Study abroad at Imperial is normally undertaken as a year abroad as part of your undergraduate degree andgives you the chance to challenge yourself personally in a different academic and cultural environment.

It's also proof to employers that you’re adaptable, independent and globally aware.

Find a course with a year abroad

Where you can go

Most departments offer opportunities for you to complete a year of your degree at an institution within Europe.  It may be possible to study further afield, for example in the USA, Australia or Singapore, through partnerships developed by your department.

We have chosen our exchange partners carefully. Not only do they include some of the world’s best universities, they offer a comparable level of teaching in your subject field. This means that the year you spend abroad will count directly towards your Imperial degree.

Find out more about our student exchange programme with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Read about the undergraduate year abroad, including when a year abroad takes place, funding information, the practical support we provide and with whom we have student exchanges.

Language skills

If you are already learning a language, immersing yourself in the country where it is spoken is a great way to take your fluency to the next level. And in the multinational job market, graduates with language skills are in demand.

Knowing the language of the host country to an acceptable level is required before embarking on a year abroad in Europe. However, we make exceptions for a year abroad in the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries.

Where teaching is in English rather than the host language, the level of proficiency you need to achieve is normally lower.

Language tuition for a year abroad in Europe focuses on French, German, Spanish and Italian, and is provided by the College’s Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication. Depending on the course language preparation is either embedded in the course or is undertaken for extra-credit.

Find information on language requirements and language tuition in the curriculum for the course you're interested in.

We also offer a range of specialist Language for Science degrees in the Departments of Chemistry and Life Sciences for students who wish to pursue language study to an advanced standard alongside their scientific studies.