Details

• Great Britain & N.Ireland
• MAWiRe-21
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

- Book flights and accommodations early - Research in advance which courses you can or want to take - Check the academic schedule (we had a 3-week Easter break) so you can plan trips, etc.

2. Accommodation

There are basically two options: the first would be Hillhead Student Village, where most of the exchange students stayed (though I didn’t). The location isn’t particularly good (you always have to take the bus, which only runs once an hour), and the rooms are all very small with shared bathrooms and kitchens. We (all four exchange students from WU) stayed at Causeway View (Homes 4 Students), which was very alright and in a much better location, since it’s quicker to get to the city and the university. The rooms there were quite okay, but the whole place felt relatively impersonal. On the plus side, you never have to take the bus and can easily walk everywhere. It makes a lot of sense to book a room early here, since some of them go fast.

3. Academic life at host university

The university is relatively old but very charming—we all took two courses, each worth 15 ECTS. This means you only have two 2-hour lectures twice a week, which offers a lot of flexibility. The courses were all fourth-year bachelor’s courses and, as such, not particularly challenging. The classes are small (max. 10 students) and designed to be interactive (though that doesn’t always work out). With some professors (e.g., in International Cybersecurity Law), there was a huge amount of reading assigned for each session, most of which wasn’t really necessary to read in advance to keep up. For both courses, 50% and 60% of the final grade, respectively, came from a final exam that was taken online and unsupervised. Before that, you have to write an essay for each course. I really enjoyed Law of the Digital Economy, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend International Cybersecurity Law. Generally speaking, law in the UK is less “law driven” than at WU; the focus is more on understanding the big picture of regulations and forming an opinion about them.

5. Every day life in the host country

You can easily reach almost everything in Aberdeen on foot. There’s a great Sports Village—including a gym, pool, etc.—for about 30 GBP a month. You can also join university societies (depending on your interests), where you’ll meet Scots. These can be pretty time-consuming, since “socials” are held every Wednesday, which usually involve going out and drinking. You generally have plenty of time for traveling and playing sports, and people usually meet up in the pub in the evenings. Aberdeen itself isn’t a particularly exciting city, but there are endless great destinations just a few hours away by car or train.

6. Testimonial

I really enjoyed my time in Aberdeen. Don’t let the Scottish weather put you off—the people are all very nice, and if you make the most of your time to explore and travel around Scotland as much as possible, you can really have a great time. It’s nice that there’s none of the pressure and time constraints of WU, and you get to meet lots of new people.