Funded by the Government’s Turing Scheme, fifteen students studying BA (Hons) Health & Social Care were selected for this experience, and between 26^th March and 23^rd April they will be studying and living in the beautiful city of Gothenburg.

The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s programme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world, ensuring that students who would not normally have the opportunity to study abroad are able to.

During their trip, Bedfordshire’s students will be hosted by the University of Gothenburg’s Social Work Department – a team with which the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has a long and established relationship. While in Sweden, the students will be completing their dissertations and will be studying a wide range of topics, all comparing health and social care provision in Sweden with that of the UK.

The fifteen students will also be experiencing lectures and learning alongside Swedish social work students from the University of Gothenburg, as well as being given the opportunity to visit social care settings across the city.

Ahead of the students’ travels, staff from the School of Applied Social Sciences hosted a special event at the University of Bedfordshire’s Luton campus to wish them well on their trip. It featured presentations, some delicious Swedish food and a language lesson to help give the students a taste of Scandinavian culture.

Social science academics, Dr Nenadi Adamu and Dr Anja Finger, will be accompanying the students abroad. About the opportunity, Dr Adamu said: "As a course team, we are excited that our students have this opportunity to experience learning and life in a different country, while gaining knowledge about the health and social care system.

“By linking the trip to a graded piece of work, they will be able to see the result of their efforts with the grades they receive. This promises to be a life-changing experience for us all and we are looking forward to it."

Dr Louise Grant, Executive Dean of Health & Social Sciences, hopes that this Turing Scheme trip will be a successful experience for everyone involved, so that it can be repeated and help benefit the next cohort of final year students.

Dr Grant added: “We are really excited that our students will have the opportunity to learn about social care and social work in Sweden. We are thankful to the University of Gothenburg for all their support in making this happen and I know our students will have an exciting and fulfilling time which will prepare them for employment upon graduating.”