Details

• Great Britain & N.Ireland
• BBE-18
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

For application at WU, I only needed a motivational letter, CV and an interview. In the letter try to show your motivation for learning and exploring the chosen country, explain what you wish to accomplish and how. The interview was pretty simple, questions about your uni choices, CV, motivation etc. I had it with Prof. Herles and he was very nice. The grade from the interview is based on a few aspects you can see on the WU website, but it’s calculated by computer. Preparation for the exchange was simple, you get to choose 4 modules (courses) a few weeks before you arrive and you get all details via email (you will get a kingston uni email account where you can see everything about the university and write to professors). I arrived by plane, because it was the simplest option from Serbia, since there are no trains and bus would’ve taken 24h+, but if travelling from Vienna i think there are some other options available.

2. Accommodation

Accommodation in London is very hard to find + very expensive, so just be prepared to search months in advance. I ended up staying at Canvas House which is a student residence and it was really nice, although the price was pretty high. It worked out for me because i got to meet other students and had everything close by. Kingston university is not close to the center though, and not well connected so you have to make the choice to either stay close to uni and travel a few times to center or stay near the center and travel to uni. Either way the transport is very expensive so take that into account (it was about £10 per day for me). For me, I had most my classes in the same two or three days so it payed off to stay further away from uni and closer to centre so i could explore London. Overall, I didn’t have any bad experiences with safety or location, but London in general does feel less safe than Vienna in terms of pick pocketing, going out at night etc.

3. Academic life at host university

Kingston University is in the middle of the forest pretty much. It’s honestly beautiful, there are multiple campuses across London but since I studied Business I only attended lectures at Kingston Hill Campus and visited Penrhyn Road for the library. The libraries aren’t as modern as in Vienna, but it’s pretty comfortable. Teaching style is quite different, they are much more focused on group work and practical knowledge rather than quizzes and learning by heart. Most courses don’t even have a final exam if you attend only one semester, so it wasn’t hard. Definitely choose lvl 6 courses since the lvl 4 ones are too easy, or lvl 5 if you want to have more time for exploring the city. Particularly, I really enjoyed the module Leadership, Transformation and Complexity (lvl 6) with professor Miguel Imas. It was interactive, full of interesting discussions and examples (like building a puzzle in one class) and the professor was really fun and informative.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport is way worse than Vienna. The tube is fine, although there are delays quite often, while the buses are almost never on time and during rush hour it takes twice as much time to get to your destination. My student accommodation had so many activities, such as Pumpkin painting, Thanksgiving dinner, Sip n Paint, sport event watch parties… Another good thing is that I had a gym in the building, included in the cost of the dorm, which was fully equipped along with a private yoga studio you can book for one hour per day. The university also hosts a couple of those although because I lived far away I didn’t get to attend them.

6. Testimonial

I loved exploring London, Notting Hill and Primrose Hill were my favorite. I would definitely recommend visiting at least one of the nearby cities, as you will definitely have time at least during reading week (which is a whole week without lectures left for you to catch up on reading and homework). Oxford is honestly breathtaking and it’s only an hour train/bus ride, it’s pretty small so you can see everything in one day. Same with Cambridge, it has the same vibe, just a bit smaller. Seeing fireworks for NYE was the most memorable experience for me, although you need to buy tickets in advance. The decorations and activities in London around Christmas and NY are amazing, but definitely be prepared for the cold weather!!