The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to impact on how we live our lives across the world. We understand that you will have questions on how the current global health pandemic will affect your application to study with us at the University of South Wales.
USW remains fully committed to welcoming international students, and we would like to reassure you that we continue to follow UK Government, Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance and carefully monitor and provide updates to keep our international community safe.
This page contains important information for offer holders and applicants intending to join our student community in January and February 2021. A full list of the courses that we will offer in January 2021 can be found here.
We understand you will have questions regarding the impact of Covid-19 on your studies and the following FAQ’s aims to address these. Whilst the FAQ’s attempt to answer as many of your questions as possible, we acknowledge that this is an evolving situation and will continue to update guidance as it becomes available from the UK Government and UKVI. Other useful resources, general advice and travel information for international students can be found via the UKCISA and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office websites. If you have a query which is not answered below, please email us at: international.admissions@southwales.ac.uk
For current USW students and staff, please refer to our central page FAQ's and updates and internal resources on Connect and Unilife.
The health, safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is of paramount importance to us. We are committed to delivering our courses, research opportunities and other services as safely as possible. The ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means that we are having to make changes to the way in which we deliver our courses and services during the academic year 2020/2021.
Your student experience is important to us and we continue to work to ensure a positive experience for you. We intend to deliver our courses in a blended format; with a proportion of the teaching and learning being delivered digitally, and where it is safe to do so, some teaching and learning being delivered in person on our campuses using social distancing and/or mitigating measures as deemed appropriate in line with government guidance.
The nature and balance of learning and teaching methods and activities are sufficiently flexible to adapt and enable you to succeed in your studies. Due to the pandemic, the methods and activities adopted for the coming year may differ from those previously published and may be subject to further change through the course of your study if such change is necessary due to public health concerns, health and safety guidance or in response to Government Guidelines. Please note that your options, studies and immigration and travel may also be impacted by Government guidelines or decisions in your home country.
Any changes to your course have been considered and approved through the University Quality Assurance processes, which include student and external scrutiny. If any further changes are necessary, we will inform you at the earliest possible opportunity.
If you need to start your studies in the new term virtually, then the University will put provisions in place to enable this. You will receive information about enrolling online and our faculty teams will provide information on your studies. For courses where there are mandatory elements of practice or practical sessions, we will work with you to do all we can to make alternative arrangements where possible. However, please note that whilst we will endeavour to make alternative arrangements, by not attending the sessions you may miss specific learning experiences. This may mean that you are not able to complete your course within the length of your visa and may need to extend it in the future. If you have any queries in relation to your visa, please contact our Immigration and International Student Advice team.
At this stage, it is difficult to predict what restrictions may be put in place in the coming weeks and months due to the rapidly evolving nature of the global health situation. For the latest advice, please see here.
If you are unable to travel to campus for the beginning of term, you will need to let the University know. Details on how to do this will be supplied in due course.
USW International and the Enquiries and Admissions team continue to support students via email, telephone and online chats.
At the moment, our recruitment team cannot travel overseas. However, we are able to provide support and information through a range of digital channels. To speak to our International Officers, please refer to our country specific pages where you will find contact information for the International Recruitment Officer responsible for your country or region.
For applicant queries, please use the dedicated live chat feature on the University of South Wales homepage to speak to our Enquiries and Admissions team.
For visa and immigration queries, please contact the Immigration and International Student Advice service either by email, on the Ask an Adviser service, or by phone on +44 (0)1443 482083. Students on campus are also able to make an appointment for a face to face meeting with the IISA team.
