Erasmus and international exchange

The exchange period can range from one semester (with an actual sojourn of 4 or 5 months) to a full academic year. You should always check with your career coordinator. He thinks that on his return he will be the one to approve the recognition of the competences of the subjects taken.

Bilateral exchanges take place both within and outside the traditional European Erasmus environment. In both cases, there is an inter-university institutional agreement. The fundamental difference is that students in the Erasmus+ process follow the guidelines or processes, and enjoy the benefits of the European Commission’s mobility programme. The other exchanges are based on private university cooperation agreements between the institutions.

These agreements are generally signed on identical terms so that both options are as similar as possible to each other in terms of process and fundamentals, including ensuring the recognition of ECTS credits upon return to your home university. The major difference will be that bilateral exchanges will not involve financial support from the European programme.

Admission has two important steps. The student must first be selected by his/her home institution on the basis of a selection process with all the applications received. Students who pass this phase will be nominated if they confirm their intention to continue the process. If so, while the home university is taking this step, students will also contact the chosen university to find out about the admission process as an exchange student, and send all the documents required by the university, in due time and form. The host universities will be the ones to make the final decision on whether or not you are admitted by sending you a Letter of Acceptance.

During the selection process, a departmental board analyses all the information received during the application and selection process. It will be assessed as a whole, with special emphasis on the following aspects, as detailed in the section on applications:

• Language level of the host institution.
• Academic record.
• Portfolio.
• Other requirements. There may be additional ones, such as a request for an interview.

The following registrations are required:

• Usual UDIT registration, within the official deadlines, by paying the academic fees
• Registration at the host university, once there and according to the instructions provided by the corresponding department or International Relations Office. This is simply a registration procedure in the system and the virtual campus of the institutions.

You should be aware that studying abroad entails additional costs, especially for the student’s family, and significant extra financial effort and sacrifice.

Travel, accommodation and living expenses must be added to the UDIT registration fees. In an attempt to alleviate this situation, certain financial assistance mechanisms are available:

• The National Agency for Erasmus, SEPIE, grants a travel and subsistence allowance. For student mobility, this grant is allocated according to the host country, and is administered by the sending university so that it is available to the students, when the Agency transfers it to the institution. This support may vary from year to year. For the academic year 2020/21, it will be between €200 and €300 per month, for the months granted. Before going abroad, the student signs a financial agreement with the beneficiary university, which then sends it to the SEPIE National Agency. The purpose of Erasmus+ financial support is not to fully fund the sojourn in the host country but to provide support to reduce the overall costs.
• The Regional Government of Madrid, through its Department of Education, grants aid to promote the mobility of university students from the universities of Madrid.

Before the mobility, the student, together with the coordinator of each degree course, will have made a pre-selection of the subjects to be studied from among those offered by the host university. This document will be signed by the exchange coordinator of the Degree, the person in charge of the International Relations Office and by the student. Once abroad, students must confirm, by email to their coordinator at UDIT, any changes that may arise and the definitive subjects for which they have enrolled in each semester. Any modification made without UDIT’s knowledge exonerates UDIT from any responsibility for validating the course.

In this way, as long as the student passes the planned subjects, they will be recognised and validated. At the end of the studies abroad, the host university will issue a certificate – academic transcript – stating the credits and grades obtained, so that UDIT can carry out the agreed equivalences.

The failed subject, or its equivalent in credits, will also be failed in UDIT. It can be passed at the host university if an additional exam session is offered, or in the extraordinary exam session at UDIT in Madrid. If the student takes the second test at the destination and fails again, then he/she will not have the opportunity to take the extraordinary UDIT test, and will have to re-enrol for the following year when he/she returns to Spain.