National University of Singapore, Singapore

Facts
 Language of instruction: English
 Semester 1: August – October
 Semester 2: January – Late April

About the University

NUS is ranked 2nd place in Asia in the QS rankings and 22nd in the world.
Website:
International Students: http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/education-at-nus/non-
graduating-programme.html
http://www.nus.edu.sg/gro/student-exchange.php
http://www.nus.edu.sg/gro/assets/doc/pub/sep_incoming_exchange_guide.pdf

What to expect
Application process
If you are allocated for an exchange at NUS, you will be officially nominated by the Go
Abroad Office and will then be provided with your detailed application instructions. You can
ONLY apply if officially nominated.
Type of Application: The NUS application is completed online and by uploading supporting
documents to the online portal.

Academics

Course/ credit load For information on credits please consult our credit guidance
sheet:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/global/exchanges/before-you-
go/academic-matters

Courses available http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/education-at-nus/non-

graduating-programme.html
Notes of Guidance for Exchange students
National University of Singapore

http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/info/ng/NG-Modules.pdf
Please check the student guide above for links on the
courses you can choose from as these provide a lot of extra
information.

Course enrolment You will be asked to submit a list of 10 courses with your
application.

Academic restrictions
Higher level undergraduate courses (e.g. module code starting
from 4000 & above) have very limited supply and are usually
NOT available to exchange students. In order to increase the
chances of securing enough modules, incoming exchange
students should consider taking modules with module code
starting from 1000 to 3000.
Master level modules are open to students coming under
master-level exchange agreement only.
Due to demand and space constraints, please refer here for
the list of modules that have limited or restricted access for
Non-Graduating students.
Note:
Modules from the following Faculty/Department/Centre
CANNOT be done on an audit** basis:
 Business
 Computing
 Law
 Industrial and System Engineering
 Industrial Design
 Public Health
 Real Estate
 Centre for English Language Communication
 Centre for Language Studies
 University Scholars Programme
 UROPS modules from Faculty of Science (subject to
approval from the respective department offering the
module)
 Theatre Studies (TS) modules from Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences (namely TS1101E/GEM1003,
TS2233, TS2237, TS2240, TS3238)
 English Language (EL) modules from Faculty of Arts
and Social Sciences (namely EL3254)
 Geography (GE) modules from Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences (namely
GEK2001/SSA2202/GES1003, SSA2215/GES1004)

** Candidates who are admitted on an audit basis will only

attend lectures and will not be permitted to sit for examinations.
Participation in other practical components (e.g. tutorials,
laboratory work, and fieldwork) will be at the discretion of the
respective faculty/department.

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These guidance notes were correct at the time of publishing, 14 September 2018. Help us keep this information accurate by
sending any feedback to the Go Abroad team international.outgoing@ed.ac.uk
Notes of Guidance for Exchange students
National University of Singapore

Your final course selection must be agreed and approved with your Exchange
Coordinator and any course changes made whilst you are away must have
their approval.

Accommodation

As NUS is currently facing a housing shortage, non-graduating

University
exchange students are not guaranteed NUS accommodation.
accommodation
To be eligible for on-campus accommodation application, you
must be accepted as a full-time undergraduate exchange
student.

On your online application you will be asked if you would like to

be considered for NUS on-campus accommodation. Only
applicants who have selected “YES” for on-campus
accommodation will be informed of their housing outcome
in their letter of offer and provided with instructions.

Application process Accommodation applications are processed through NUS

University Housing Management System (UHMS). A non-
refundable application fee of S$26.75 is required when
submitting an application through UHMS.
Each semester about 30% of exchange students are
shortlisted for a particular Residential College (RC), and
therefore only see a particular RC on their accommodation
application. This shortlisting helps ensure that NUS is able to
get as many exchange students allocated to on-campus
accommodation as possible before their arrival in Singapore.
Majority of the exchange students will be able to indicate their
top three (3) preferences for accommodation when submitting
their accommodation application. As your preferred
accommodation might not have vacancy, we encourage you to
choose from whichever options appear in the drop-down list to
ensure accommodation allocations are completed as quickly
as possible.

Private Some non-graduating exchange students might have to

accommodation consider staying at off campus accommodation if on-campus
accommodation is not available to them.
For more information on off-campus accommodation, please
see Other Accommodation.

Costs

Estimated cost of living If you are a nominated Exchange (NGE) student, your tuition
fee is waived but you are required to pay for

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These guidance notes were correct at the time of publishing, 14 September 2018. Help us keep this information accurate by
sending any feedback to the Go Abroad team international.outgoing@ed.ac.uk
Notes of Guidance for Exchange students
National University of Singapore

http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/education-at-nus/non-
graduating-programme.html#l4
Students are responsible for the cost of their accommodation,
meals, books and any other miscellaneous expenses. Please
check the NUS guide and website for further information on
the exact cost of these for your time abroad.

Insurance All exchange students are required to take out NUS’

insurance plan which is included in the compulsory
Miscellaneous Student fees of approximately S$120 per
semester. Coverage of the insurance plans can be found at
the following: http://www.nus.edu.sg/uhc/services/billing-
insurance/insurance-matters.html

Other

Exchange students who hold a Student’s Pass sponsored by

Employment
NUS for coursework based exchange are not allowed to work
on campus or off campus without a valid work pass. This
includes, but is not limited to, any form of external training
attachment at any commercial venue, or an internal training
attachment in any venue that serves the public. You can
apply for a Work Pass but you would need to research this
yourself through the Ministry of Manpower:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-pass-
exemption-for-foreign-students

There are many activities organised by the Office of Student

Orientation
Affairs International Student Services and the International
Relations Office for exchange students in each semester.
These activities include Orientation Welcome Party as well as
many other programmes which are lined up throughout the
semester so as to let exchange students know more about
NUS and Singapore.

Exchange students who have been accepted to NUS will

Visas
receive instructions via email for the Student’s Pass
application. Students who need a visa to enter Singapore will
receive the scanned In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter via
email from NUS Registrar’s office and can use the letter as a
single-trip entry visa. All other students will be instructed to
enter on a tourist visa and then convert it to a Student’s Pass
during registration.

Disability Statement
Some destinations may be more accessible than others for
disabled students. If you require any adjustments due to
disability or specific learning difficulty and you wish to study
abroad please contact Thomas Ozers in the Go Abroad team
(Thomas.ozers@ed.ac.uk). We will work together with you
to explore the help available at your host institution. It may

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These guidance notes were correct at the time of publishing, 14 September 2018. Help us keep this information accurate by
sending any feedback to the Go Abroad team international.outgoing@ed.ac.uk
Notes of Guidance for Exchange students
National University of Singapore

also be helpful if you discuss this with your Personal Tutor

and the Disability Office as well.

What other students had to say about the University

The best part?

The people, the culture, and the day to day activities I was able to do.
Also many different events and groups I was easily able to join.”

A very personal experience of different cultures, religions and

upbringings - I believe it would be impossible to acquire in any way but a
long period of living in some foreign country, so I'm happy I could do that.”

the friends I am made and experiences living in another culture and city”

Advice for future exchange students

Accommodation

Make sure you apply as fast as possible once the application window
opens to give yourself the best chance of receiving their accommodation
because the openings close quite fast.”

Getting accommodation in what is called "UTown" is maybe a good

idea. If you think you will not cope with the heat and humidity, try and get a
flat with air conditioning.”

It's pretty much automatic, just don't miss the deadline for official
applications. I didn't really get a choice of where I wanted to stay either, but
ended up in a nice room in a residential college.”

The "student halls" actually have current students selecting the intake as those
are small communities, don't waste an application applying there as they're unlikely to
want exchange students. The colleges are much nicer than Prince George Park
Residences and kick up a stink to change if you get put in there (it's pretty grim).”

stay in Utown not PGP, university accommodation is much better value for money than
anything else you will find.”

5
These guidance notes were correct at the time of publishing, 14 September 2018. Help us keep this information accurate by
sending any feedback to the Go Abroad team international.outgoing@ed.ac.uk
Notes of Guidance for Exchange students
National University of Singapore

General advice

Academically, the education system is very different in Singapore.

However, from a daily life and engagement opportunity perspective NUS is
very good and I enjoyed my time spent there.”

Eat a lot of Singaporean food.”

Make friends with your course mates, there is a lot of sharing of past
year materials among student circles.”

Try get into one of the colleges in UTown, I managed to get mine changed
from PGP to a utown college even though they say you can't. The site equivalent to
learn is IVLE (no one tells you this), most courses have midterms after the week long
holiday in the middle of the semester. You will need to pay a fair bit if you want to stay
over Christmas, they won’t let you extend the stay at all when the end of the second
semester comes. Find the Facebook groups for the exchange students.

Prepare for the heat.

6
These guidance notes were correct at the time of publishing, 14 September 2018. Help us keep this information accurate by
sending any feedback to the Go Abroad team international.outgoing@ed.ac.uk