brits1

Hi,

I just wanted some help if at all possible in regards to info on studying for a Sports P.E degree at a Spanish Uni. My friends are moving to Spain (work will be based outside of Spain) so are looking at various areas but mainly want to be a "nice" 30/40 mind drive from a City, Valencia seems to be one of the Favorites at the moment, their main problem is that their youngest Son is wanting to go and live with them in Spain (really wanting to...bless)but also wants to start Uni this September, I suggested he can either live with us and visit our friends often and visa versa or I would try and find out from this wonderful site if there are any possibilities that he could study a Sports, Physical Education Degree in Spain, he does not speak Spanish (is keen to learn asap) but I do know a few of our Sons friends are off to studying overseas in Countries that do not speak English as a first language. My friend and I have goggled and phoned Uni's here in the UK and Spain but are not having any luck. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

noelrosie

Our daughter did a year abroad at University of Sevilla as part of her degree (Hispanic Studies with English) from Kings College, London. ALL tuition was in Spanish, and no allowance was made for the fact that when the 'Erasmus' students (i.e. those from UK universities, doing their 'year abroad') took the end-of-year exams, they were already at a disadvantage due to the fact that Spanish was not their mother-tongue.
Consider carefully whether your son would be able to obtain a good degree if he was tested alongside Spaniards, especially as he currently has no knowledge of Spanish at all? And in Valencia, there is also the possibility that some of the teaching will be in Valenciano, which is very different from the Spanish he will learn here in UK

cricketman

My wife did the same but with the Erasmus year in the UK. That's when we met She was also tested alongside fellow Brits so the language skills are critical

There are a few private universities in Spain that have courses in English, to attract fee paying students mainly outside the EU, but they are very expensive - and the main 2 are in Barcelona and Madrid

brits1

Many thanks to you both for the replies, I will let my friend know, could I just ask which Uni's in Barcelona and Madrid offer the courses in English, my friend would pay for her Sons fee's especially if they are cheaper than the 9,000+ her Sons course will cost per year here in the UK.

rspltd

I think you'll find it's only the better Universities that will cost £9000+ and even this is an exaggeration. For a 'sports' degree it will be much cheaper.

steviedeluxe

Various recommendations for studying in Europe here (includes Barcelona and Granada)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...e-for-students

Other articles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...n-universities
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...europe-no-debt

I may be corrected but whereas the business schools (which have a very good world wide reputation) may offer courses in English, the majority of Universities (if not all) still stick 100% to Spanish.

brits1

Thank you for all the replies, I have passed the info on to my friend...our youngest Son will start his sport's degree at MMU and his course fee's are 9,000 per year also our oldest Son is at Derby Uni (going in to his 3rd year)and his course will now cost students (double sports degree) and other sports Degrees are 9,000.

rspltd

I can only go by Derby's site which quotes £7,545 for most sports degrees. Similarly MMU quotes £8000 for Sports Management for example.

cricketman

Has anyone with a sports degree ever been able to get a job in sports?

My cousin has one and works in a bar, luckily it was pre the enourmous fees

So, 8k * 3 years plus say 5k per year living costs = £36k for a sports degree?

Someone would be better off to go travelling round the world for 3 years, or maybe go and help out in a 3rd world country, it would look better on their CV

Btw, this isnt a criticism of the student, but of the government fees

Domino

we had a girl receptionist who had a degree in Modern Dance - eventually went off to teach dancing to 9year olds.
there are a number of "degrees" that are under review as being a waste of time.
but it does prove the individual has been able to study, learn, remember, acheive a certain standard (whatever that is) etc which is a good basis for the rest of their lives.

lynnxa

one summer I did some refuerza with a Spanish guy who was studying to be an English teacher here in Spain

he was clearly totally uninterested in both the language & the teaching of it, so I naturally asked him why he was studying it

he told me that he really wanted to be a sports teacher, but that his bachi/selectividad grades hadn't been good enough & the only teaching course he could get on to was English

whether that shows that a sports teaching degree is held in high esteem here, or that English is low priority I'm not sure

jackytoo

I spent a year in universidad de Sevilla and no way could anyone manage without a decent level of Spanish. Not just the language the whole system is/was different. If you are in Spain as part of your UK degree this is taken into account.

There are some really useless degrees now. They should charge extra for them and subsidise the serious vocational ones such as medicine, science etc. Many Unis offer islamic studies to attract students ie money from overseas and I am sure they won't be a shortage of local applicants either

noelrosie

Depends which UK University sends you to Spain as part of your degree course. Our daughter and two friends went from Kings College London and they were expected to sit the exams that the Spanish students took, and no allowance was made for the fact that Spanish was not their native language.
Other students studying at Sevilla on the Erasmus scheme from Warwick University, did not have to sit the exams in Spain but had to write an account of their year abroad when they got back to UK!
Our daughter and her friends passed each year in UK (3 of them) with '1st class' marks, but failed the year abroad (based on the marks they acheived in Spain). However they were all allowed to continue to complete their final year in UK and ended up with 2:1's.
My advice would be when choosing a university to study a language degree, to check whether you are required to take exams in the host country during your year abroad, and if so, do they count towards your final mark!

Lynn R

The daughter of some Norwegian acquaintances of ours who have a holiday home near us spent a year studying at Granada University as part of her degree. Before she started, she spent the long summer holiday taking intensive Spanish lessons (and I do mean intensive, about six hours a day every day) at a local language school whilst staying at her parents' holiday home. I imagine that wasn't cheap.

jackytoo

Yes Rosie, good points there Totally different when I went as I am older, I had to work part of the time. I worked in a bank for 3 months...well I hung around