UNSW Engineering students are eligible to spend one or two semesters overseas at a partner university and receive credits towards their program, while living and travelling in a new country. The courses you take while on exchange are credited back to your UNSW program as credit transfer.
We strongly recommend that you start planning your proposed exchange early. It will take approximately nine months from lodging your application to enrolling at the host university. Prior to application, you must also complete the online Exchange Tutorial.
Scholarships
We offer a number of scholarships and financial rewards for student exchange, including:
Eight Engineering at UNSW Exchange Scholarships, available yearly and each valued at $2,000. No application is required for this scholarship - recipients will be considered based on their UNSW Exchange application. Learn more on our Scholarships for Student Exchange website.
The Exchange Assistance Scholarship valued at $5,000. It encourages students with financial needs to experience a formal international exchange.
OS-Help is a loan that provides Commonwealth Government financial assistance to eligible students. It helps pay a range of overseas study expenses. Visit the OS-Help page for more information.
Centrelink Payments such as youth allowance, can usually be continued while on exchange. You must notify Centrelink of your exchange before leaving Australia otherwise payments may be stopped.
FAQs
-
Step 1
Visit the UNSW Student Exchange website for information on how to apply:
To start the application process and to access the application form, complete the Student Exchange Tutorial.
Attend an Information Session. You can talk to an Exchange Advisor at one of the online Q&A sessions about any specific questions you have.
Step 2
To proceed with your exchange application and prepare a study plan, you should discuss course options with the relevant School Exchange Coordinator.
An exchange course mapping resource, detailing the courses previously approved for UNSW Engineering exchange to overseas partner universities in recent terms, is provided as a guide only.
Step 3
Applications close:
Term One – end of May of the previous year
Term Three – early October of the previous year
-
Yes, this is possible with advice and permission from your School Exchange Coordinator. When selecting courses for exchange, the most important things to ensure are that course credits (or workload) are approximately equivalent. The learning outcomes of the exchange courses must also meet learning outcomes specified in your UNSW degree.
Normally, core degree requirements are met with exchange courses which are offered at UNSW. However, for professional electives, taking courses in areas not offered at UNSW may sometimes be advantageous. This is due to drawing on expertise not offered at UNSW but at overseas institutions.
View our Key Contacts to find your school’s exchange coordinator.
-
If possible, yes, this can help the approval process. General Education can be essentially satisfied by taking up to the equivalent of 12 UoC (units of credit) of any non-engineering courses. This allows for a lot more flexibility on exchange, where you have much more choice, such as courses in the humanities, liberal arts and business. UoC are not constrained to trying to match specific engineering learning outcomes.
You may also wish to get a full overseas engineering experience – available to all engineering exchanges courses.
Contact us
Contact UNSW Study Abroad and Exchange Office for more information.
T: (02) 9385 3179
Student exchange information sessions
Designed for current students, our information sessions cover student exchange and all the global education opportunities on offer at UNSW. Subscribe for updates on upcoming events and faculty-focused webinars.
Pre-approved courses
To help with your exchange application, you can search our list of historic courses approved for previous students. Please note that this list is subject to change and should be used as a guide only when selecting your courses
What our graduates say
"Going on exchange represents the best student/personal development program you can get... Whether it’s for the new environment and culture, education, opportunities to travel or all the above, exchange is something you should definitely not miss out on."
- Student Exchange Testimonial, read more about Matthew’s story