Admission & Accommodation

Accommodation

This is the area which is likely to give you the most concern.  Please note that if you return early from your placement (before three months) because you cannot find suitable accommodation, it is very unlikely that the British Council will allow you to keep any of your Erasmus grant.

NOTE!!! Queen's University does not organise accommodation on behalf of outgoing Erasmus students. Each student is responsible for his/her own application. Please check the website of the destination university for information/application forms and/or a contact email, and ask your Queen's Erasmus Programme Director for advice if necessary. 

Your host university may offer no student accommodation, or there may be purpose-built student accommodation which is owned and administered by a quite separate body. In the end, it is your responsibility to find acceptable accommodation at a price you can afford. You might want to consider an accommodation website such as Casaswap which helps to facilitate the exchange of rented accommodation. CasaSwap is a free international housing network, where you can rent, sublet and swap accommodation with other members from all over the world. You can find a place to stay, get a roommate, and exchange your own room, apartment or house.

It is the responsibility of any student in Queen’s University accommodation to discuss with the Student Accommodation Office if they wish to leave their accommodation in order to undertake a study placement. Unless replacements can be found for the rooms, it is possible that students may be liable for the cost of the accommodation during their absence.

Health and Travel Insurance

Another area which you should check is insurance and health cover.

Firstly, you should obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); this entitles the bearer to receive aid in case of urgent medical necessity in any EEA country or Switzerland. You are eligible to obtain an EHIC if you are ordinarily resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and you are a national of the UK, Ireland or any other EEA country.

The EHIC is free of charge. Please be aware of other websites that charge a fee for the service. Further information on the EHIC is available at: www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx.

Please note that there is a specific ‘student EHIC’, which requires a postal rather than an online application. Along with your application, you may need to provide a letter from Queen’s which confirms your degree programme and the location and dates of your placement. The Global Opportunities Team at Queen’s (erasmus@qub.ac.uk) can provide you with this letter. The ‘student EHIC’ application process is outlined at: www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/movingabroad/Pages/Studyingabroad.aspx.

For further information, please also visit the Department of Health's website: www.dh.gov.uk/travellers.

Queen’s University Belfast Insurance Policies

Public Liability: As a full-time registered student of Queen’s, during your study placement you will be covered by the University’s Public Liability insurance. This insurance protects the student on placement for loss, damage or injury caused to the host university if found to be legally liable. However, it will not indemnify students for the consequences of any deliberate malicious or irresponsible acts on their part.

Personal Accident and Travel Insurance: The combined Personal Accident and Travel Insurance Policy held by Queen’s provides all students with Personal Accident cover, which pays a fixed amount in the event of serious injury or death. This cover extends to placements both in the UK and overseas. The University's Travel Insurance policy affords further cover for emergency medical and repatriation expenses for all students on placements outside of Northern Ireland. It also includes benefits for cancellation and curtailment of travel arrangements, luggage delay, loss of personal belongings, etc. The full list of benefits and limits is available on the Insurance Section website at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/FinanceDirectorate/Staff/finance-services/insurance/ 

*** To be covered under the Queen’s Personal Accident and Travel Insurance policy, you must complete the Queen’s online Travel Insurance Form. You must contact the Insurance Section at Queen’s to obtain access to the form - email insurance@qub.ac.uk or telephone 028 9097 1484. It is very important that you do so. ***

You should note that the Queen’s policy has an excess of £150, which means that you are liable for the first £150 of any claim. For example, if your flights are cancelled and they cost £200, the insurance company would only pay out £50. If you lost your mobile phone and its value was £140, you could not submit a claim to the insurance company. The policy normally covers travel of up to 7 days within your host country at the beginning, end or during your study placement. It does not cover travel for longer periods within your host country or travel of any duration to a third country. You should also be aware that the Queen’s policy does not include cover for personal activities such as extreme sports, etc.

Other Insurance Policies

You might, therefore, want to consider taking out additional health and travel insurance, where the policy has a lower excess and/or covers any personal activities you plan to undertake whilst abroad. Whilst we cannot recommend an insurer, the following companies offers policies specifically for study abroad
placements:

Endsleigh Insurance - www.endsleigh.co.uk/Travel/Pages/study-abroad-insurance.aspx
STA Travel - www.statravel.co.uk/study-abroad-travel-insurance.htm
Coe Connections - www.coeconnections.co.uk 

Taxe d'Habitation - Students going to France only

In France taxe d’habitation (equivalent to UK Council tax) is due from an individual who on 1 January is registered as officially renting a flat (furnished or unfurnished)or living in property that they own. The liability for the taxe d’habitation is not related to the amount a person earns or to whether he/she pays income tax. This means that overseas students are liable as much as any French citizen in France.

NB the French authorities are often late in issuing the demand notice which may reach you after your return to the UK, even a year later. The French authorities issue bills for the taxe d’habitation in October. To avoid the possibility of being charged interest, you are strongly advised to settle the account before you leave France. Should you rely on the tax office to bill you after your departure, you must ensure that you pay promptly, or you will be charged 10% interest on each subsequent bill. If you delay payment, you run the risk of court action or ending up an international credit backlist.

Translation of Birth Certificate -  Students going to France only

If your host university asks you for a translation of your birth certificate (some universities do not require this) - they will want an official translation which has been officially stamped - French and English with 4 copies of each. The certificate must be the long version with the names of both your parents and your mother's maiden name. This costs quite a lot of money in France and it is advisable to get this done before departure. You can try the French consulate in London or Alliance Française in Manchester.

Mme Anne Rassindrame
Service Culturel
Ambassade de France
23 Cromwell Road
London SW7 2EL
Tel: 020 7073 1300
Fax: 020 7073 1326
Website: http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/

To obtain the certification of your birth certificate's translation, you must first translate your birth certificate yourself on to the form available here.  You should then send the translated document to the above address, together with the original full length certificate in English and proof that you are going to France for studies.  Also enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope (to cover the cost of registered post).  The French Consulate will check and stamp the translation.

Alliance Française de Manchester
125 Portland Street
Manchester 
M1 4QD 
Tel: 0161 236 7117
email: admin@afmanchester.org 
Website: www.afmanchester.org

Alliance Française de Manchester also offers a translation service.  The cost is generally £38 but to get a definite price students should contact them at the details above to get a quote as the price can vary depending on the type of certificate. 

Sources of Advice

Before you go, you should use all the sources of information which are open to you. Obviously, the key source, and channel, of information is the Erasmus Programme Director for your subject - see subject tables. Other sources include:

• The website of the university you wish to attend.
• Students of your host university who are currently at Queen’s. If there are none in your own department, the Exchange and Study Abroad team can put you in touch.
• Queen’s students who have previously spent a period at your intended host university. If there are none in your own department, consult the International Office.
• The UK Erasmus National Agency website at www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus 
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice website at www.gov.uk/browse/abroad/travel-abroad.
• Details on studying in each of the eligible countries are available at the www.studyineurope.eu website.
• Information for students going to France can be found at Egide: www.egide.asso.fr
• The Erasmus website at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/opportunities/index_en.htm.