Leeds, England
University of Leeds Partnership
Program Overview
BIG-SCHOOL VIBE IN A STUDENT-FRIENDLY CITY
One of Britain’s largest universities and a member of the prestigious Russell Group, Leeds boasts a vast selection of classes and an international reputation for teaching excellence. Academic highlights include a new food science program and strong STEM, particularly engineering, and accredited business.
Your home is an easy-to-manage city that’s bustling with energy—just like the university’s centrally located, self-contained campus. Ready to explore further? Get to Manchester by train in one hour; London in three. Or recharge in the nearby Yorkshire Dales, known for spectacular sweeping landscapes.
Your program also includes IFSA excursions and activities that give you deeper cultural insights, with no extra fees. Possibilities include a West End London theater performance, a cooking contest in the tent made famous by the Great British Bake Off, and a visit to Darcy’s Pemberly—really Chatsworth House—from the Pride and Prejudice film production.
Details at a Glance
Application deadline
Minimum GPA
3.00
Credit load
15
Housing
Apartment/Flat, Residence Hall/Dormitory, Single Room Option
Instruction language
English
Language prerequisites
None
Visa required?
Not in most cases. Learn More.
Academics
CHART Your Course
Find the classes you need fast with CHART. Our easy-to-use tool shows you classes recently taken by IFSA students.
To view available courses at the University of Leeds, visit the University of Leeds online course catalog and check the “search by incoming study abroad” box.
Credit Conversion
A full course load at Leeds is 60 credits for the semester (equivalent to 15 U.S. semester credit hours) and 120 credits for the year (equivalent to 30 U.S. semester credit hours).
4 University of Leeds credits = 1 U.S. semester credit hour
Most final assessments for fall semester classes are conducted online during the month of January. If you are a fall-only student and your final assessment for one or more of your classes is not available in an online format, visit Leeds Taking Assessments Abroad to find out what you need to do to take your exams back on your home campus.
Lab & Field Trip Fees
Please review syllabi and course materials when registering for direct-enroll classes. Certain classes may have a one-off lab or field trip fee disclosed in the syllabus or during the first meeting of the class. These fees are not included in your IFSA program fee. You will be responsible for these fees, whether they are billed and paid by IFSA or billed to you.
If you are applying through a subject specific agreement, then you are expected to take 50 percent of your credits in that subject area.
Many modules are taught across the full academic year. Consider your application carefully if you are applying for a single semester and are required to take modules in these subject areas: Chemical and Process Engineering, Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Languages (Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese), Law, and Mechanical Engineering. Fine Art studio modules are only taught in the fall or across the full academic year.
Leeds School of Design (DESN) requires a year of design study and generally only admits majors in art, design, or fashion. Students wishing to study core design modules must secure pre-approval by submitting a portfolio.
Fourth-year courses and higher are part of a postgraduate degree (Master’s or Ph.D.). You are not eligible to take these courses as an undergraduate study abroad student.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Eligibility
- You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
- You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university.
- You must have completed at least one (1) full-time year of study at your home institution before the start of the program.
Recommendation Letter
Your application to this program will require one (1) academic letter of recommendation.
TRANSCRIPT
Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects classes taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.
Excursions
Activities and excursions are designed to pull you into the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. There’s no extra fee to participate in these optional outings—everything is included in your program fee.
Below are examples from previous terms; outings may be different for your program. We’ll make every effort to run them all, but sometimes things we can’t control, such as local regulations and health protocols, get in the way. As result, we cannot guarantee activities and excursions.
Activities
- Harewood House Visit: Explore one of the finest country houses in England, with landscaped grounds designed by the famous Capability Brown. Discover the art collection of the Lascelles family and discuss the links between the family and the transatlantic slave trade.
- West End Theatre Performance: No time in the UK would be complete without a trip to the West End, London’s famous theatre district. Shows are chosen that provide context or different perspectives on London/the UK/Europe. Recent examples include Operation Mincemeat and Cabaret.
- Thackray Museum of Medicine: Wander through the grimy streets of Victorian Leeds, watch gruesome operations taking place in the 19th century operating theater, visit a ’70s-style sexual health clinic, chart how well the world responds to crisis, and discover the medical innovations that changed the world.
- Stonehenge and Bath Visit: Stonehenge has stood on Salisbury Plain for around 5,000 years and it’s still unknown how the prehistoric monument came to rest there! Make up your own mind during this visit and discover the fascinating theories behind these rocks. You’ll learn about Stonehenge from the fascinating exhibits and be able to enjoy a virtual sunrise as it rises over the prehistoric stones! Afterward, travel to the Roman city of Bath for a walking tour of this World Heritage city once home to Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Gainsborough, Lord Nelson, and Beau Nash. Then prepare to travel back 2,000 years to the Roman era with a visit to the Roman Baths.
- Piers and Queers Brighton Trip: Since the 18th century, Brighton has become a cosmopolitan place of recreation, escape, and freedom. A destination for people who didn’t conform. With an LGBTQ+ population now estimated at 15%, Brighton celebrated England’s first civil partnerships, and hosts the UK’s largest Pride event as well as Europe’s first Trans Pride, rightly earning its title as the LGBTQ+ Capital of Britain. Peers and Queers is a tour of Brighton from LGBTQ+ perspective. This colorful 90-minute walk along the beach and historic city center takes in more than 200 years of history including Regency Dandies, 1950s lesbian and gay life, and political activism. Afterward, there’s time for a walk on the pier and fish and chips, just watch out for seagulls!
- Big Welsh Weekend: Delve into the rich history of Wales and explore its unique culture and its complex relationship with the rest of the UK on a weekend that takes in the famous Tintern Abbey, the historic Raglan Castle, the Blaenavon coal mines, and St Fagan’s, a museum that has preserved buildings and cultural practices from Welsh history. Spend the night in Cardiff, the Welsh capital, and discover the Cardiff Bay area, home of the Welsh Parliament.
- Whitby Visit: Spend the day on the Yorkshire coast at the supposed site of Dracula’s first appearance in England! Visit the haunting ruins of the clifftop Whitby Abbey, and discover where Captain Cook—famed for his Pacific voyages and his mapping of Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii—learned his trade before setting sail
Housing and Meals
Housing
Apartment/Flat, Residence Hall/Dormitory, Single Room OptionMeals
Self-CateringDetails
Leeds students have a variety of potential housing placements, ranging from on-campus residence halls to off-campus residences to off-campus shared flats (apartments) provided by university housing partners. Most feature single bedrooms, shared bathrooms, and kitchen access. Off-campus housing is typically a short walk from campus, though some locations call for a walk or bus trip of up to 20 minutes.
Several housing options feature modern spaces and extra amenities such as private bathrooms that warrant higher rent. Keep in mind that if you’re placed in more expensive housing, you will incur additional charges to cover these costs.
Only a couple of residence halls offer meal plans. Most students prepare their own meals in shared kitchens or purchase them at nearby markets, cafes, and restaurants.
Sample housing
Take a look at Lupton Residences, one Leeds housing option, to see what your UK home might be like:
- Location: Headingley, a suburb just 10 minutes from campus by bus and popular with many students.
- A student village of furnished flats: Five students share each flat, which have private, single bedrooms and a shared bathroom. Bedrooms have a bed, desk and chair, wardrobe, and storage. Bedding and sheets are not provided.
- Meals: No meal plan. Students prepare meals in shared kitchens or purchase food nearby. Many tell us cooking and sharing meals is a fun, social part of the day.
- Additional details: Laundry on site. Common room for socializing. Outdoor barbecue area.
- Nearby: Supermarket and bus stop around the corner. Many shops and restaurants. Headingly Stadium (home of local cricket and rugby teams). Twenty minutes by bus to Leeds city center, home of Kirkgate Market, Leeds Art Gallery, Briggate Street, and much more.
Dates and Fees
Get Started
Kevin Cañas
Enrollment Counselor
