Derry, North Ireland

Health & Safety

Upon arrival in Derry you will attend a detailed orientation that includes a session on staying safe and healthy while living in Northern Ireland.

The student health center on the Magee campus is open Monday to Friday for student medical care. The BCA resident director will provide names of additional facilities and doctors if necessary. The director is available to you whenever you need medical or any other type of assistance.

Travel and Medical Assistance

Student safety is a priority for BCA. We provide all students with membership in International SOS a leading travel and medical assistance company. SOS services include emergency evacuation, security advice, medical assistance (such as prescription advice or referrals to English-speaking doctors) and medical payment guarantee.

To help ensure that you remain healthy while abroad, BCA requires all students to have major medical insurance coverage. We are happy to provide names of companies that offer reasonably priced coverage for study abroad students.

Staying Safe

As the Peace Process in Northern Ireland continues to be more deeply institutionalized, crime in all categories is experiencing a significant decline. The Police Service of Northern Irelandstatistics indicate that overall crime significantly declined in the 2007/2008 reporting period by 10.5%. Declines were manifested in all categories, except sexual offenses which increased by only 1.1%.Derry mirrored the decline with a 10.4% overall reduction.

While you are abroad, it is important to follow the same common-sense safety precautions that you follow at home: never walk alone at night, keep doors locked, do not allow strangers into your housing, and never leave bags or backpacks unattended. We strongly urge all students to read the U.S. State Department’s information regarding travel to the UK

Learn about BCA Derry crime statistics