The year abroad
The Bachelor of International Business requires students to go abroad for one full academic year - either in their third or the final year - completing 60 ECTS (120 CATS). For credit collectors, there is the regulation that determines the content of their year (50 per cent Business and the remainder can be of any academic content). If students do a Business degree abroad they are exempt of this regulation.
The scheme may not require a thesis if it is not part of the programme at the host university.
Students can do a year in any country provided the course is taught in English and the university is accredited by the German system (Anabin/KMK).
A large majority do a Master's degree in the fourth year; they receive our Bachelor and the British Master after four years and a few months.

Attention: please register your year abroad (student portal) before you go abroad or while being abroad.

Requirements:

• the first academic year has to be fully completed (no open exams from the first year)
• the earliest possible starting point for the year abroad is the fifth semester
• in total, you have to complete 60 ECTS if you study for 2 semesters abroad or 30 ECTS if you do a combination of one semester studying and one semester internship
• a minimum of 75% of all modules must be taught in English
• host university programme contains at least 50% business modules

Please have a look at the pdf file. It provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects related to the year abroad including costs, planning, options, requirements and homecoming.

Information events
In order to help you with your study abroad options, there is an information event every year in December - just before the Homecoming event. This event helps you assess your options because your senior fellow students present their host universities and courses of studies on that day (events).

Proof of English level
Many universities accept my inhouse Toefl equivalent that is based on your two years in my seminars. UCD and others need a formal one issued by an accredited body. I also issue the DAAD tests that some universities ask for. The cheapest and widely used one is the Duolingo test for currently € 50.00 (https://englishtest.duolingo.com/de). I have put the results of one very fluent student who does make a number of grammar mistakes (not the very basic ones) and is not excellent in terms of language competence.

Here are samples of the main files you need for your applications: grade transcript, references, letter of motivation. This might help you for your writing. You also need the BO fonts to make sure the layout stays the same - meaning page breaks must be where the pdf transcript from your self-service area are. Check if Word tells you it's the Calibri font - then you have not installed the fonts (correctly). Contact me if you need help. Your modified transcript MUST look the same as the original one - same page breaks etc. I will sign and stamp your pdf or word files. For some universities, it is helpful to have the provisory Bachelor's degree document which I can issue in August or whenever you are finished with thesis and viva (Kolloquium).

Coming home
Provided you did your thesis&viva in year 3 with us (i.e. before your year abroad), send host-university transcript to the coordinator.
Check after two weeks if your HS Bo grade transcript contains this line (if not, contact the coordinator) "3000/3700/3701 Auslandsaufenthalt GE SS 15 1 BE 60"
Then, the Registrar will do as follows:
“Sobald uns [Prüfungsamt] der Ex-Antrag vorliegt, können diese abgeholt bzw. zugeschickt werden (per Einschreiben/Rückschein).“
Those students that are doing a PG degree at the host university hand in their transcripts stating they passed 120 credits (CATS, equals 60 ECTS) at level 7 and we will process them despite the fact that they still have to do their Master thesis at the host university. So they receive the Bachelor's degree before they are awarded the Master's.

1 - Implications of partner university status
The status of 'partner university' guarantees easy access to UG (Bachelor) programmes. So, in the UK, for example, UCAS - like the German ZVS - would be responsible for you and you could not directly apply to any university of your choice or go into the final year of a degree route.
In case of new countries or universities, I help students to get the best possible product. To take a current example, I have successfully negotiated a Bachelor's degree which organisations like Ranke Heinemann would not offer. The standard is credit collecting.

2 - Master opportunities
The PG/Master option is a unique opportunity for students at this university that works fine with a handful of universities mentioned in the final year information file. If you apply with universities offering those proven pathways, there will not be any problems getting into the Master. Quite unlike what some are experiencing at Dublin Business School. It says in the pdf document that we have not had any PG student at Dublin Business School. The sales people visiting us only said they thought it was possible. In a case like that, I start negotiations with them as soon as you mention this problem AND the name of the responsible person (no sales reps, please).

3 - Many opportunities are a blessing not a curse
What you can do in the IBM - location, specialisation, PG - is a blessing; would you rather have the simple choices leading to a standard UG degree that are possible in the other IBM streams or at other universities? So it is time to count your blessings and read the information, ask informed questions and there will be a great package degree for you somewhere.
Going for cost instead of quality would be serious mistake in my opinion. Two of my students went to Aston University. Costly but very good.
Compare the content and teaching outcomes - all that is explained or at least outlined in the information.

4 - Panic is unnecessary
There is still enough time to organise a good year abroad. Do not let those that are losing it influence your decision making process.

This web site might help you to evaluate the universities you are thinking of studying at.
https://www.eduopinions.com

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies | Ranking & Review (4icu.org)

Finally, the legal document (2019 version) with the regulations is here. And the paragraphs relevant for you are below:

Achte Ordnung zur Änderung der Studiengangsprüfungsordnung für den Bachelorstudiengang
International Business and Management der Hochschule Bochum (13.03.2017)

(3) Die von den Studierenden an der ausländischen Gasthochschule zu erbringenden Prüfungsleistungen müssen mindestens zu 50 % betriebswirtschaftliche Module umfassen. Mindestens 75% der im Ausland belegten Lehrveranstaltungen müssen in der Sprache absolviert werden, die der gewählten Sprachrichtung des Studiengangs entspricht. Darüber hinaus sind die Prüfungsleistungen während des Auslandsstudiums im Rahmen eines Präsenzstudiums zu erbringen. Zahl, Art, Inhalt und Umfang der im Ausland zu belegenden und mit einer Prüfung abzuschließenden Lehrveranstaltungen werden in Absprache mit der Studiengangskoordinatorin bzw. dem Studiengangskoordinator festgelegt.
(4) Form, Inhalt und Bewertung der an der Gasthochschule im Ausland abzulegenden Prüfungen ergeben sich im Einzelnen aus den Prüfungsbestimmungen der ausländischen Gasthochschule in der jeweils gültigen Fassung.