As a parent or guardian, you’ll want to ensure that your child feels confident and well-prepared for their study abroad experience.
We hope that this page addresses any questions you may have about our international study abroad programmes and the support Queen Mary provides.
We have over 30 years’ experience of welcoming students from across the globe to study with us on short term programmes and our students and staff represent 162 nationalities worldwide, so you can be confident that your child will thrive under our care and have an outstanding study abroad experience at Queen Mary.
Your child will be studying at a prestigious UK university with expert staff working on the latest developments in their field, who have an enthusiasm for communicating the latest research, meaning that our teaching always reflects the latest discoveries in your child’s chosen subject area.
Queen Mary has an international reputation for academic excellence: we are a member of the Russell Group, which represents 24 leading UK universities. In the most recent UK assessment of research – the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) – Queen Mary was ranked 9th in the UK among multi-faculty universities and 5th in the UK for the percentage of our 3* and 4* research outputs Times Higher Education).
The University of London is a federation of 18 institutions with outstanding global reputations. These institutions – of which Queen Mary is one – are considered universities in their own right. Their students are also University of London students, making them part of a wide and cosmopolitan student community.
Queen Mary is one of the biggest University of London institutions. Our students have access not only to our own rich archives and resources but also to the University of London’s central facilities.
In addition to being automatic members of our Students’ Union, QMSU, our students are also part of Student Central (the University of London students' union and the largest student union in the UK), which brings them many social, cultural and financial benefits.
Queen Mary consistently scores highly in the National Student Survey (NSS) for student satisfaction. The NSS is an annual survey of final-year students at most UK universities. Its results can be seen on the Discover Uni website. Queen Mary does well in this survey, with students consistently giving their courses and lecturers high ratings. In the most recent survey, Queen Mary ranked highest in London for nine subjects.
Queen Mary is also well-regarded by its peers and prospective graduate employers:
We are the only member of the University of London to have a large self-contained residential campus in the capital. Our leafy Mile End campus is a 15-minute underground ride from central London. It is a comfortable, safe environment (for example, our student accommodation has 24-hour Security Service and Residence support). To find out more about campus life, our local community and accommodation at Queen Mary, browse through our Student Experience section.
Take a virtual tour of our campus.
While London is an expensive city to live in, there are many financial benefits to living here as a student. We also provide your child with advice on London living costs and expenses before they join us, so they feel confident budgeting and managing their finances independently.
Our Advice and Counselling Service has lots of useful information about student budgets.
For more information on our tuition fees, please see our Fees and Finances page.
We aim to make your child feel like part of the Queen Mary community from the moment they accept our offer of a place:
Full details of the term dates for the next academic year can be found in our Key Dates section.
At the start of term and throughout the academic year some of our students’ parents travel to the UK to visit their children. Our Residential Services and Support provide a list of local hotels. Alternatively, you may want to stay in a central London hotel, which will usually be no more than a 20-minute journey from our campus.
Queen Mary academic and International Office staff make over 50 overseas visits per year to meet prospective students and their parents. Where possible, we are happy to answer any questions you have face to face. You can find out details of our forthcoming visits to your region on our overseas calendar, or contact study-abroad@qmul.ac.uk to find out if we will be visiting your child’s university.
At Queen Mary, we take pride in providing a friendly, welcoming and secure campus environment in which our students can thrive both academically and socially. Most students have a trouble-free time at university, but it is reassuring to know that we offer a comprehensive support network that could be a real help to your son or daughter. No matter what the problem, there is always someone they can turn to for help and advice:
You can be assured that your child will receive the same pastoral support and care from us as a full-degree Queen Mary student.