Travel for free? This is something I wish I knew about a lot earlier. You can receive funding to go abroad – although taking a gap-year to travel might be difficult for those seeking to start their career ASAP, there are many options to seek funding for 3 month stints abroad.
While Oxford is nice and comfortable, being overseas can be immensely rewarding. It’s a refreshed environment, new networks and valuable experiences that you can import to your daily life. When finances are taken care of, you can truly focus on being an intrepid explorer.
I won’t comment on specific grants, because these change from year to year. This is the page which lists the different grants available.
Study abroad programmes tend to require justification as to why you need to study in that particular country. That said, don’t be afraid to apply just because you don’t perceive a strong need. My understanding is that the university does realise the transformational power of studying abroad and may be receptive to your case.
There are college-specific grants as well, which will depend on how generous your college is. Again, I won’t go into which colleges have this because of how frequently this changes – but as an example, Christchurch in 2024/2025 offered a Travel Grant. It’ll be best to check your college website/reach out to your bursar for this – just a casual email/chat if the college supports any overseas travel.
Other travel opportunities if you don’t get a grant
There are external programs that are outside of the University. Some universities in the USA host summer school, though these can be rather pricey. Look for scholarships that these universities may offer – you might also want to write in directly to enquire.
Other opportunities include training programmes where you go abroad to serve as a tutor or volunteer. A friend of mine went for Gotoco TEFL Adventures and shared positive reviews about his trip to Thailand as a teacher.
If you are just looking to travel for leisure over one or two weeks, do book early. There are opportunities historically, though rare, that the Eurostar gives fantastic discounts. Without a discount though, the train tends to be multitudes more expensive than flying. It’s a travesty in this age of climate consciousness, but hey, I’m a broke university student so I can’t pay for exorbitant train rides run by a monopoly. It goes without saying that Ryanair is dirt cheap, but please remember to add in the cost of travel to Stansted airport from Oxford. – the four hour journey can cost more than your flight ticket.
Finally, friends don’t let friends forget about the UK/EC261, a regulation which governs compensation when an airline lets you down. If your flight is delayed by a certain timeframe or is cancelled, you are entitled to claim a wondrous amount of compensation. At one point, my flight was delayed by more than 6 hours and I ended up with a replacement flight, compensated meals as well as more than £200.
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