STUDENT REPORT
Name of the university: The University of Hull
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway:
Right after I accepted the offer for the exchange program in Hull, I received a bunch of
information about the offer and everything I needed to know. All information was
through E-mail, and I received it about 5 months before departure. The only negative or
difficulties about the information was that every E-mail contained a lot of information
about everything such as accommodation, after and before departure etc. All
communication between Hull University and me was through E-mail as well. The good
thing was that they answered fast and quickly if there were something I wanted to
know.
Travel:
I travelled from Oslo Gardermoen to Manchester airport, which was about
approximately two hours of flight. After arrival in Manchester, I met volunteers from
Hull University that picked me up at the meeting point and drove us to the university.
The bus took nearly four hours before we arrived at the university.
Housing:
I lived in a university-owned accommodation where I shared kitchen and bathroom
facilities with two other students. The house was five minutes away by foot from the
university. The rent was approximately £ 1700 for the semester.
Costs: (per month)
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 4200
NOK 0
NOK 800
NOK 100
NOK 100
Culture and language
In the beginning it was strange and a bit difficult to speak English in every single occasion
and situation. But after a couple of days, it started to feel normal to use English as my
language. It was difficult to understand the local English, because their dialect was so
different from the British accent us outside from UK are familiar with. There were even
people from the States that did not understand the Hull dialect. But this was something we got
used to in the end.
The ISA (International Student Association) in school arranged different trips both around
and outside the UK, such as Edinburgh, Paris, Liverpool etc. So the possibilities were huge if
you wanted to experience other cities and cultures in the UK. There were also a lot of
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opportunities with the transportation that was not too expensive and made visiting other cities
easier and less costly.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The University of Hull, which is located in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of
Yorkshire, is a public university. The main campus is located in Hull and the other smaller
one in Scarborough. The university offers different types of academic areas such as business
school, art and social science, health and social cares, faculty of education are just some of the
examples. The school has also a bar called Sanctuary bar, which was also a restaurant. One of
Hull’s best places to go out at night is located inside the school called Asylum. Size of the
school was enormous, containing different huge building such as the library, which is almost
the size of Oslo City in Norway, student union building, which had shops, cafes and
everything you needed.
Course registration:
Before I came to Hull University I had to sign my learning agreement from BI where I chose
a couple of modules I could take in Hull. All the modules were listed online on Hull
University’s website. After a couple of days of arrival the school arranged Exchange module
fair where we needed to speak with our supervisor for approval of modules in our learning
agreement from BI. Registration of the modules was an easy process and you got all the
information and help from your supervisor. The add/drop period lasted for a week. I had
almost 9 other modules I could choose between, including one compulsory module that I
needed to take. This gave me a chance to go to these lectures and really try to find out what
suited me most. After I found out the three modules I wanted to take I went back to my
supervisor in the Business school building and talked with my supervisor. Then she changed
my modules to my final ones, and that was it.
Academic calendar:
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Easter break:
28. January
9. February
5. May
16. May – 10. June
23. March – 10. April
Arrival:
I arrived in Hull the 28th of January and received a welcome pack with information about the
introduction week and everything about the course registration and things I needed to know
for my staying period. The welcome week lasted for about two weeks containing different
social events such as karaoke, global cafe, ISA parties etc. It was also given a orientation
meeting about practical information on Health, safety, student services, Visa and immigration
regulation. A campus tour was arranged where we were given the opportunities to explore our
campus and local area. Another important event during the welcome week was exchange
module fair. We were given important information about registration and modules.
The international office:
As an exchange student we were given all the information we needed to know, and they were
very helpful if we had any question regarding everything we wanted to know. They were nice
and welcoming when we entered the office.
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Promoting BI and Norway:
Unfortunately, I was not involved in any kind of activities to promote either BI or
Norway in Hull. Except from when different kind of students asked about BI or Norway, I
tried to explain them how it worked and was.
Social activities:
The relationship with native students and among other exchange students was good.
The friends I made there during my exchange was particularly international students
from other countries such as Mexico, USA, French, Australia, Germany and so on. We
attended most of the events the school arranged and got to build a strong and good
friendship in the end.
The school also have a association called ISA- international student association. They
arranged trips to different cities/places around UK once in a while, and also places
outside the UK. The association included most of the international students from Hull
University. Every month they would have a party in the nightclub in school with
different themes, which I thought was very successful.
There is also a huge scope of sports selection for every student. I went to try-outs for
different sports such as football, cheerleading, volleyball and lacrosse. In the end I ended
up with lacrosse, which I though was really fun trying new kind of sports. The AU
(athletic union) was very friendly and open minded even for us exchange students who
wanted to join a sports team, even though most of us were just going to stay in Hull for
one semester.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom:
The teaching style was depending on which module you had and how many people
whom had this module. Most of my modules were in big lecture theatres like in BI with a
lot of students. One thing that was different from BI, is that for every module we have,
there were once a week or twice arranged tutorials/seminars in small classrooms, in
addition to regular lectures. The teaching style was mainly theoretical in the modules I
had chosen. In tutorials/seminars the teaching style were informal and we had mostly
case studies, where we had discussion with the lecturer and worked in groups. This was
different comparing to lectures where the teacher was formal and talked mostly by
himself. The level and workload in Hull University was higher compared to BI, because
we had both tutorials/seminars where you could express yourself more than in lectures
and could easily ask about things that was unclear.
Course materials:
The only materials we used was Power Point slides in both lectures. In
tutorials/seminars we were often handed out cases and articles. Two of the courses I
had did not have any core books. The information given by the lecturer was referenced
in the PowerPoint. For every topic we went through there was a new book, which you
could borrow from the library. So it was not necessary to buy a book if you did not want
to.
Exams:
The exam was both based on the course materials and the lectures. For two of my
modules the course was evaluated on one exam that counted 50 % of the mark and 50 %
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of an assignment. The exams were a closed book exam and lasted for 2 hours. The
evaluation on the last module was based on a big assessment with two parts (A and B)
which both counted 50 % each of the mark.
Library and technology:
The library was in a huge building containing 7 floors, where the ground floor had a café.
I only discovered that the library had only one reading room, which was really quiet.
Each floor had a reading place, but was not as quiet as the reading room on the first
floor. There were a lot of computers for students to use and the technology was nothing
to complain about. If you wanted to find out if there was any available computers left in
the library you could just log in to your Ebridge and find out. Borrowing books was also
easy and the system was really satisfying and easy to understand. The good thing about
the library was that it was open 24 hours, so you could sit there as long as you wanted.
Description of courses:
Course code
and name
26329
International
business
26313
Business law
and ethics
Master/
bachelor
B
Exam form
Prerequisites Approved
Comments
One
assessment
None
Elective
B
None
Elective
26156
Procurement
and supply
chain
management
B
One
assignment
and 2h final
exam
One
assignment
and 2h final
exam
Harder than
I thought it
would be
Satisfied
with the
module
None
Elective
Was
compulsory
module I
needed to
choose.
Very
satisfied
In overall I am very satisfied that I chose to study one semester abroad. This has given
me a experience for life that I think I would have never had in any other places than Hull.
My English has improved and I have made friends for life from all over the world, which
I am very grateful for. I also think that choosing one academic semester abroad has
given me better career possibilities and opportunities in the future, and I am definitely
more prepared after this semester. To be honest I was very uncertain about studying
abroad. It felt safer to be home in Norway where all my friends and family were. I was
afraid of getting homesick and all that stuff that comes with moving away from a safe
place. But choosing one semester abroad must be the best decision I have ever made.
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