UQ Programme: Bachelor of Psychology
During my exchange in Brighton, I created a life that I didn’t want to leave. Studying in the UK offers a world of possibility when it comes to travelling around Europe. It provides the comfort of an English speaking country and similar culture to Australia, however makes it possible to travel throughout Europe on a small budget and within a short time frame. The University of Sussex runs on a trimester system which can be quite confusing at first. There is plenty of time between Spring and Summer semesters to travel – in the short few weeks I had off, I managed to travel to Spain, Italy, Greece and Scotland with the new friends I had made, and had the time of my life. In addition, there is some time to travel after exams finish. The important thing is not to take courses that are too time consuming.
The one major aspect of Brighton that took a bit of getting used to was the weather. When I arrived in January, it was bitter cold. It stayed quite cold until around early April, at which point the weather became milder. By May, there were some beautiful sunny days, and people took to the beach in droves to soak up the sun and the exciting bohemian culture. Brighton’s culture is very distinct. It is a party town, and young people go out every single night, even in the middle of winter. Drinks are very cheap, and there are hundreds of little pubs and clubs to choose from in this student-oriented city. Brighton is a place where anything goes – it has a vibrant gay and lesbian scene, is the perfect place to go op-shopping, and you’ll find bucketloads of local arts, independent films, bands and plays. Don’t forgo the opportunity to attend Brighton’s famous Great Escape Festival – musicians from all around the world (including from Australia!) come in droves to play at a huge array of venues across Brighton. The beaches and close proximity to London are what make it famous and fabulous. Brighton is also small and easy to get around and has a great bus system.
For accommodation, I decided not to stay with a host family, and instead stayed in a hotel for a week (very, very cheap in the winter) whilst I checked out gumtree and several other student accommodation websites for rooms available to rent. This worked out well for me. I would caution against paying for your entire 6 months of accommodation upfront before you get to Brighton. A lot of landlords require people to do this so that they will hold the room until you get there. Look at the place before you hand money over! Many of my new friends were stuck in subpar accommodation because of this.
I would recommend the University of Sussex for many reasons. I studied Psychology over the Spring term and found it very relaxed; classes are small, and the amount of contact time that they required was far less than at UQ – most of my courses didn’t even have tutorials! Only a small amount of assessment was required throughout the term – however the trade-off is that final exams are often worth a large chunk of the course. The campus is very small in comparison to UQ, and it is easy to find your way around. I recommend attending every one of the trips and social gatherings that are organised by the Abroad Team over there – they take everyone around Brighton (including the local supermarket), and even organise trips/tours to places like Stonehenge, Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, London and many more. These trips are well worth it and the opportunity to make friends from within the exchange cohort is fantastic.
I could not recommend Brighton anymore highly as an exchange option!