Motivation
I'd known since first-year uni that I wanted to do a semester-based exchange at some point before graduating, as my older brother also did a semester-based exchange and told me it was the absolute best thing he'd done in his time at UQ. I am currently studying a Bachelor of Arts/Laws and given the similarity of the Australian and English legal systems, I figured that undertaking a semester-based exchange in the UK would provide me with an idea of what would be like to study in the UK if I were ever to pursue a postgraduate legal education abroad. I chose Leeds specifically for two primary reasons. The first was academic: Leeds has an excellent linguistics program with courses focussing on subject matter which I find super interesting, but which aren’t offered in Australia. The second was social: Leeds is famous for having one of the strongest student unions and some of the best student life in the UK!
Personal Development
I made heaps of friends during my time at Leeds through both my course and societies, most of whom are domestic students from around the UK and many of whom I am still in touch with daily. It's awesome knowing that if I ever decide to live or study in the UK at a later date, I already have an established network of close friends! On a more personal level, even though I was a social butterfly during my time abroad, I found that being overseas by myself allowed me to develop a lot more independence and become a lot more self-motivated, which are invaluable skills not just generally for life but also–for me at least–academically. I feel like in being away from home I matured a lot, and it's also given me perspective on how many life and career opportunities are available to me which I would have never considered had I not gone on exchange.
Academic Development 
Because Leeds has a reputation as a student city, it has a really vibrant and active campus life. This makes it super easy to be on campus every day and treat uni as a 9-5 as there's always something to do, and you're always running into friends around uni. This makes it way easier to keep on top of coursework. I found the courses in Leeds, at least for my program, are a lot more specialised than in Australia, which means everyone is genuinely super interested in the content. This fosters a culture where everyone knows their course-mates really well, rather than them being just another nameless face in a lecture hall. I also found the lecturing staff were super approachable, and there were a lot more opportunities for open discussion in lectures and seminars. A big difference is the fact that there is no SWOTVAC period or exam block–it was a big adjustment getting used to having to study for exams over Christmas and New Years! That being said, I found the workload was very comparable to that at UQ, if not a bit easier purely because my classes were smaller and more specialised to my interests.
Professional Development
The absolute number 1 professional skill I gained from my time abroad is networking! Moving to a different country on the other side of the planet means you essentially have to start from scratch socially, and I got a lot better at approaching new people and developing a new social network; at the end of the day developing new friendships isn’t that different to developing new professional connections. I also found that having an international experience will work to strengthen my resume as it demonstrates adaptability to new situations and environments, and the ability to be a global citizen–an invaluable skill given the increasing globalisation of many industries.
Costs
I worked a lot in the lead-up to my exchange to save enough money to go over to Leeds, and was lucky enough to be able to move back home with my mum and dad to save on rent and utilities which helped me budget also. I went over to Leeds with ~$10,000 of my own money, as well as a grant from UQ and an OS-HELP loan thus totalling ~$20,000 to fund my experience. My accommodation cost around $6000 total for the time I was there, including rent, utilities, and wifi. Grocery costs are similar to Australia, if not cheaper. My biggest tip in budgeting for groceries is to meal prep in advance and make friends with someone who has a car so you can do a big shop up for multiple weeks’ worth of groceries. Done right, £40 can get you 2-3 weeks of groceries at Aldi. Avoid the temptation to shop at Co-Op, as even though there are lots of them in the student areas, groceries there are way more expensive, they have limited options, and the produce there goes bad fast!
Getting around is super cheap and easy, Leeds is a super walkable city, and you can normally get the bus anywhere you need to get in central Leeds for £1, or an uber for £5. Be aware that trains in the UK can be expensive, so if you’re thinking of going on any day trips make sure you book early and get a railcard for discounted fares–you may think you won’t need one, but it’s well worth the initial investment. International travel is super cheap and easy; if you check out Skyscanner for deals with Ryanair you can often get flights to Europe for as cheap as £20. I travelled around central Europe with some friends during reading week, and since term time is off-peak tourism season, you can also often get really cheap hostel rooms to yourself. Nights out in Leeds are generally cheaper than in Australia as far as drinks and ubers go, but Leeds differs from most places in that you have to buy tickets for club entry in advance, so if you want to avoid paying lots of money to go out with your friends make sure you know what your plans are for the week in advance.
Funding
The funding I received was a huge help. I used by OS-HELP loan to pay all of my rent and major living expenses up front. It was great getting this out of the way as it meant I didn’t have to think about this from week to week, and made budgeting for everything else a lot easier. The funding I received from UQ also meant I was able to say yes to everything and go on society trips without having to worry as much about the financial aspect.
Accommodation
When you apply for accommodation in Leeds, you are given only one preference, and accommodation places are allocated randomly, meaning if you apply for an oversubscribed accommodation where you’re living can be left up to chance. This is something I learned the hard way. I researched a lot before deciding on an accommodation, and knew I wanted something social near the student area (Hyde Park), so I applied for James Baillie Park. However, JB is one of the most popular accommodation buildings, meaning just by pure chance I missed out on a spot and was instead placed in Sentinel Towers–a quiet accommodation on the complete other side of town! My recommendation would be to think twice about applying for any accommodations which often get oversubscribed such as James Baillie or Charles Morris–there are heaps of other great accommodations that are super underrated and just as social. If I was choosing again knowing what I know now, I would apply for Montague Burton. It’s super social, modern, right near campus, and has in-unit washing and drying (trust me when I say you do not want to have to deal with the terrors of circuit laundry). I had friends who lived there and absolutely loved it, and because it’s a well-kept secret it often has lots of places available. That being said, don’t stress if you don’t get the accommodation you want! Even though I wasn’t in a very social accommodation, it forced me to get more involved with societies rather than solely spending my time at my accommodation, and means I made a lot more friends than I might have if I had been placed in James Baillie like I had originally hoped.
Highlight 
There are too many to count! Student life in Leeds is unlike anything else, and there are so many unique experiences I had in my time there. Halloween in Leeds is incredible, students in Leeds take dress up very seriously because of sports socials and the famous Otley Run, so Hyde Park (where all the students live) is bustling with activity on the weekends surrounding Halloween. I also can't recommend strongly enough that you go on society trips where possible! On my third week of term, I was lucky enough to go down to Newquay, Cornwall with the surf society for the BUCS varsity surf competition. The scenery in Cornwall is stunning, and I made so many friends on the trip that ended up becoming my main friendship group during my time in Leeds. If you’re into snowsports and can afford it, I can’t recommend highly enough that you go on the Christmas ski trip. When I was in Leeds we went to Val Thorens for a week, and it sounds cheesy but I think it may have been one of the best weeks of my life–seeing Ross From Friends perform in a blizzard at après will forever be a core memory. I think going on society trips allows you to get to know other members of societies a lot better than just going to weekly socials, so it's a great way to make friends if you have the chance. Some other honourable mentions for highlights are road-tripping through the Scottish highlands, exploring the techno scene in Berlin, and going with the Leeds Snowriders to Bristol for AJAM Festival.
Advice/Top Tips
My first piece of advice is to get involved with societies. Leeds has over 300 clubs and societies so trust me when I say there is something for everyone. A lot of clubs run GIAG (give it a go) sessions where you can try out sports and societies before you commit to buying a membership, and even if you have no intention of joining a society these can be really fun just to try something new. On top of this, a lot of sports societies offer social memberships so you can get involved in trainings and Wednesday socials, even if you don’t have a spot on the team.
This leads into my next piece of advice, and probably the most important, which is to say yes to everything, especially in the first few weeks of term. Even if it’s something you’ve never done before, or you think you might not be interested in, nine times out of ten you’ll have a lot of fun, make new friends, and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
As far as personal growth goes, another big piece of advice I’d give to anyone going to Leeds on exchange is not to just hang out with other Aussies. Leeds is full of Aussie exchange students, many of whom get put in the same accom or even the same flat, and it’s a very easy trap to fall in to exclusively hang out with other Australians. While there’s nothing wrong with making friends with other Aussies on exchange–I know I sure did–at the end of the day you didn’t go on exchange just to hang out with the same people from home. Plus, if you make English friends, they’ll probably let you stay at their house when your lease ends and you inevitably decide you want to stay in Leeds longer! If you’re tossing up between going for a year or a semester, apply for a year. Pretty much everyone I knew at Leeds who was also on exchange (myself included) really regretted not applying for the full year. You can’t extend your exchange, but if you go for a year and decide it’s not for you, you can always come home early!
On a more serious note, winters in Yorkshire are grim. The days are short, bleak, and windy, and when you’re already missing home it can be very easy to develop seasonal depression. Make sure you’ve got something planned every day that gets you out of the house, even if that’s simply walking to the winter tent in the student union for a hot chocolate.
Last, but certainly not least, you can’t say you did an exchange in Leeds if you didn’t attempt the world-famous Otley Run pub crawl at least once! I cannot recommend Leeds highly enough, and if you open yourself up to meeting new people and trying new things, you'll develop a global network and make friendships to last a lifetime.
