Once again I must apologise for the delay in posting. I’ve been extrememly busy organising and planning for my move to Germany! For my placement year I will be going to the Max Planck Institute for Human and Cognitive Brain Sciences in Leipzig.

At Cardiff you have the option of doing a 4 year course instead of a 3 year course. In your 3rd year you can go on placement and work in loads of amazing places. These placements entail everything from research facilities like Max Planck to positions in schools, universities, and hospitals in institutions all over the world. Companies and facilities all over Europe as well as in the US and Canada provide placements so they really are a great way of gaining experience.These placements allow students to gain experience in an established and active environment and pursue a specific field of psychology. A full list of placements are made available when the application period begins but students are also encouraged to seek out their own placements.

As I’ve clearly been so unorganised I thought it might be a good idea to pass on some advice to you guys that I should have taken looking back!

1. Be aware of the housing situation. Whilst looking for a flat to rent I realised that in Germany most flats are unfurnished and an awful lot of them don’t even have fitted kitchens…so what I thought would be a pretty quick search turned into me desperately searching for somewhere with a kitchen! It is not fun to still be searching for a flat a month or so before your placement begins. So my advice here is start making yourself aware of the housing situation in the country or city your moving to, even before you know if you have the placement. You don’t have to do loads of research, just make sure you have an idea of the price and availability. It will save you a lot of stress. For those of you moving to Germany in the future wg-gesucht.de is a great website to find flats!

2. Make sure your passport doesn’t expire during your stay! This seems obvious but it is very easy to forget about when you’re attempting to organise a million other things.

3. If you take medication for something, make sure you try to have a large supply with you. Again it will save you a lot of stress when you’re getting settled. You won’t have to worry about getting prescriptions immediately!

4. Definitely find out if you’re eligible for the Erasmus+ scheme.

5. Speak to your bank and find out how much it will cost you to use your card abroad. If it’s going to cost you a lot you may have to look into getting a bank account in the country you’re moving to.

6. The same applies with mobiles! I know that in my contract I can call and text the UK from Germany so that isn’t a problem! Some contracts however don’t include this, and you will end up paying a fortune just to send a text.

7. Check the laws. Again this will save you so much trouble. Make sure you have a google and find a quick guide to the laws where you are moving.

Please message me if you have any questions 🙂

Again I am so sorry for the late post, I was very busy lugging three suitcases through airports and train stations!

Once again I must apologise for the delay in posting. I’ve been extrememly busy organising and planning for my move to Germany! For my placement year I will be going to the Max Planck Institute for Human and Cognitive Brain Sciences in Leipzig.

At Cardiff you have the option of doing a 4 year course instead of a 3 year course. In your 3rd year you can go on placement and work in loads of amazing places. These placements entail everything from research facilities like Max Planck to positions in schools, universities, and hospitals in institutions all over the world. Companies and facilities all over Europe as well as in the US and Canada provide placements so they really are a great way of gaining experience.These placements allow students to gain experience in an established and active environment and pursue a specific field of psychology. A full list of placements are made available when the application period begins but students are also encouraged to seek out their own placements.

As I’ve clearly been so unorganised I thought it might be a good idea to pass on some advice to you guys that I should have taken looking back!

1. Be aware of the housing situation. Whilst looking for a flat to rent I realised that in Germany most flats are unfurnished and an awful lot of them don’t even have fitted kitchens…so what I thought would be a pretty quick search turned into me desperately searching for somewhere with a kitchen! It is not fun to still be searching for a flat a month or so before your placement begins. So my advice here is start making yourself aware of the housing situation in the country or city your moving to, even before you know if you have the placement. You don’t have to do loads of research, just make sure you have an idea of the price and availability. It will save you a lot of stress. For those of you moving to Germany in the future wg-gesucht.de is a great website to find flats!

2. Make sure your passport doesn’t expire during your stay! This seems obvious but it is very easy to forget about when you’re attempting to organise a million other things.

3. If you take medication for something, make sure you try to have a large supply with you. Again it will save you a lot of stress when you’re getting settled. You won’t have to worry about getting prescriptions immediately!

4. Definitely find out if you’re eligible for the Erasmus+ scheme.

5. Speak to your bank and find out how much it will cost you to use your card abroad. If it’s going to cost you a lot you may have to look into getting a bank account in the country you’re moving to.

6. The same applies with mobiles! I know that in my contract I can call and text the UK from Germany so that isn’t a problem! Some contracts however don’t include this, and you will end up paying a fortune just to send a text.

7. Check the laws. Again this will save you so much trouble. Make sure you have a google and find a quick guide to the laws where you are moving.

Please message me if you have any questions 🙂

Again I am so sorry for the late post, I was very busy lugging three suitcases through airports and train stations!