EXCHANGE SCHEME WITH THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
SINGAPORE
Notes for the guidance of intending applicants
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1
How to apply ..................................................................................................................................2
Before you leave .................................................................................................................................3
Pre-departure preparations ..........................................................................................................3
Applying for a visa ........................................................................................................................3
Studying at NUS ................................................................................................................................4
Supervision .....................................................................................................................................4
Courses ............................................................................................................................................4
Living at NUS .....................................................................................................................................4
Accommodation .............................................................................................................................4
Maintenance ...................................................................................................................................5
Student Awards .............................................................................................................................5
Health insurance ............................................................................................................................6
Equal Opportunities ......................................................................................................................6
York Matters .......................................................................................................................................6
Registration and contact with the University of York ..............................................................6
Returning to York ..........................................................................................................................6
Introduction
The National University of Singapore (NUS) will make two places available to York students in
2011/12. The exchange year will take the place of the second year of study at York towards a York
degree (or, in some cases, the third year of study for students on four-year courses). Boards of
Studies must therefore be satisfied that an acceptable programme of studies will be followed during
the year at NUS.
To be permitted to take part in the exchange, candidates must maintain throughout their first year
a level of academic performance satisfactory to their Board of Studies which should equate to an
average of at least 60%.
From a modest medical school founded in 1905, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has
evolved into Singapore's global university with distinctive strengths in education and research and
an entrepreneurial dimension. It has an enrolment of over 24,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate
students from 90 countries and was ranked 19th in the QS World University Rankings 2006 conducted
by the Times Higher Education Supplement.
The 150-hectare Kent Ridge campus houses 12 faculties which offer courses ranging from medicine to
architecture to music. English is widely spoken on campus, but you will also have a chance to learn
Chinese, Malay, Tamil, French and countless other languages spoken by the diverse student
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population. The facilities and infrastructure are excellent and the active student life on campus offers
abundant opportunities for students to enjoy. NUS students also enjoy the proximity of south-east
Asian destinations such as Malaysia and Thailand.
How to apply
If you are interested in applying, first let your supervisor and the Chair of your Board of Studies
know; they will need to ensure that courses are available which are acceptable as a programme of
studies contributing to a York degree. If you are a combined subject student, you should inform the
Chair of the relevant Combined Board Executive Committee.
Visiting Exchange students are able to take courses from seven participating faculties: Arts and Social
Sciences, Business, Computing, Design & Environment, Engineering, Law and Science. A catalogue
of courses (or prospectus) is available online http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/nusbulletin/faculty.html When reading the course catalogue, bear
in mind that York students should take mostly 2000- to -3000 level courses while on exchange at
NUS, although it may be possible to take one or two courses at 4000 level and not all courses are
taught in each semester. Please also note that the courses you choose will need to fulfil the
requirements of your degree course here; you will have to agree a programme of studies with your
department before making an application as well as a list of reserves.
You will also need to gain approval for the courses you have selected by the Faculty at NUS as part of
your application to NUS. There are a number of restrictions to your module choice – for further
details please see the website - http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/edu/ng.html#academic
In addition to talking to one of the returning students you should look at the reports written by
returning students, copies of which are available for consultation via the Study Abroad Office.
If you decide to apply, you should submit a formal application to both the Chair of your Board of
Studies and Sarah Leach in the Study Abroad Office by the deadline of MONDAY 10th JANUARY
2011.
Full details of the application process are given separately.
You may apply for only one of the exchange schemes (California, Columbia, Hong Kong, Illinois,
NUS, Penn, Rutgers, Sydney, or York Ontario). However, in a covering letter you may state whether
you would be prepared to accept a place on another of the schemes if you were offered one.
Boards of Studies will recommend candidates to the Worldwide Exchanges Selection Panel, which
will make the final selection from a shortlist of candidates reviewed by the Panel in February. The
application form and all supporting materials required must be sent to NUS via the Study Abroad
Office by 15th April for August entry. NUS, like York reserves the formal right to reject candidates
recommended to it. Acceptance is only ‘official’ once a letter of formal acceptance has been received
from NUS.
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The following notes apply to candidates who are selected.
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If you are selected by the Worldwide Exchange Selection Panel, it will also be necessary for you to
supply a copy of the letter from your local authority stating the amount of your maintenance grant or
loan for the current year and other documentation to demonstrate the finances available to you
during the exchange year. If you are supported by personal funds or by another sponsor (e.g.
parents, relative, government) you will have to supply original bank statements verifying the amount
of funds available. You should be prepared to supply these documents at short notice.
Before you leave
Pre-departure preparations
The Study Abroad Office will be involved in assisting with your preparation throughout the Spring
and Summer terms before your exchange year. It is quite usual for the office to receive documents on
your behalf and we will contact you as soon as they arrive.
Throughout this period, the Study Abroad Office will hold clinics for you to drop in with questions
about your application, check through materials that you have prepared and discuss items from your
host institution which require action. These clinics are held every Monday and Wednesday
afternoons between 1pm and 4pm as well as Friday mornings between 11 and 1pm. Please make
appointments to see a member of the team by emailing study-abroad@york.ac.uk
You will also be expected to attend the pre-departure briefing that will be held in the middle of the
Summer term. It is vital that after this briefing you re-read the pre-departure notes provided and
other sources of information which you have received during the past few months. Please ensure
that you agree a suitable course of studies and understand how many credits you need to take in
your degree subject and how your grades will be converted before you leave for the summer. Your
course of studies should be approved in writing by the relevant Chair of Board of Studies for your
degree.
Applying for a visa
NUS will apply for the Student’s Pass (and entry visa, if required) on your behalf once you are
offered admission. You will then be given the necessary information via email (as provided in your
online application) to log into the Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority [ICA] webbased Student’s Pass Online Application and Registration [SOLAR] system to verify the accuracy of
certain information and submit Form 16 online before your Student's Pass application can be
processed.
Once the Student's Pass application has been approved, you will receive an In-Principle Approval
[IPA] letter, which will be given to you during the registration exercise at NUS. If you are from a visarequired country, your IPA letter will be mailed to your address (as provided in your online
application) as it will serve as a single-trip entry visa when you arrive in Singapore.
Please note that candidates without the IPA will not be granted the Student’s Pass later. After
your registration, your IPA letter will be stamped with the required period before you proceed to
convert your social visit pass into a Student’s Pass. All incoming international students who are
applying for Student’s Pass for 6 months and above are required to do a medical examination (details
will be provided in your offer package).
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Information for selected NUS candidates only
Studying at NUS
Supervision
Your principal source of general advice at NUS will be Susan TAN, Manager, International Relations
Office, National University of Singapore, Block E3A Level 1, 7 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117574,
(DID) 65-6516 2429 :: (Fax) 65-6778 0177.
Courses
Students will be expected to take an average of 32 Module Credits (MCs) during their year at NUS
(i.e. 16 MCs per semester. All 32 credits should be taken in the student’s degree subject in order to
achieve the equivalent of 120 York credits. If a student wishes to take extra courses in other nondegree related subjects, they should limit this to an additional 4 credits per semester.
The catalogue serves as a general guide to the courses available although you should correspond
with the faculty that you wish to study in to ensure that the course you wish to take is available to
exchange students. Bear in mind that many courses have prerequisites and that not all courses may
be available in each semester. http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/nusbulletin/modulesearch.html
Your Board of Studies will be asked to prepare a list of the courses you are required to follow
throughout the year, stating alternatives where possible in case the desired course is unavailable or
over-subscribed. You will receive a copy of this to take with you to NUS. If you find that it is
impossible to gain admission to a required course or a permitted alternative, you should contact the
department in NUS and York and cc: the Study Abroad Office at York immediately.
On registering attendance for each course, you should explain your position as an exchange student
to your course instructor and ask him or her to complete an evaluation form at the end of the course
and to return it in confidence direct to York; blank copies of the form will be given to you before you
leave. You should make every effort to retrieve all the assessed work and examination scripts which
you submit, for your Board of Studies to look over on your return.
In addition, in case work is not subsequently returned, you should make photocopies of essays or
other assessed work before you hand them in. You should also keep course descriptions and
examination question papers. In taking into account work undertaken at NUS for the final degree
classification, the examiners may regard not only the grades awarded but also the method of
assessment used and the quality of the work submitted.
Living at NUS
Accommodation
On campus accommodation is generally available for York students on exchange at NUS Details of
matters relating to accommodation can be obtained via the Office of Student Affairs website http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/housing/acc/ngd.html Students can apply for on-campus
accommodation in either one of the six Halls of Residence or Prince George’s Park Residences by
submitting an application at least two months before arrival and certainly no later than end May.
Place and room type are subject to availability and meal plans are compulsory in Halls. For those
who are not successful in their application for accommodation on-campus, OSA has an online Off-
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Information for selected NUS candidates only
campus Accommodation System (OCAS) to help students search for private housing. Depending
on the type of room the student is allocated, it prices can range from approximately S$1,500 to
S$3,000 per semester.
Maintenance
You will pay no tuition fees at NUS, but will be responsible for paying for the remainder of your
living costs, including all accommodation, meals, travel expenses and incidental campus fees. If you
are a self-financing student paying your own tuition fees at York, you will continue to pay them
during your year at NUS. Overseas students are liable to pay the full overseas tuition fee, as
determined by the University. Home/ EU students may be liable to pay only half the tuition fee, as
determined by the Government.
The average sum needed to cover living costs (based on campus accommodation, meals, local travel,
study related cost and personal items) at NUS for 1 month is approx S$1,100 - S$2,000.
Please note, on campus accommodation is not guaranteed and private rented accommodation is more
expensive. The estimate does not cover tourist travel.
http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/edu/ng-internationalinfo.html#costofliving
If you receive a local authority maintenance grant/loan, you will continue to do so during your year
at NUS; the level of grant/loan will, however, be the same as you would have received had you
remained at York. Some local authorities provide a supplementary grant to cover travel expenses.
You will need to contact your local authority for advice on this.
You (or, if you are supported by them, your parents) will be asked to certify that you (or they) are
able to provide the additional finance needed over and above your local authority grant/loan. The
University of York can accept no responsibility for this additional finance. If you are supported by
your parents, you should check that they are happy with the financial arrangements before you apply
for the exchange. If you receive financial sponsorship from the armed forces or an industrial firm,
you should check in advance that your sponsor has no objection to your taking part in the exchange.
On a practical note, a credit card will be very useful at NUS, but difficult to obtain there: you are
strongly advised to obtain one before you leave.
Student Awards
NUS offer the DUO Singapore Fellowship Award for exchange students which you should apply for
once selected for the exchange. The award, based on merit, is for an exchange programme with
participating European universities in any academic field. Each selected undergraduate student will
be awarded Euro 4000 for one semester of exchange, which will include airfare, accommodation,
living expenses, etc. This award carries no obligatory bond period. More information on this award
is also available at http://www.mfa.gov.sg/duo/
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Information for selected NUS candidates only
Health insurance
Every international student must take up the compulsory International Comprehensive Medical
Insurance Scheme, which in 2010/11 costs S$117.70 (for full year) or S$58.85 (for 1 semester). Please
note that not all health services are covered by the scheme (for example normal outpatient treatment,
pre-existing conditions or dental work) so you may wish to enrol with a private health insurance
organisation that offers services not covered by the scheme. For details of the scheme for
undergraduate non-graduating international students see:
http://www.nus.edu.sg/uhc/clinic/insurance/local&international.html
You are strongly recommended to take out comprehensive travel insurance to cover such things as
accidents, lost luggage or trip cancellation. The NUS scheme does not cover travel to and from
Singapore or leisure travel.
Equal Opportunities
All of our exchange partner institutions are selected and vetted to ensure that they provide similar
student support services to the University of York. This includes provision for students with
impairments. Students who wish to make use of services at NUS may be asked to provide
supporting documentation regarding their impairment and current support requirements at the time
of application.
York Matters
Registration and contact with the University of York
During the summer before you leave for NUS, you will be sent an electronic request to enrol online at
York for the following year. On arrival at NUS, you should sent the contact form available on the
study abroad website to our Study Abroad Administrator in the Study Abroad Office, giving your
NUS address (including e-mail address and telephone number) and the name and address of your
NUS adviser. In addition, you should write to your York supervisor at the beginning of each
semester to say how you are getting on, which courses you are registered for, and (in the second
semester) how you found the courses you followed in the preceding semester.
Returning to York
If you wish, you may apply to live in a University residence during your final year at York. The
Accommodation Office will automatically send the appropriate application forms in February/March
to your UK home address. You will thus be able to apply in the normal way. However, you should
be aware that campus accommodation for your return is not guaranteed and you should be
prepared to search for alternative accommodation.
Returners Report
On your return to York in October 2012, you will be asked to submit a short report on the exchange
year. We would also wish to disseminate your contact details (name, College, subject) to prospective
exchange applicants (please contact me if you have any objection to this).
Autumn 2010
Sarah Leach
Study Abroad Office
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