Key facts
develop an international perspective at an overseas university
study in Asia, Australia, Europe or North, Central and South America (refer to Study abroad destinations for Sussex students)
enhance your employability: more than 80 per cent of employers surveyed said they actively sought graduates who had studied abroad (QS Global Employer Survey Report 2011)
one of the best-supported study abroad programmes in the UK
Erasmus funding for study in Europe
Image gallery: Sussex student's photos of studying abroad
Studying abroad is a brilliant way to broaden your horizons, give yourself a valuable career edge and enhance your employability. In addition to building your cross-cultural awareness (crucial for 21st-century global career pathways), you can acquire a range of transferable skills that are highly valued in every profession and by employers. Studying a language clearly develops your skills as a communicator, both orally and in writing, and studying languages abroad can develop the important skills and personal qualities of confidence and flexibility, analytical ability, problem-solving and working in a team.
Sussex language graduates have gone on to careers as:
- translators
- sales and marketing professionals
- international recruitment consultants
- international mortgage administrators
- Refugee Projects co-ordinator for the British Red Cross abroad
- a CNN presenter on international television
- teachers of English in Venezuela, Spain, Germany, Japan and France.
We offer a huge range of destinations across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North, Central and South America (refer to Study abroad destinations for Sussex students).
We also offer one of the best-supported European study abroad programmes of any UK university. Pioneered independently by Sussex in the 1960s, our study abroad scheme is supported by the European Commission through its Lifelong Learning Erasmus programme. Students on this scheme usually benefit from non-means-tested Erasmus grants. For more information, visit British Council: Erasmus.
If you are taking a course with an American Studies component, a dual-language course, or one of our joint courses involving a language, you spend Year 3 of your four-year course abroad. Students from most other courses can apply to do a study-abroad period during their degree.
American Studies students study at one of a range of universities across North America. Language-degree students study at a university in Europe (or La Réunion or Québec, Canada for French, and Latin America for Spanish) where their language of study is spoken. Language students can also apply to the language assistant scheme managed by the British Council for their year abroad. Visit British Council: Language assistants.
A growing number of overseas universities now have courses taught in English, which enables Sussex students without the necessary language skills to study abroad. Students can also take Erasmus Intensive Language Courses in-country before their term starts.
For more information on study abroad opportunities, visit Study abroad for Sussex students or email sussexabroad@sussex.ac.uk
Will's student perspective
‘I chose to study at the Université Michel de Montaigne in Bordeaux during my third year, as part of my Philosophy degree. 
‘Being totally immersed in both education and culture in France meant that within the space of only a few months my oral and written language skills had improved greatly. When I wasn’t busy studying and meeting both French students and other international students from all over the world, I was exploring the ancient and picturesque alleyways of Bordeaux or making the most of the extensive range of music venues, cinemas and historic surroundings on offer.
‘Having studied in Bordeaux, I now feel prepared to pursue a career in translation, and I’m confident enough with my second language to go and live in a French-speaking country after my degree.’
Will René
Year Abroad in France
Hannah's student perspective
‘My year abroad in La Réunion allowed me to experience university life somewhere completely different and to live abroad for a year in a place I may never have even been to otherwise. I’ve made friends from all over the world through the Erasmus programme and I’ve already had some of them come to visit me here in the UK.
‘What’s more, the chance to immerse myself in a different culture was a great opportunity academically. Studying in a foreign language meant I developed my skills in speaking and writing, which has helped me in my BA in Anthropology and French, and will be a very useful addition to my CV.’
Hannah Bowman
Year abroad in La Réunion