NUS is very different to my home university (University of Manchester). It's so green here! I love how coming back to halls in UTown makes me feel like I am on vacation - not everyone can say they have an infinity pool only a few steps away.

Focusing on the academic side, perhaps the biggest difference is the way of teaching. I am in the business school and here all my modules are seminar-style taught. We are only a maximum of 40 in a class and have to contribute in discussions (it is graded!). Professors know you and address you by your name while in Manchester, professors may recognise you but rarely know you by name unless you make yourself known. We have seminars but mainly, we are taught via lectures (could be 400+ people) so you do not get the immediate contact with professors. Back there, it is up to the student to be self-motivating as you are expected to work independently. Homework is not graded you self-mark it in seminars while here, we have weekly graded assignments in an attempt to keep you working throughout the semester. Another apparent difference is that professors know who's work they are marking but in the UK, to avoid potential 'preferential treatment', our names are not to be revealed to the marker.

My life here is different to back in Manchester. Firstly, I have more free time since I cannot cook in halls at NUS and have less contact hours. Secondly, because of the sunny weather, I am up to much more everyday. Transport is cheap and convenient which is a major plus. I really love it here - it reminds me a little of what my life was like back in Spain before I started university.

Joyce, from University of Manchester (UK), currently on exchange at National University of Singapore

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