Leaving home can be a daunting enough experience without the added anxiety of moving to a new city or a new country. We want to help make your next step as exciting as possible. When you arrive there will be a lot of things that you will need to do; below you will find a few helpful tips and reminders.
Before you arrive
Unilife are here to help our UK and international students, whether it’s organising your airport transfer or to help you move in, just ask.
If you are an international student staying in the UK to study for over six months and want to enter as a ‘student’ you’ll need to gain entry clearance before travelling to the UK. If you are coming to the UK for under 6 months some nationalities (“non-visa nationals”) may qualify to enter as a ‘student visitor’ and may not have to obtain entry clearance before travelling.
You’ve unpacked and made your new Unilife studio look and feel like your home, you’ve found your way to the nearest supermarket to stock up and have to make sure you register with your university. They will take a copy of your passport and visa, arrange your student ID card, confirm your enrolment and give you a letter to help you open a UK bank account if you haven’t already sorted one out.
Take the time before term and classes start to find your way round your university. Many universities have an International Office, they will be on hand to off advice and guidance to all international students.
Going to university is a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends from all over the world. At Unilife we know that for some this can be a challenging time so start with making friends in your Unilife building. To help you we not only have great communal areas (lounge, study rooms) and facilities (state of the art gym) but will be organising a number of events throughout the year so you can meet your new Unilife friends. Make sure you Like and Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter to keep up to date on all the activities and latest news.
Settling in
We want to make settling in as easy as possible, we are always just a phone call away if you need any help. If you need help with anything to do with your student studio at Unilife, the facilities we provide or just struggling to adapt to life then we will do our best to make life easier.
Once you’ve signed all the paperwork and paid all the fees applicable and your flights are confirmed you need to make sure you have arranged your transfer from the airport to your new home. Make sure you let us know what time you expect to arrive, so we can ensure your studio is ready and waiting for you and we are on hand to help.
If for any reason you have any problems and need to report an issue (something’s not working, broken light bulb or you’ve locked yourself out – it does happen) then just call our Housing Manager and we will get it fixed as soon as we can.
Throughout the year we organise events to help get you to know other students in your building. Make sure you like us on Facebook to keep up to date.
We know the importance of keeping in contact and it’s always nice to receive something in the post. Please make sure that you give your friends and family back home the correct postal address (details can be found in your Welcome Pack). All our buildings have post blocks.
Incredible experience so far! Makes everything about University life so enjoyable with extremely friendly and helpful staff, amazing facilities and a fantastic location. So happy to be staying here!
