University of Birmingham

• Exchange students can take coursework in most areas of study
• Students must have a minimum cumulative average of 70% or above to attend this partnership
• International students who are nationals from countries not listed on the UK Border Agencies list of majority English speaking countries (list of approved countries) will have to submit TOEFL or ILETS scores. Expired scores will not be accepted. 
  • International students who graduated Secondary School from a country on the UK Border Agency list can provide a copy of the diploma/certificate in lieu of test scores

Term dates

• UBC Term 1 (UoB Autumn semester): Late September to mid December
• UBC Term 2 (UoB Spring semester): Mid January to late June

*Students attending Birmingham term 1, needing to return to UBC for Term 2 will be able to take alternative exams in December

Areas of study available:

• Arts
• Commerce (UBCV)
• Engineering
• Fine Arts
• Health Sciences
• Land and Food Systems
• Management (UBCO)
• Science

Course availability and restrictions

• There are some academic areas, such as Commerce, English, and Law, where you MUST enroll for a full academic year
• Course registration will not take place until students arrive at Birmingham and they get permission from professors to join the course
• Coursework at Birmingham is much more self directed and the out of class expectations are much higher than at UBC - ie: students are expected to stay atop of reading lists and readings that are not taken up in class but will be on exams
• Many exams occur at the end of the year and are worth 100% of the grade
• Students attending for just the first term may have to write a final paper (usually due the last day of class) instead of writing exams which occur at the end of the second semester
• Many students have found that the exams require more of a demonstration/application of learning than they experienced here at UBC
• Students must complete at least 40 of 60 credits per semester in their preferred college. 10 credits can be done in a second college and 10 in a third.
• Search for courses at the University of Birmingham

Partner Course Information

Course equivalency Formula

• Birmingham credits divided by 4 = UBC credits

Course load Information

• Normal Full Courseload: 60 credits per term / 120 credits per year
• Students must take a full credit load while on exchange

Transfer credit

The transfer credit process takes approximately 16 weeks following each submission deadline. You should allow sufficient time to meet important deadlines that may affect you (e.g. application for graduation, registration in courses that require prerequisites that you took on exchange, entry to a major/honours program, etc.)

Search for previously approved courses