LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

2019 SPRING EXCHANGE REPORT

ZHIYI TAN, LUCY BBA, OM & ACCT

2019-7-31

Monthly Activity Log

January – settle down and adjust to a new but fantastic surrounding by diverse exploration and make

acquaintance with Chinese and international friends

From Jan.8th to Jan 13th, we were guided by Lancaster University study abroad office and student

volunteers, to thoroughly got familiar with the campus environment and facilities, the course enrollment

process, the transportation and the basis of city of Lancaster, etc. To learn more about the UK, I join a city

tour to Chester organized by LU with other exchange students.

The first academic week was mostly about the introduction lecture of each module together with the

promotion of each student society. I join the Business Consultancy Society to seize the chance of conducting

a complete consulting project to a real client.

In the second week, as all my five courses require to deliver a group project at the end of a semester and

call for the formation of study group, I try to make friends with different students during classes, on one

hand for the purpose of finding suitable groupmates and on the other hand trying to expand my social circle.

In the end, it figured out that most of the close friends I had during exchange were came from my groupmates.

During the weekends, I travelled to cities nearby like Manchester, Liverpool, London and Glasgow, to

make a step in the major cities in UK and got a general sense about UK city life and society.

During the weekdays, besides attending lectures and tutorials, I also actively took part in the activities

held by departments, hall and student union. I participated in a network event where several professions and

managers from EY and KPMG London were invited. And I also attended some amusement activities like

the Hot Pot gathering with my flat-mates and quiz night in mini-bar, where British students gather together

to drink and play quiz in terms of specific themes like movies, operas, famous stars, history, etc. And every

Friday, there was a movie night organized by SU and I attend once in January. As LU had an individual

sports center, I got a membership there, trying to keep the habit of gym and swimming during study.

February – figure out the routine pattern of study and life

Everything proceeded smoothly and formed a regular pattern – at daytime, attended lectures and tutorials,

organized group meeting per week to conduct researches and gradually generated ideas, and each Wednesday

since there was a free shuttle bus from Lancaster University to Sainsbury in downtown, I together with my

flat-mate would take a bus after class to do some shopping.

And the consulting project group was also formed with 5 persons – one Germany boy as our leader and

four including me as analysts. We met the client – a Portugal man who ran his own platform on Facebook

and Instagram, and wanted to publish his original rapping works to enter the rap game. Our task was to

design marketing strategies cross different social media and raised financing ideas.

The most exciting memory for February was that my friend and I went to Glasgow to attend Troye Sivan’s

performance. But what was unexpected was that we met him at a local gallery! And he was so nice to take a

picture with us!

March – prepared for mid-term exams and reports

Lancaster University had three semesters in a year, the first of which was from Jan.8th to the end of March

and the second from end of April to end of June. Therefore, almost all the deadline for group projects and

reports as well as midterm exams were arranged in this month. My four projects were in different types but

all very interesting:

l The project for advanced management accounting required us to make managerial decisions like budget, revenue

management and motivation plans based on previous financial statistic of a university.

l The project for risk and quality management required us to apply series of principles like TOC, TQM, lean to analyze

the hospital industry and sharing economy.

l The project for Innovations in operations management required us to analyze the supply chain in airport service industry

and provide solutions for performance enhancement.

l The project for Business ethics was more challenging – we needed to debate in groups for 2 hours, 1 hour for opinion

statement and 1 hour for Q&A. The topics involved moral and humanity, especially those remained strong controversies.

My group was assigned a topic that if we should do whistleblowing. Though the preparation process was stressful and

struggling, it was worthwhile to own such a unique assessment experience.

April – Semester break and embrace wonderful experiences in EU countries

The whole April was semester break so that I travelled to four countries in total. Since my exams and

projects were finished on Mar.24th, my European travel began on Mar.25th.

l Mar.25th – Mar.27th, Belgium

l Mar.28th – Apr. 9th, Italy

l Apr.10th – Apr.17th, France

l Apr.25th – May.2nd, Spain

May – consulting project completed and concentrated on review of final exams

After two times of rehearsals, on May.9th, we finally presented to our client about our understandings of

current social media channels, audience’s behaviors and top competitors’ characteristics, and analyzed our

suggestions for him from contents, updating frequency and advertising, as well as how to get sponsorships

to reduce expenditure. It was the first time I got deep analysis on a real case and tried to propose effective

advisory.

June – finish examination and say goodbye to the unforgettable five-month journey

My last exam was finished on Jun. 11st. Time passed so fast that it was time to say goodbye. As my

internship started from Jun.13rd, I flied back to China on the night of that day. My half year of 2019 ended

up with affluent memories, friendships and experiences!

General Exchange Information

Visa Procedures

As the program lasts for less than 6 months, we are eligible to apply for the Short-term Study Visa

through online application on the GOV.UK website. When we finish the form and make online payment, we

can make an online reservation to submit the materials to the UK immigration center in Wan Chai. The

critical documents required include identity certificate (passport, HK ID card, student card, etc), official

offer from Lancaster University, official transcripts, permanent home address and bank account

statement and all the documents should be in English version. It is highly recommended to go through

the checklist on the website before you go to the immigration center to make sure you have all the required

documents ready, in case you have to make a second appointment to resubmit any missing file. In general,

it takes about 10 weekdays to receive the visa.

Orientation Activities

We have a whole orientation week at the beginning of the program, during which all the exchange students

will gather together, to get familiar with the new environments, make friends with each other and get

prepared for the new semester. Lancaster University offers the airport pick-up services on special time slots

and you can make a reservation through the official website in advance if needed.

Lancaster University study abroad team has designed a series of orientation activities that engage us into

the Lancaster family. On the first night, we were invited to have a gathering dinner to meet each other. The

first day, there were two lectures delivered by different alumni, aiming to acknowledge us about the

university, the faculties and wonderful campus life. And they held a dedicated demonstration about how to

enroll modules, how to get medical service, how to join different societies and gym center, etc.

Besides, the volunteer students also held library tour, campus tour and city tour.

International Services & Activities

Lancaster University provides adequate and considerate international services for foreign students to

help us with any difficulty or confusion. The Study Abroad Office will send all the useful information to us

through emails, like visa process, hall selection guideline, campus location and transportation guideline,

course registration demonstration, etc. And each of us was assigned an advisor, with whom we can consult

about the academic arrangement or seek for help regarding assessments, examinations and transcript issues.

On the other aspect, the student union of Lancaster University will organize wonderful gathering

activities for international students, like pub night, cross-culture forum, weekend study tours to engage us

well in Lancaster family and embrace a diverse and open culture surrounding.

Accommodations

Lancaster University will provide accommodation to all exchange students. There are eight halls in

campus, with single, double and studio (for three persons or above). Like the application method of HKUST,

we can look through the information and student comments for each hall and its rooms on LU official website

and declare three preferences in application. The price for a single/double room is ￡103 to ￡130 per week

and for studios or luxury rooms the price will be higher. I apply for the basic single room (￡103 per week)

and the living conditions are satisfactory though we share 2 washrooms and 2 bathrooms in 6. The size of a

room is around 10 to 15 ㎡, not very big but with air conditionings. And we have a common room with

complete cooking and bakery facilities. Moreover, as the local students are very talkative and friendly, we

can make acquittance with them quickly in a shared suite.

Course Registration

The course enrollment process of Lancaster University combines the online platform with the traditional

paper submission session. At first, we could see all the courses available on Moodle platform, and we can

manage the schedule for lectures and workshops (equal to tutorials). But the functions of the system are

limited – we could only know the information about the courses but we don’t know the quantities of students

in waitlist, and the final approval of our courses has to be finished in the conventional British way – we need

to fill in an official form and submit to the department officer for his or her agreement and signature.

The university arranged one morning for us exchange students to submit the application and as the

approval followed a first-come-first-serve principle, we got up early to queue in line to ensure we can enroll

into the courses we want. At the point of submission, there was a brief interview conducted by the officer

concerning about our past learning experiences in order to qualify if we were suitable for the courses we

wanted to enroll. After we got all the courses approved, we handed in the form and the system would finally

update our courses schedules. If there was no quota, we would be put in the waiting list and the system will

send us the notification after we got enrollment.

If we want to swap/drop/add modules, we need to repeat the process – re-fill a form and re-submit for

approval. Therefore, it is highly recommended to arrange our schedules and prepare several backups in

advance, otherwise the process will be annoying and uncertain!

Teaching & Assessment Methods

As for teaching methods, similar to HKUST, Lancaster University integrates lecture and tutorials. In

general, there are two lectures with one tutorial in a week. Some courses also arrange a reflection session

before the final exam, to help us review and get prepared. It is important to attend the reflection session in

case it will hand out some background materials used in the final exam! (The professor of A.CF 303

Managerial Accounting tends to send out the cases for final exam in the reflection session instead of in the

examination.)

Lancaster University attaches high importance to interaction and discussion. During the tutorials, the

instructors will hand out exercises or cases for us to discuss and they will ask each student to answer some

questions or present certain ideas. For the MSCI 382 Innovations in Operations Management, we need to

give a mini-presentation during each tutorial.

For the assessment, there are quiz, group project, individual homework, mid-term exams and final exams.

Additionally, the discussion and presentation in the tutorial will also be a part of assessment. Thus, it is not

easy if we want to get a satisfactory score as the assessment criteria are comprehensive. But one certain

standard is that the final grade for all modules is absolute-based, not curve-based and 70% or above is A

range. However, as the performance and activity take up a great percentage, we need to put on efforts to

reach the top level.

Sports & Recreation Facilities

Lancaster University has installed affluent sport and recreation facilities. There is an individual sports

center, including gym, climbing, swimming pool and various professional courses like yoga, badminton and

Zumba, etc. But they are not free and there are several types of membership programs with different

accessibility. The basic membership is ￡18 for three months, with which we have access to gym and

swimming pool in specific time. If we want to use the gym in any time or have access to more functions, the

fee will be more expensive. And those sports courses also require certain charge.

On the other hand, Lancaster University offers diverse recreation facilities and activities. There is a

Confucius Institute in campus, and forums, reading activities, discussion and debate will be organized

regularly to research and learn the excellent Confucian thoughts. In addition, there is an art center with many

artist design and work exhibited, and LU has established a culture wall where lots of paints and posters are

hung, creating wonderful cultural atmosphere. Apart from this, LU has 10 mini-bars, and many local students

will grab a drink after class, chatting and organizing quiz games (a traditional British game) together, through

which we can expand our social circles. Every week, the Student Union will send an e-mail to inform us of

all the activities the campus will hold, like mid-week gathering, exhibition, UK culture tour, etc.

Finance & Banking

For currency, in UK we use Pound but in EU countries they accept Euros. It is better to prepare enough

cash with a visa card from HK/mainland China, then choose a local bank to get a debit card. The exchange

rate of HKD to Pound is around 10:1, and I took ￡3000 to UK and saved it in bank or exchange for Euros

when needed.

Traditionally, students will go to Barclays or Santander Bank in campus to open an account. From my

personal experience, it is more convenient and beneficial to hold a Barclays Debit card as there is no

commission fee for students to open a 2-year account. And the card can be used directly when taking a bus

or subway instead of queuing in line to buy a ticket. Moreover, it can be used directly in EU countries with

3% foreign currency fee per transaction.

For the monthly expense, excluding outstanding shopping, the basic expenditure for livings will be ￡700

to ￡1000 (equal to 7000 HKD to 10000 HKD), as the price for a meal would generally be ￡5 to ￡8. But

the transportation fee is relatively expensive. If we want to travel to other cities, we have to take trains. And

one ticket from Lancaster to London (3-hour journey) costs ￡65 with student discount of 1/3 for those who

hold a Railcard. For traveling to other countries, the expense will inevitably be higher. As for me, in average

seven-day in an EU country would cost ￡700 to over ￡1000. Thus, it is important to have a clear plan for

our daily expense, especially think twice when doing shopping so that we can manage a better budget for

transportations and tours.

Social Clubs & Networking opportunities

There are over 100 societies, many of which are very interesting and unique, like adventure club, Taiji

club, etc. And I joined the business consultancy society, where I had a chance to do a project in a group of

five to provide marketing and financing strategies for a We-media platform in Lancaster.

Health & Safety

In campus, there is a clinic as well as a dental center opening from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm with emergency

line available for 24 hours. We need to make reservations for healthcare service, for emergency we also need

to call the line first and the relevant staffs will arrange for us as soon as possible with a charge of ￡25. And

there is an individual drug store for us to buy medicine directly.

The campus has created different measures to maintain the campus order and safety. At night, there is

“accompany service” where student volunteers will keep accompany with us to walk in campus if needed,

in case we are afraid of the dark environment or unfamiliar with the roads. And LU offers an emergency call

for safety assistant for 24 hours.

Food

LU has a variety of restaurants from British, Chinese, American to Indian foods. And near each

department building, there is café like costa and fast food like subway, to meet the need of grabbing some

food between classes. What’s more, the library allows us to take drinks and light food with us, and the library

itself also has a coffee machine. Two supermarkets - Sainsbury and Co-op are operated in campus, where

we can buy fresh meat and vegetables to cook.

Specially, every Thursday, several food counters will be set at the University Square, offering us lots of

local dishes, bread and dessert. Overall, we have a wide choice of food in LU.

Transportation

There are several bus lines connecting LU with city center. The schedule of each bus is fixed in UK, so

that we can exactly know when a bus will come and leave through google map. And for students’

convenience, LU student portal has gathered and showed the leaving time of all the bus departing from

campus or to campus. The price for the bus from campus to Lancaster city center is ￡2.25 for single ticket

and ￡3.1 for return ticket, taking about 20 minutes. And the train station is about 10-minute walk from city

center station.

Climate

In general, the climate of the UK is cool, with cloudy and rainy days frequent in March to May. In January

and February, it is very cold since the wind is strong, and several weeks will be snowy. The summer comes

in June, but high temperatures are infrequent due to the windy days, instead the sunset will be around 9:00

pm to 10:00 pm. Thus, it is recommended to bring enough sweaters and coats as the low temperature below

15℃ will last from January till May. Also, umbrellas are necessary as it rains unpredictably. Short pants and

short-sleeve shirts will be needed only after late May.

Communication

The British accent is very standard for us to understand and sounds really charming. So, there is no worry

that we fail to understand what professors are talking. In daily life, British people are very polite, and they

tend to explain in a slow speed when they face Asian people like us. And they tend to greet us in smile when

meeting on the way, even if you are strangers. The distance among people is very close, as it is very common

that passengers will talk to each other on a bus and train as the first meet.

Cautionary measures

In UK, it is important to be careful at night, as most of the stores are closed and there are few people

outside after 8:00pm. Also, be careful at the China Town as there are some potential thefts. But overall, the

safety in UK is well-maintained.

Items to Bring

Articles of daily use: clothing, hair dryer, hanger, umbrella, UK charge, lotions (the climate is relatively

dry), slipper (even in hotels, many won’t provide one-off slippers), cooker if needed

Finance: cash in pounds and euros (optional), visa card

Document: passport, ID card, offer letter from Lancaster University, Permission Letter from Lancaster

University (required to show at the immigration port)

Academic: stationery, calculators, dictionary (useful in exams)

Useful Links & Contacts

l Official website

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/

l General information about exchange to Lancaster University

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/international-students/visiting-students/

l Lancaster University study abroad office e-mail

studyabroad@lancaster.ac.uk