Skip to main content

Study or work in another country as part of your undergraduate language degree

Experience another culture, enhance your CV and develop your language skills by studying or working abroad during your degree.

All our undergraduate courses with languages include the option to study or work abroad:

You’ll study or work abroad during Year 3 of your course.

What you can do during your time abroad

During your time abroad, you will have different options. These are designed to give you valuable life experience, develop your CV and help improve your language skills.

BA (Hons) Modern Languages

  • a professional work placement
  • a study exchange or study placement
  • working as an English Language Assistant
  • a combination of two of these options

You can ‘mix and match’ both the activities and the countries they take place in. You’ll normally be expected to spend at least 30 weeks abroad, divided between your two languages.

BSc (Hons) International Politics and Modern Languages

  • a professional work placement
  • a study exchange or study placement
  • working as an English Language Assistant
  • a combination of two of these options

BA (Hons) International Management and Modern Languages

  • a professional work placement
  • an International Academic Exchange at another business school
  • a combination of the two

Read more about your options as an International Management and Modern Languages student.

A young woman (Grace) pointing at a sign on the wall outside of The Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po).
‘Living in France was a dream of mine. I’m a lot more confident and happier, and I feel like I’ve unlocked a great part of myself that had been hidden away.’
— Grace Asquith-Evans BA (Hons) International Politics and Modern Languages with study abroad at Sciences Po, Paris (2023)

Choose your experience

During your time abroad, you can choose to do a professional placement, a study exchange, or work as an English Language Assistant. You can also combine two of these options.

Two people walking and talking on a street in a European city

Professional placement

A professional placement is usually within a commercial business environment. The aim is to provide you with a professional experience that will be of value both during your studies and in your future career.

This is a flexible option, so you can mix and match longer and shorter work placements in different countries on some courses.

A dedicated and experienced Placements Officer will support and guide you through the recruitment process to gain your placement.

Students have previously done placements at organisations such as:

  • ABC Schools (Italy)
  • Accademia Europea di Firenze (Italy)
  • ANTON (Germany)
  • BritCham Colombia (Colombia)
  • Clifford Chance (France)
  • Ernst & Young (Germany)
  • EURORDIS - Rare Diseases Europe (France)
  • IASP - International Association of Science Parks (Spain)
  • Inspired Education Group (Spain)
  • KERN AG Global Translation Services (Germany)
  • Language Connexion (France)
  • Madrid & Beyond (Spain)
  • SEK International Schools (Spain)
  • St. Michael's Institute (Argentina)

Placement opportunities can’t be guaranteed, but you will receive tailored support from our dedicated placements team to help you secure a placement 1.

Study exchange

On a study exchange, you can spend either one or two semesters in our partner universities in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, or further afield outside Europe. We have exchange agreements with a wide range of partner universities 2, giving you plenty of options.

Our diverse range of exchange universities are located in capital cities, and medium and small-sized cities and towns. This allows you to experience studying in a different university system based on your preferences. During your study abroad time, you'll choose appropriate units and undertake assessments in them, and become fully integrated into life at another university.

Our partner universities include:

  • Universidad Nacional de San Martín (Argentina)
  • Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Chile)
  • Paris Institute of Political Studies (France)
  • Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris III (France)
  • Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)
  • University of Trento (Italy)
  • Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
  • University of Konstanz (Germany)
  • Complutense University of Madrid (Spain)
  • University of Alicante (Spain)

The study exchange programme is competitive. Places on the scheme are neither automatic nor guaranteed but will be offered on the basis of your personal interests and academic performance 1.

Language assistantship

Teaching English as a Language Assistant in a school or college is also a popular and rewarding option. Applications are processed by the British Council. You may work in a large city or in a rural community, teaching English to small groups of children for around 12 to 20 hours a week.

Most of our language assistantship opportunities take place in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but some of our students have spent time in places such as La Réunion, Mexico and French Guyana. Assistantships differ in length, but usually last nine months.

Your tuition fees

You'll normally pay reduced tuition fees during your time working or studying in another country.

Find out more about our undergraduate language courses

View courses

  1. Some placement and study abroad opportunities (including some within EU countries) might not be available to UK students because of visa restrictions.  ↩

  2. We have long-term relationships with the partner universities listed, but the options available to you may vary year-to-year. Find out more about Bath's study abroad destinations. ↩