Exchange & Erasmus Semester in Aberdeen

Coming to Aberdeen for a semester rather than a degree changes two things: what permission you need to be here, and what you can do about somewhere to live. Most of the city is let by the academic year, which is awkward when you are here from January to June.

Erasmus+ and the UK

The UK is rejoining. The UK and the EU have signed the legal text, and the government's own announcement is that it will "formally bring the UK into Erasmus+ in 2027", with the first funding call that year and more than 100,000 participants expected in the first. The British Council is set to become the UK's National Agency, subject to confirmation by the European Commission. The announcement on gov.uk.

Until it is running, incoming exchanges work the way they have since 2020: through agreements between your home university and Aberdeen's. If you are coming before the scheme takes effect, nothing about that changes for you.

What permission you need

For one semester — up to six months. You can come as a Standard Visitor. gov.uk's wording is that a Standard Visitor may come for "study (courses up to 6 months)", and the visit itself is capped at six months too. Standard Visitor: study.

You will also need an ETA. An Electronic Travel Authorisation is what most European nationals need instead of a visa, and it covers a stay of up to six months. Every traveller needs their own, including children. Apply through gov.uk and nowhere else — there are imitation sites that charge more for the same thing.

For longer than six months, including a full academic year, you need a Student visa instead. The six-month line is the one that decides which route you are on, so count your dates before you apply for anything.

If you have settled or pre-settled status, neither applies. You already have permission to be here.

This is general information and immigration rules change. Your university's international team and gov.uk are the authorities for your own case, not us.

Your university's exchange team

The University of Aberdeen runs European Exchange, International Exchange and Study Abroad, Inter-Campus Mobility, Postgraduate Study Abroad and Summer Schools. Nomination and application deadlines differ by programme, so take yours from the University's incoming students pages rather than from a general date.

Robert Gordon University takes incoming study abroad students too, and its incoming students pages carry the detail. RGU's Semester 2 teaching begins Monday 1 February 2027, with Welcome Back Week from Monday 25 January, per its academic calendar — so a second semester exchange is a January arrival.

Somewhere to live for one semester

This is the part that trips people up. Aberdeen's student housing is mostly sold as a September-to-summer contract, and a landlord with a full building has little reason to break one up for five months.

ABeleven is set up for it. Alongside full-year contracts there are shorter and semester-length terms, so a single semester is something this building actually sells rather than something it makes an exception for. Which rooms are free, and from when, moves through the year.

Everything is furnished and every bill, the internet and contents insurance are included, which matters more on a short stay than a long one: there is no energy account to open for five months and nothing to close when you leave. You arrive with a suitcase and start living.

There is more on arriving mid-year on the January 2027 guide, and on short stays.