Cardiff University, United Kingdom

I hadn’t originally set out on an exchange in Wales. My initial thoughts for a semester abroad in the UK was assuming I would be studying in England instead. However, I’m now halfway through the semester and very glad I ended up here at Cardiff University. Cardiff is a relatively small city, (especially if you’re used to Sydney!) but with four different universities, its very student based. It’s easy to navigate and completely walkable, and the city centre has dozens of historical arcades running through, giving the busy city life a much calmer feel.

Exploring South Wales 

Wales has a rich Celtic culture, which includes a love of dragons, sheep and beer, and the ancient Welsh language is kept alive throughout the country. Cardiff Castle sits in the middle of the city, with rich history dating back to the 1st century, surviving Roman occupation, Norman conquest, and WW2 – where the castle’s tunnels were used as bomb shelters, giving it an eerie feel as you walk through them. Wales has plenty of castles to visit; So far, I’ve visited Castle Coch, Caerphilly Castle, Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey – which are all within an hour or so of Cardiff. At Tintern, we also happened to stumble across a few filming locations for Netflix’s Sex Education! Cardiff is also known for being the filming location for BBC’s Dr Who.

Life and Study at Cardiff University 

I’ve taken the opportunity of an exchange to study a few subjects outside of my normal degree. I’m taking two English literature subjects and one studying linguistics. At UTS I study a B. Communications (Social and Political Science) with a second major in writing and publishing. These electives have some relevance to my home degree but are still areas of study I wouldn’t get to learn about at UTS. The structure of the classes is similar to what I’m used to, with each class having a lecture and a seminar, and the majority of the course being self-paced study. 

Making friends in a new country is always daunting. I was lucky enough to get paired with another Australian exchange student in my accommodation flat, who is from Monash University in Melbourne. To my knowledge, the accommodation has done the same thing for other Australian exchange students, so most students have someone else from their country living with them. UTS also connected us with other students going to the same partner university. This has all been a massive help in getting settled into exchange, and the global exchange staff at Cardiff University have been very friendly and welcoming. There’s a wide variety of societies to join, and I’ve joined ice skating and aerial fitness, with society events usually running multiple times a week!

The university additionally runs day and overnight trips every weekend – exploring all different parts of the UK! They are very reasonably priced and have a wide variety of options. So far, I’ve visited the Jurassic Coast with the famous rock formation Durdle’s Door. The university provides the coach for the trip, but everyone gets the opportunity to explore on their own. In the next few months, I’m going to visit Stonehenge, Oxford and Edinburgh with the university – which I’m very excited for! Other trips include Cambridge, the Cotswolds, Bath, and York. 

Madeleine Edwards
Bachelor of Communication (Social and Political Sciences)
Cardiff University, Wales (United Kingdom)
Global Exchange Scholarship

For more information about the UTS Global Exchange program please visit: www.uts.edu.au/thinkglobal