Students based in England, Scotland and Wales
You should register your interest in IAESTE during the autumn term by completing the registration form on our website. Provided you are eligible your name and address will be entered on a mailing list. You must complete the registration form by our 10December deadline. After the IAESTE exchange conference in January those on the mailing list will receive details of all foreign offers of training available to UK students. This catalogue of placements will be issued by February 1st.
Applicants will have until 19 February to apply for positions on the list . You will be required to submit a CV, full course details, and a reference letter from an academic tutor. You will be asked to select five of the listed foreign IAESTE placements in order of priority and to support your choices by short paragraphs explaining why you are interested in those particular training offers.
Inevitably demand will be greater than the supply of training offers. Selection panels will view all applications and one student will be chosen per placement according to qualifications, previous practical experience, language abilities, level of interest and general suitability for the position. Every effort will be made to strike a regional balance between applicants from throughout the UK .
At the end of this selection process, one UK student will have been chosen for each foreign training offer available. But it will still be necessary for IAESTE UK to nominate the selected student for the placement through liaison with the receiving IAESTE Committee. 31 March is the international IAESTE deadline for sending nominations abroad. Before or by 12 March , provided you have been selected for nomination, the actual offer form detailing the placement you have been chosen for will be sent to you. You will be asked to complete a nomination form and to return this with a £60 (plus VAT) placement fee (refundable if you are not accepted or circumstances force the foreign employer to withdraw from the programme). IAESTE UK will then forward your completed application to the IAESTE office in the host country; it will be their responsibility to liaise with the employer and ascertain whether you have been accepted.
Because of the stringent matching process and the fact that ultimately only one student may be nominated for a foreign placement, at least 95% of IAESTE nominees are accepted by foreign employers. If offers are withdrawn this is usually due to economic recession or unforeseen reorganisation within companies. Most applicants will be informed by late April/early May whether they have been accepted, at which point IAESTE will advise them on the need for visas, work permits, and other relevant documentation.
Summary of Important Dates:
11 December: Deadline for completing online application form
1 February: Date of issue of document listing all training offers available
19 February: Deadline for return of full application with priority list of 5 foreign placements
12 March: Date by which IAESTE UK will notify you if you have been selected for nomination for a placement abroad
31 March: International deadline for sending completed nominations to IAESTE member countries abroad.
April/May: Period in which you will be notified if the foreign employer has accepted you.