international students transferring unis

how is easy is it for international students to transfer to a different uni for the same course in the second year?

i don't like the uni I got admission in but I don't want to take a gap year. is it possible to switch in the second year or even before that?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

There is absolutely no guarantee you can transfer universities in the UK. It's not a standard process like it is in e.g. the US.

Generally when transferring first you need to contact the university you wish to transfer to in order to find out if they accept transfers at all for the course you want to transfer to - some unis and courses won't accept transfers at all (effectively all clinical courses, and universities like Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial, and in most cases UCL, won't accept "transfers" into second year or higher). Then you need to find out if they can accept you for transferring into second year, which will depend on how closely your first year course content aligns with their degree's first year.

In many cases you will be advised just to reapply for first year entry. So you would have spent an entire years worth of international tuition fees for nothing.

It's not recommended even for UK/home fees students, I can't imagine it'd be even worth considering for someone paying international fees. If you don't like the uni you have an offer from your best bet is to decline the offer and go through clearing, and/or look at reapplying in a gap year.

Reply 2

Clearing and Applications Advisor

On top of the above you would need to re-apply for a new visa with all the stress and additional costs involved in that.

Have you considered applying elsewhere in clearing?
Starting a degree that you don’t want to complete is never a good idea