Over sticky toffee pudding in Queens' Old Hall, a third-year student relays the experience of a friend studying at the Sorbonne on her year abroad. The highlights: freedom to choose from a wide range of cross-faculty courses, and a workload which, while not negligible, leaves ample time for wandering around Paris. The next day, my mind drifts from my reading towards reveries of strolling around the Marais and the cobbled streets of the fifth arrondissement. A call to a home friend brings me down to earth. “Sounds cool. I do wonder how people fund that though.”
Undergraduates studying a four-year Modern and Medieval Languages (MML) or History and Modern Languages (HML) degree typically spend their third year overseas, with the aim of immersion in their target language or languages. At some Russell Group universities, all languages undergraduates spend their year abroad studying at a partner institution. Cambridge students, however, are offered several potential pathways. Alongside completing the Year Abroad Project, they can either choose to study at a partner or approved institution, or to engage in unpaid or paid work – British council placements as an English teaching assistant (TEFL) are a common example of the latter.
But planning a year abroad is not just a matter of picking the most appealing path. Future career ambitions, college affiliation and, importantly, household income shape students’ decisions of where, and how, to spend their third year. Although the University and its Year Abroad Office make considerable efforts to make the process as accessible as possible, the impact of these pressures remains uneven across the student body.
“Sounds cool. I do wonder how people fund that though”
For many students, the opportunity to maximise future career plans make internships or work more attractive than studying. Hanna, a second-year MML student, hopes to split her year between a TEFL placement and an internship. Alongside a desire for “total immersion” in her languages away from English-speaking students, she also hopes for insight into different career paths. She notes that “there are always those questions from people of ‘what are you going to do after uni?’’’ – an influence on her decision to spend her Year Abroad gaining valuable work experience.
Such considerations are only heightened by the attainment-driven environment of Cambridge, where it is not uncommon to see students exchange LinkedIn profiles alongside Instagram handles on a night out. For those otherwise drawn to study, this can sow doubts in decision-making. Vivian, a fourth-year French and Italian student, eventually followed her desire to spend a year at a partner institution. She enjoyed her year and is happy about her decision, feeling that she has “the rest of her life” to work. Nonetheless, she recalls her doubts during the planning process: “of course there’s always that pressure, with seeing people around me getting all these internships, of whether you’re doing the right thing.”
While the degree to which individuals feel pressured to use their year abroad to boost employability is highly personal, contextual factors play a key role. Decisions about higher education are influenced by household income. For students planning a year abroad, the presence or absence of a familial safety net can influence the decision between a CV-boosting internship and a more enjoyable study placement.
“The presence or absence of a familial safety net can influence the decision between a CV-boosting internship and a more enjoyable study placement”
More immediate practicalities, particularly financial ones, further determine year abroad plans for some students. The University of Cambridge lowers tuition fees for students on their year abroad, by 85% and 50% for home and international students respectively. Students choosing study placements either do not have to pay fees to the foreign university (at partner universities) or can have these refunded by Cambridge (at approved institutions).
Nonetheless, having to fund an additional year of living costs with little or no income remains an impediment for students hoping to enroll in study placements – indeed, even for those seeking internships, which are often either unpaid or badly remunerated. This is particularly the case for courses and jobs in more expensive cities such as Vienna, Paris, or Madrid. The average monthly cost of living in Paris, where the majority of Cambridge’s francophone partner universities are located, is £916.50 – excluding rent. The challenge this can pose is compounded by the difficulties Cambridge University has recently experienced in acquiring grants for year-abroad students from the Turing scheme, a government initiative targeted towards students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Although students in the most pressing financial need still receive funding, others may struggle to meet the costs of study or work placements. Last year one student told Varsity that they had been “essentially required to do British Council [TEFL] because the internships I was looking into (many of which were recommended by Cambridge) just did not pay enough to feasibly cover the cost of rent and living expenses.” Many students who choose to study or take poorly remunerated internships rely on a combination of taking out a maintenance loan for another year, personal savings and, crucially, family support.
“Highly inegalitarian and disproportionately favourable to those from wealthy backgrounds”
This is more realistic for some than others. One fourth-year student, who spent their year abroad studying in Paris, recalls having to rely on their parents financially “time and time again”. Rent costs “far higher than in Cambridge,” and “unexpected, but quite essential costs,” including an annual Parisian transport card, were important areas of parental contribution. They believe that, without more financial support from the Year Abroad Office and colleges, “the system will remain highly inegalitarian and disproportionately favourable to those from wealthy backgrounds,” claiming that their year abroad would have been “very different” without the help of their parents.
Financial constraints on Year Abroad abroad plans also vary by college. Some Cambridge colleges provide ‘college exchanges’: agreements with partner universities which include free accommodation. Catz students who secured a study abroad placement at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), for example, have previously benefitted from a full year of free onsite accommodation.
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Another fourth-year student who spent their year abroad at a Parisian university judged that studying in an expensive city is “great” if you attend a college which can secure you free university accommodation; otherwise, it can feel like “draining away money for little benefit”.
Cambridge University and its Year Abroad Office work hard to make a broad range of options available to all students. The University supplemented the government Turing grant for last year’s cohort; annually, the Year Abroad Office makes a vast resource of student reports and details of numerous paid internships available to incoming second-year MMLers.
Nonetheless, disparities remain. The extent to which students feel their options are constrained by employment and financial considerations, both current and future, are inextricable from factors including household income and college affiliation. Even so, many take pride in making their desired option work. Vivian recalls her outlook as she plotted her path: “I thought, you know, I’m only going to do this once, so I might as well make the most of it.”
Interviewees’ names have been changed to protect their anonymity.
