Study + Internship in London: University of Westminster

The University of Westminster is organized into three colleges. Each college is divided into Schools specializing in various academic and professional disciplines. Because of the commute between each college, CEA CAPA and the University of Westminster strongly encourage you to choose courses offered on a maximum of two colleges and preferably plan to visit only one college per day.

College: College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries
Schools: School of Architecture and Cities, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Westminster School of Arts, Westminster School of Media and Communications

College: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Schools: School of Humanities, School of Life Sciences, School of Social Sciences, Westminster Law School

College: Westminster Business School
Schools: School of Applied Management, School of Finance and Accounting, School of Management and Marketing, School of Organizations, Economy and Society

Choosing Your Courses

Step One

International Internship and Full Curriculum
Click here to view the University of Westminster courses. Please refer to the “How to choose your modules/classes for the semester” * section for program information and specific instructions if selecting any Media, Arts & Design courses Once finished, scroll down to “Module Catalogues” section to see a list organized by schools at the University of Westminster.
*Disregard the Application Form. As a CEA CAPA student you will have access to the Westminster Application form on your Student Portal.

Step Two:

Click on the appropriate Semester (Semester 1= Fall and Semester 2= Spring) under the school in which you are interested in taking classes. In each school section you will find an introduction to the school and a list of all the modules that the school offers to study abroad students. This list will tell you the module (class) code, the title of the module, the level of the module (which corresponds to the order of modules as they appear in the catalogue), the semester that it runs, the number of credits attached to the module and US/ECTS credit equivalency. For example:

BIOCHEMISTRY 3BCM401
3BCM401 Biochemistry Level 4 Semester 1 UK Credits 20 US Credits 4 / ECTS Credits 10

      3BCM401 Biochemistry Semester 1 Level 4 Credit 15

At the University of Westminster, modules are validated at a level corresponding to a particular year of study (with the exception of modules from the Department of Polylang, which are graded in accordance with language advancement). The levels are as follows:

• Level 4, which is equivalent to the 1st year of an undergraduate degree
• Level 5, which is equivalent to the 2nd year of an undergraduate degree
• Level 6, which is equivalent to the 3rd year of an undergraduate degree

Some modules at Level 5 and Level 6 may have pre-requisites requiring students to have already completed specific modules or equivalents at a lower level. As a study abroad student, you are not expected to have taken the specific pre-requisite requirement, but you must have studied a relevant or similar course/module in your home country/institution.

Some modules have co-requisites, which mean that the module and the co-requisite must be taken at the same time. If no pre-requisites or co-requisites are specified, then modules should be open to all students. However, you should take previous academic experience into account when making module choices. For example, you should not be thinking about taking a Level 6 Politics module if you have never studied the subject area or have only taken one introductory class in the subject area. Westminster students taking a Level 6 Politics module will have specialized in Political Science for at least two years, meaning that subject area knowledge along with relevant research and analytical skills will be advanced. Typically, these students will also be seeking a degree in Political Science. With regard to Level 4 modules, some will be introductory and designed for beginners, but it is important to be aware that most Level 4 modules will require some previous knowledge of the subject area. This is because UK students tend to study subjects at university that they specialized in during their final three years of high school (i.e. Levels 1-3).

To reiterate, you will not be approved for Level 6 modules without extensive experience in that area of study. If there is a Pre-requisite or Co-requisite requirement, it will be specified under the module title.

Please Note: Students participating in a year program will fill out courses for ONLY the Fall semester on their Westminster Application Form or Westminster Internship Application Form. They will register for Spring courses once onsite. However, year students do need to get 8 courses for the Spring semester approved before arriving in London

For internship students: Even though you take 2-3 courses along with the internship, Westminster requires that you get 6 courses approved, 3 first-choice and 3 alternate. The internship is NOT GUARANTEED until you are onsite and have met with the company. Therefore, you will already have a full load of courses approved if anything occurs that causes you to not participate in the internship.

Students normally take the equivalent of 60 to 80 UK credits (12-16 US credits) per semester. This means that students typically take 3 or 4 modules per semester at Westminster, as the majority of modules are worth 20 UK credits (4 US credits) each. However, keep in mind that the final say on how many credits you will receive is up to your university. Remember, if you wish to select Practice/Practical classes from the School of Media, Arts and Design, you are required to include a portfolio of your work with your application. This should consist of color photocopies, slides or photographs, etc. representing your level and suitability for the modules you are requesting.

Housing & Courses: Housing is based on the campus(es) at which you will attend class. If you have two or more classes at the Harrow Campus, then you will be housed at the Harrow Halls of Residence on Harrow Campus. If you have only one course at Harrow Campus or none at all, you will be housed in one of the central London Halls of Residence. If you have two classes at Harrow and two at a Central London campus, you will be housed at Harrow. Please note that the Harrow Campus and Hall are 30 minutes north of Central London. If you are housed at Harrow but have two classes at any of the Central London campuses, you will have to travel back and forth at your expense. If you don’t mind the commute and cost, then this option would be fine; however, students often find that it is too much to coordinate.

Also, if you are allocated housing at Harrow but change your course schedule after arrival to include only or mostly courses held at the central London campuses (or vice versa), you will not be able to change housing.

Courses and their corresponding campuses can be determined by looking at Westminster’s website.

Step Three:

Submit your University of Westminster Application Form, including course selections and alternates, to the CEA CAPA headquarters office. This form, in addition to your official transcript and other application materials, will be forwarded to the University of Westminster for course pre-registration purposes. Final registration will take place once you arrive in London.

Step Four:

You will notice that no timetable information is available on the Westminster website. At this point, you are pre-registering for courses and getting your courses approved in order to be accepted at the university. Upon arrival you will go through an extensive Orientation and registration period with the University of Westminster International Office. Your course schedule will be finalized at that point.

If you have further questions regarding how to select courses or about the CEA CAPA program at the University of Westminster in London, please contact a CEA CAPA Student Advisor at 1-800-266-4441.