortable and safe, both before and during my stay as I always had
a person to contact if I had any concerns. I did not encounter any difficulties in the process
before leaving as the international office at BI was very helpful, as well as my contact person
at Aston.
Travel and visa
As there are no direct flights from Bergen to Birmingham, I chose to fly with Brithis Airways
to London as that was the cheapest alternative for me. From London I took the train to New
Street station in Birmingham, and a taxi to my new home. As a Norwegian exchange student
in England, no visa was required, but we still had to scan our passports as a part of the
university enrolment.
Housing
Housing is generally provided by Aston University, but this year, they only had about 30
accomondations for exchange students staying one term. I was unfortunately not able to get
one of them. My university contact was helpful to a certain extent with housing, I received a
list with names of landlords and a couple of web pages to look at, but other than that, I had to
make it on my own.
Finding a place to live was not easy. I was rejected by several landlords before I finally found
a place to stay in Erdington, about 15 minutes from the university and the city centre. I did not
have the opportunity to view any of the houses before I came to England, so I had to trust
what the landlord told me. Also, I did not know anyone else moving to Birmingham, but
luckily my flatmates were nice people. Houses in England have far from the same standards
as we are used to in Norway. They are generally older and have a poorer quality, but that was
something I was prepared for before my departure.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
3000 NOK
2000 NOK
2000 NOK
Transport
Other
350 NOK
2000 NOK
Compared to living on campus, my accommodation was realtivly cheap. Again, that is
connected to the reduced standard of the house. I payed around 2750 NOK per month on rent,
so all in all I payed about 3000 NOK per month as electicity and internet was payed seperatly.
Books are not necessary to buy as the campus library has all the reading material you need
available. I still chose to buy some of them, because I like to have them at hand at all times. It
was also possible to buy some of the books second hand from the university book shop, and
then return them there when you did not have use for them anymore. All in all, I spent about
2000 NOK on books and other school supplies.
Food is fairly cheaper in England than what we are used to in Norway, so I did not spend as
much money on food as I had expected. In addition, some friends of mine and I made dinner
together several days a week, wich made the food costs even lower.
As I lived off campus, I had to take the bus to the university every day. This took me about 15
minutes if no traffic. One of the first days in Birmingham, I bought a student bus card lasting
the whole first school term, which let me take the bus as much as I wanted. This was a
surprisingly high cost, alsmost the same as we are used to home in Norway.
There are a lot of activities and social events happening at the university. A lot of money was
spent on these events as well as fancy dresses for the many happenings. In addition, I bought a
pay-as-you-go sim card for my phone, which was 150 NOK per month.
Culture and language
Considering that Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in the UK, I got to meet a lot of
people from different countries and cultures, both at the university and in the city. I did not
encounter many language problems, and it only took me a couple of weeks before it became
very natural to speak English. It helps when you are not around others speaking your
language, forcing yourself to speak English at all times.
Furthermore, I did find the academic language a bit hard, especially in the beginning. Also, a
lot of the faculty were from other countries, sometimes making their English difficult to
understand during lectures. This is one of the reasons why I had to study more, so that I could
keep up in the lecrues.
The exchange society at Aston arranged several trips for the students, one of them going to
Edinburgh. I did not attend any of them, but I did visit London and Manchester during my
stay. It is very simple to travel from Birmingham, as it is one of the largest cities in the UK
with a lot of railway connections.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
Aston university is one of many universities in Birmingham. The university is devided into
four areas of study; Aston Business School, being the biggest one, Engineering & Applied
Science, Language & Social Sciences, and Health & Social Sciences. Aston University has
about 10.000 students from over 120 countries, both undergraduates and postgraduates.
All the facilities are located at the same campus, only five minutes from the city centre. It
includes the Main Building, where most of the lecutures is held, the library, the gym and
sports facilities, the health senter, the Student Union, where most of the social events is taking
place, and of course there is a campus grocery store, Tesco.
Course registration
As an exchange student at Aston Business School, I was able to choose from a long list of
modules available. This list was e-mailed to me by my Aston University contact, in addition
to being available on the university’s homepage. The registration form had to be printed,
filled out and sent to the university during the sommer, before the term started. The add/drop
period ended after the first week of lectures, which I think is too early as I learned later that
some of my courses was particularly hard and I would have liked to change them if possible.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
17. September 2014
6. October 2014
19. December 2014
12.-24. January 2015
Christmas holiday 20.
Desember-6. January
Course submissions
might occur during the
term, not only in
examination period.
Arrival
The introduction weeks at Aston University are listed as one of the most well-conducted
among all of the UK universities. After what I experienced, I strongly believe this is true. At
Aston they have an “auntie” arrangement; older students helping the new ones settle in to the
university. They arrange campus tours, city tours, and activities where you can get to know
the other students. They walk around capus all day wearing colourful t-shirts which makes
them easy to spot, and they are very helpful with whatever quiries you might have.
The first week of the two introduction weeks, are called International Fresher’s. This is for the
new international students and the exchange students only. This was a very good way of
meeting new people in the same situation as you, but from different countries. I met some of
my dearest friends here. The first week included enrolment at the university, and we spent the
week getting to know both the city, the university and out new homes. As well as getting to
know each other during a lot of activities arranged by the “aunties”.
The second week was intended for all the new students. It was hard meeting new people this
week as it seemed like many of the British students knew each other from before. During this
week there was arranged a lot of parties, and I spent a fun week together with my new friends.
The International Office
As an exchange student I received a lot of information from the International Office. They
were always helpful, answered e-mailes quickly, and wanted our stay to be as fulfilling as
possible without any struggles.
Social activities
The relationship between native students and exchange students was good. Most of my
brithish friends I met during international freshers as “aunties”, some through university
societies like hockey, and a couple during lectures.
At Aston University there is a society called “Aston Exchange Society”, which is run by
international students for international and exchange student. The society arranges trips,
activities and gatherings all throughout the academic year, and everyone is welcome to join.
Also, the other societies at Aston are very welcoming to new students. There are a lot of
sports societies, like football, hockey and rugby. In addition, there are several nationality
societies one can join, unfortunately not a Norwegian og Scandinavian one yet.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The teaching style at Aston University is mostly theoretical during the lectures, and more
practical in the smaller tutorials. Discussion and attendance during lectures is generally
dependent on the size of the class, there is not room for a lot of two-way communication in
the larger classes. Therefore, it is very important to attend the tutorials, where students gets
divided into smaller groups, and the emphasis is put on discussion and practical problem
solving.
At Aston, I would say that it requires a lot more further reading compared to that at BI. Also,
the workload is different with coursework submissions and small exams throughout the term.
At the same time, the academic language is fairly difficult, therefore it required a lot more
studying to be able to keep up and understand the subjects.
Course materials
After what I experienced, the lectures at Aston Univerity are essentially based on
Powerpoints. Furthermore, a lot of the lecturers have written parts of the course material and
relevant books themselves, and therefore the lectures are also based upon this. In addition,
they expect the students to do a lot of external reading like online articles and journals etc. to
broaden their learning. At the same time most lectures are recored, i.e. you can watch them
online later if you missed out on something or was not able to attend class.
Exams
All my five written exams was based upon course material, lecture slides, tutorials, case
studys and furthere readings. It is not common to work with past exam papers, which I am
used to at BI, so preparing for the exams required me to find a new way of studying.
Throughout the semester I had three courseworks, one due in mid November, the two others
at the end of term one in December. This was the only courseworks I had, but again that
depends on the courses you take abroad. I know that it is common with group work, small
exams, quizzes and presentations throughout the semester. Furthermore, class attendance is
not mandatory and does not affect the final grade.
Library and technology
The library at Aston University has a lot of facilities. It is a large library, with computer
rooms, group rooms, cafés and a Learning Development Centre, where you can get help with
assignments etc. It is also possible to rent laptops and they evidently have all the books and
journals you need to get through an exam or coursework. In addition, the staff that works at
the library is always helful if you need to find a book, or if you need someone to read your
essay or listen to your presentation and give you feedback.
Description of courses
Course code & name
BN2216
Operations
Management
BS2232
Business Policy
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
BF2244
Strategic Finance
Bachelor
BS3336
Applied Econometrics
and Forecasting
BS3347
Economics of
Entrepreneurship
BF3394
Auditing and
Professional Ethics
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Comments
1,5-hour open book
multiple-choice exam
(100%).
1,5-hour closed book
multiple-choice exam
(100%).
2-hour closed book
multiple-choice exam
(100%).
None
Light, but
interesting and
useful course.
Light and
interesting course.
Coursework (30%),
2-hour closed book
written exam (70%).
Coursework 1 (50%),
coursework 2 (50%).
Econometrics
3-hour closed book
exam (100%).
None
None
None
None
Simple course.
Quite similar to
“Økonomistyring
I&II” at BI.
Heavy course.
Required a lot of
reading and work.
Interesting course,
but a large amount
of work.
Heavy course.
Required a lot of
reading and work.
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
Finally, I want to say that going on exchange has been one of the best decision in my life, and
I do not regret it a second. At the same time, I did meet a couple of challenges regarding the
academics, as it turned out I had chosen some courses that were above my academic level.
Furthermore, this only made me stronger as I grew a lot as a person throughout this
experience, and traveling alone also made me take more responsibility.
Throughout my stay in Birmingham and at Aston University, I learned a lot concerning the
academics, I improved my English and also I learned a lot about myself and what I want with
my future. At the same time, I made a lot of new friends from all over the world, who made
this exchange semester better than ever expected. I will, without doubt, recommend it to
everyone that has the opportunity, take a chance – you will not regret it.