UWTSD BA Outdoor Education Students study in Norway thanks to Turing funding

Four students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) BA Outdoor Education course are currently studying in Norway for a semester after being funded by the Turing Scheme.

The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s scheme designed to offer global mobility opportunities for 35,000 students annually.

Rachel Walker, Darcey Beak, Hal Harvey and Thomas Cheesey were successful with their application, and are currently the first students from UWTSD funded by the Turing scheme to study at the University of South-Eastern Norway. One of the students, Rachel Walker said,

“We applied internally at UWTSD to start with to show our interest and then we had an interview with one of our lecturers and the international officer to make sure we knew what we were signing up for. Once we were selected, we applied to USN and then got going with all the preparation.”

The students will be studying out in Norway for the duration of the spring semester, from January until June. Student Thomas Cheesey added: “My first impression of Norway is how beautiful the natural features and seemingly endless the forests and lakes are. I hope to get a better and more diverse understanding of surviving and enjoying in different natural environments.”

According to Rachel this experience will: “help me gain a different perspective and see how things are being done differently somewhere else will always be beneficial to learning. Adding variety to your education by studying elsewhere enable you to think differently and learn in ways you might not at home – not just for academic studies, but also for life.”

These students hope to gain outdoors experience in a completely new environment in order to take back to the UK the things that they have learned from those experiences. They hope to develop a different set of skills that will make them better outdoor educators and expand their connections with people internationally.

Student Darcey Beak said: “I hope that this experience will help me prepare for working in the outdoors in an extremely practical way. I hope that it will help me to learn how to survive and thrive in winter conditions as I hope one day that these experiences will help me to start my own outdoor business back at home.”

As Rachel slowly settles into Norwegian life, she said,

“Norway is pretty wonderful so far. The culture of well-being and friluftsliv (outdoor life) is everywhere and it feels very homely. Everyone here is incredibly friendly and will be happy to help you out; there’s an air of compassion and social responsibility here that the UK could really learn from. And the views are also spectacular.”

Kath Griffiths, International Regional Manager (North America and Outward mobility) said: “We encourage UWTSD students to undertake International opportunities. Whether it is for short term mobility or for a semester. We have excellent long-standing partnerships throughout the world, and I encourage all students to take up this fantastic opportunity. Not only will it give students a fantastic educational opportunity, but it is also life-changing. We also support our students throughout the whole process.

For more information on International Opportunities, please visit: International. 

Further Information

Lowri Thomas

Principal Communications and PR Officer     
Corporate Communications and PR     
Email: lowri.thomas@uwtsd.ac.uk     
Phone: 07449 998476