Adapting to the UK
Tips on your move to the UK
*Money*
You will need about £10,000 per annum living expenses, in fact regional colleges suggest more like £13,000. Remember that London will massively increase your accommodation cost and most of the cheaper colleges are outside London so it is cheaper to go off into the regions. You could look into trying to save using under 25s railcards, season tickets, BritRail card (for international student only), student Oyster card (30% discount) and ISIC or NUS Extra card. VisitBritain can tell you about other student discounts. As a full time student you should be exempt from council tax. If you want to watch TV you need a TV licence as you are your own household. The college will want paying by electronic funds transfer or credit card, but will usually accept instalments.
*Accommodation*
If you need help finding accommodation or funding that is a separate service we can offer. Most students go in the college’s hall of residence or rent in the private sector, usually a shared house or flat, but sometimes a studio flat or hostel. Halls tend to have a security guard and include bills but are more expensive. Our options currently also include shared flats that we manage and even a guest house run by a Sri Lankan.
*Passport control*
When you arrive at passport control the Border Force will want to see your passport, visa or entry clearance, CAS, letter of acceptance, landing card, ticket, vaccination, TB xray, finances, qualification certified copies and proof of accommodation, and will test out your English and subject knowledge.
Customs in the UK will also want to know about excess of cash worth over 10,000 Euros, extreme porn, counterfeits, animals, radios, food, plants, weapons and drugs, so it may be easier to avoid all that as a lot of it is banned anyway and will be confiscated. If you must bring anything declare it and ask their advice to minimise the chance of enforcement.
Always keep all letters, envelopes and receipts for correspondence with the Home Office, and keep copies of your passport and biometric residence permit.
*Arrival*
We can have you chauffeured from the airport to your accommodation, unless you prefer any meet and greet offered by your college. Bring some British currency with you to pay for deposit, rent etc and have all your college paperwork on you, plus some travellers cheques. Don’t believe official advice that you only need £250, as it may take weeks to open a UK account and transfer money into it or for international payments to arrive. Pay your fees by transfer beforehand and ideally deposit and rent too so you don’t have to carry the cash or get into problems accessing accommodation due to lack of cleared funds. We can help with brushing up on your English when you get here and on planning your journey.
*Culture*
Your best bet for learning traditions and culture is to read the Home Office ‘Life in the UK’ guide, but we are happy to advise. In particular be ready for British aloofness, informality, punctuality and winters. Be ready for rain and cooler weather, the average is 2-19c depending on seasons with peaks normally down to below zero or up to 30c. As we have real seasons our daylight lasts from 8 to 16 hours depending on season.
*Practicalities*
We may be able to advise on locations of Sri Lankan shops.
You can usually open a ‘basic bank account’, sometimes with the help of a letter of introduction from your college as proof of address plus you will probably need your passport and visa; you could try to start this before you arrive in case the bank accepts a CAS etc as proof of address or you might be able to hand in your ID at the Sri Lankan branch of an international bank. However, opening from abroad will probably involve a fee-paying account. You could even bring a bank reference to help open a UK bank account.
On arrival you can register with a local doctor and dentist on the NHS. Your doctor, helplines or college can help with any stress.
If you buy a car it will need to be registered, taxed, insured and you will need a licence.
As a commonwealth citizen you can vote in elections.
We can help arrange all this, even buying a cheap car.
Beware scammers who may contact you offering exchange rates deals or threatening immigration problems.
During your year you can have access to our helpline for any questions about your student life. We stay up to date with Mind, Rethink and Students Against Depression on mental health issues.
Your new friends will be your flatmates, classmates and members of societies you join in freshers week.
Apart from that we look forward to seeing you in the UK.