Frequently Asked Questions - Erasmus Exchange

Students typically go away in Junior Sophister Year only.

An information session to explain the application procedure is held for all interested Senior Freshman students and takes place in Michaelmas Term, generally Teaching Week 9 (dates to be confirmed at start of Academic Year). The recording from the most recent information session is available in the Teams Group. 

Application Deadline:                          Teaching Week 12, Michaelmas Term 
First Round Offers:                               Teaching Week 1, Hilary Term 
Acceptance of First Round Offers:       Teaching Week 2, Hilary Term 
Second Round offers:                          Teaching Week 3, Hilary Term 
Acceptance of Second Round offers:  Teaching Week 4, Hilary Term 

Suitability, motivation and academic ability; the minimum requirement for Erasmus exchanges is a strong II.2 in Senior Freshman year, although for the more popular exchanges, competition often means higher grades are needed in practice. For some exchanges (including the United States), the minimum requirement is a solid II.1 in Senior Freshman year. Applications will be assessed with reference to Junior Freshman and Senior Freshman results at the time of application. 

If there are two students being considered for one exchange position, preference is given to the one with a better overall grade.

Students may only take an Erasmus or International Exchange with the approval of the School(s) in which they are studying. Joint Honours students can take an Erasmus through either School but only with the prior agreement of both Schools’ coordinators. Academic Registry organise some exchanges and students can alternatively go abroad through the College-Wide Exchange programme.  In this case, they must get approval from their School exchange coordinator. Students can organise their own exchanges, however, it is a very difficult and lengthy process, and they must first contact the Office of the Vice Provost.

Senior Freshman students are required to attend Trinity College during their second year as this is when the core building blocks of the discipline are learnt.

Decide whether to accept or reject the offer. If you accept, you can start choosing your modules, research your host institution, arrange accommodation, and sign the Erasmus Mobility Grant Form.

The offer is conditional on obtaining at least a strong II.2 in Senior Freshman year. 

For Joint Honours students, a strong II.2 is required in both subjects.

There is an Erasmus Mobility Grant available. The application deadline for the Grant is shortly after the Exchange Offers are made, and usually towards the end of February. Funding depends on where students attend. For questions about the grant, please contact Global.Mobility@tcd.ie.

A briefing session will be organized to outline the next steps (around Hilary Term, Week 10). It is the students’ responsibility to secure admission to modules at their chosen Exchange University and to find accommodation. This process is not organised by Trinity College. Many exchange partners now have online application processes.  If hard copy documentation is required, the responsibility is with the student to send it by post within the required deadline. The host university will typically email students directly with instructions on what to do next.

Students are responsible for organising accommodation; however, the host university will normally assist. Students should contact the host university directly if this is not already part of the online application process.

Modules should be chosen in consultation with your exchange coordinator. For Joint Honours Students, the School or Department coordinators should be consulted. You should choose equivalent modules to those studied at Trinity College, wherever possible.

• Full-Year Exchange students must register for 60 ECTS.
• Half -Year Exchange students must register for 30 ECTS.
• Joint Honours Exchange students must register for a minimum of 20 ECTS for each subject.
• There may be certain module requirements for your degree.  For example, if you are a Business and Language student, the module choice should be taken in the relevant language.
• Students should also ensure that they meet all pre-requisites for their intended Senior Sophister Module Choice. For example, if you plan to take Advances in Marketing Theory and Practice (BUU44551) in your Senior Sophister year, you must choose a marketing module while on Junior Sophister Exchange. Please see the Handbook for all pre-requisites.

Assuming you are going away for the second half of the year (Hilary Term), you chose the options exactly as though you were not going away. If your exchange is for the first half of the year (Michaelmas Term), some modules might not be available, especially in Economics.  Again, you should consult your School Exchange coordinator.

Consult the host university for a list of module options. Before you travel, you should meet with your School Exchange coordinator to get approval for your module choices and get your Learning Agreement signed. You must then submit your Learning Agreement to your Exchange coordinator and the Academic Registry.

Joint Honours students need to get approval of their module choices from both Schools and submit their Learning Agreements to both School Exchange coordinators and the Academic Registry.

For a list of Exchange University Partners with Trinity Business School, and their websites, please see here. 

A guide on grade conversion is available on the SSSP Outgoing page (this applies to exchanges in 2025/2026). Please bear in mind that this is just a guideline and other criteria such as the relevance of each module to your degree, and the level of the module taken, will also be considered in calculating your final grade for the year.