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Travel while you learn at this European business school

Criss-crossing Europe, soaking up new cultures and grasping foreign languages are all rites of passage often associated with a backpacking adventure. But what if you could do all this whilst getting a world-class education? At ESCP Europe, these opportunities and more are there for ambitious business school students.

Published: 7 June 2018 08:47 CEST
Travel while you learn at this European business school
Students at ESCP Europe spend a year in Berlin. Photo: Photocreo/Depositphotos

Since 1819, ESCP Europe has been the training ground for generations of students preparing to enter the world of management. Europe’s first business school continues to attract students from all around the world who are eager for an international undergraduate experience.

German native Ayleen, who is in the final year of the BSc Bachelor in Management course, ESCP’s only undergraduate degree, studied at the business school’s campuses in London, Madrid and Berlin.

“My favourite part of the bachelor programme was the community. We got to meet in London and we grew together as a group; we help each other out and all study together,” she says.

Apply for ESCP’s Bachelor in Management degree course starting in September 2018

The Bachelor in Management (BSc) provides students with the opportunity to study at three different campuses over the course of the three-year programme. With campuses in London, Paris, Turin, Berlin and Madrid, the programme is an all-encompassing business education with a focus on language skills, liberal arts and personal development.

The cutting-edge undergraduate programme was launched in 2015, with the first set of graduates due to complete their studies later this year. There are classes in study, methodological and research skills in addition to training and workshops to improve oral and communication skills.

Students can also step outside the business environment with subjects such as psychology and sociology that complement your newly acquired business acumen.

Key to the programme’s appeal is that it provides the best of both worlds by enabling students to experience intercultural management first hand in diverse European cities, while at the same time providing an immersive environment in which to learn or improve language skills.

“My advice to a new student at ESCP Europe would be to make the most of your experience. Go and discover new places! Talk to the locals, use your language skills and enjoy living in three different countries,” enthuses Ayleen.

Language, as well as personal development, are fundamental to the ethos of the Bachelor in Management (BSc) programme. The knock on effect of living and studying in different locations has been a positive one for Swedish native Erik Olsen, who also studied in London, Madrid and Berlin.

“I feel a change in a very positive way; I’ve become more open to myself and to other people and I am way better at creating relations,” says Erik.

He adds, “I am better at socialising because we have small classes, which gives you the opportunity to get to know people better and also you can talk to professors directly. These are aspects that for me are quite important for my future professional career.”

The truly international nature of the Bachelor in Management (BSc) programme keeps things fresh and engaging for the students.

Apply for ESCP’s Bachelor in Management degree course starting in September 2018

For example, all students are required to move to a new country each year and there are language lessons provided so students can get a better grasp of the local tongue of where they are currently living. Students can also get up to speed on the language of where they will study next.

With multilingual business professionals always in demand, the potential to become proficient in three new languages by the end of the course is one that is appealing to students such as Ayleen and Erik.

The meticulously designed curriculum ensures that the students can continue studying at the same school while simultaneously embracing a new lifestyle and culture in their adopted city.

Having got a taste of the international way of life, Erik Olsen intends to continue exploring once he graduates later this year from the Bachelor in Management (BSc) programme. And he attributes his new-found wanderlust to the educational experience he has gained over the last three years.

“I’ve applied for several internships all around the world from LA to New York, Mexico, São Paulo, London and Madrid. I think I have applied to all these places because ESCP (Europe) has really opened me up to travelling all over the world.”

This article was written by The Local Creative Studio and sponsored by ESCP Europe Business School.

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STUDYING IN SPAIN

EBAU: What you need to know about Spain’s university entrance exams

High school students in Spain who want to go to university need to take the EBAU entrance exam, or ‘la selectividad’ as it’s known. This is what it consists of and the changes authorities are looking to implement.

Published: 1 March 2024 09:28 CET
EBAU: What you need to know about Spain's university entrance exams

Depending where you’re from, the Spanish university entrance process could be a little different from in your home country. In Spain, most students take the EBAU entrance exam, or la selectividad as it’s usually referred to.

The EBAU is pretty different from taking SATs in the U.S, for example, or A-Levels in the UK. The system has also gone through some changes in recent years, and will be altered again for the 2024/25 academic school year.

What is the Selectividad?

The Bachillerato Evaluation for University Entrance (EBAU), is a series of exams taken by bachillerato students (literally meaning ‘baccalaureate’, the final two years of high school in Spain, similar to A-Levels in the UK) to test the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired in their post-compulsory education.

As students can leave school at 16 years old in Spain, most students taking the EBAU are between 16-18 years old and their main objective is to gain access to university.

Is it the same everywhere?

Not exactly. There are some slight differences in terms of how long the EBAU exam period is, but it’s usually just a matter of days and most regions do it over 3 or 4 days.

Equally, for regions where there’s a ‘co-official’ language, such as Galicia, Valencia, Catalonia and the Basque Country, there’re also extra exam sections testing them.

How is it structured?

The EBAU is split into two parts: general and specific, sometimes referred to as obligatoria and voluntaria.

The general phase is made up of four or five different exams, depending on the region, and tests students’ knowledge and understanding of three or four compulsory subjects as well as one specialist subject taken in the second year of bachillerato.

This part includes sections on Spanish language and literature, the history of Spain, a foreign language (usually one of English, French, German, Italian or Portuguese, depending on the languages offered in each region) plus any regional languages in said region, such as Catalan or Basque, if applicable, and then a section based on the student’s module choice from one of arts, humanities and social sciences, mathematics and science.

The specific part of the EBAU allows students to choose any of the subjects they have studied during their bachillerato, up to a maximum of four (except in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Navarre, where a maximum of three subjects are allowed).

The specific section of the exam is an opportunity for students to increase their marks, and they can choose their best subjects regardless of the bachillerato pathway they have chosen.

READ ALSO: Selectividad: The changes to high school exams in Spain

Marking and grades

The EBAU is graded differently depending on the section. In the general part, each of the exams is marked from 0-10 to three decimal places.

The final mark is the average of these scores. In order to pass this phase, the minimum mark must be equal to or higher than 4/10.

For the specific section, each of the subjects is also graded from 0-10, but in this case only two decimal places are added. To pass, you must have a score equal to or higher than five.

In the EBAU, the marks obtained during the bachillerato course (60 percent) and the general phase (40 percent) are added together for a total score of 10. The exams for the specific modules are graded separately, depending on the pathway and chosen degree course. As such, it is possible to reach a maximum score of 14 points overall.

Changes coming up

The Spanish government announced some changes to the EBAU process last year. Though they were initially slated to come into force for the 2023/24 school year, this has since been pushed back by a year.

READ ALSO: Spanish government to create new university entrance exams

The key changes are as follows:

More comprehensive exams

The exam questions will be more comprehensive and students will be forced to think more critically. There will be fewer questions where they’ll simply have to memorise an answer and write it down word-for-word. For this reason, there will be fewer multiple-choice or fill-in-the-gap questions too.

More time for exams

With the new university entrance tests from the 2024-25 school year, students will have more time to take each exam. Until now students had 90 minutes, however, with the new ones an extra 15 minutes will be added, taking it to a total of 105 minutes.

History or philosophy?

When the new changes come into force, students will be able to choose between doing an exam on the history of Spain or the history of philosophy, giving them a greater choice.

Exam reviews

Another of the changes proposed is that students will have the right to a third remarking if they disagree with the result they receive. If the student disagrees with the grade obtained for an exercise, up until now they could only request a second review.

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