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Things
to do after arrival in the UK
This section provides advice about things you can do to
become organised as soon as you arrive in the UK. Being
organised from the start can save you a lot of time and
money.
Airport
If this is the first time to travel abroad or to the UK,
you may want to arrange for someone to welcome you at
the airport. If you have a school or university, ask if
they can arrange this and what extra charge you have to
pay for this service. There are also private companies
which can provide this kind of service. If you are
staying with a host family, they may offer to come to
the airport to make sure that you reach their house
safely.
Accommodation
If possible, you should try to arrange your initial
accommodation (at least for the first week) before you
arrive. This may be easier to arrange if you have a
credit card. For information about finding cheap
short-term accommodation.
Goods for living
Once you have found accommodation, you will probably
need to buy some goods for daily life. Most basic things
such as cutlery (knives, forks and spoons), plates,
glasses and pans can be bought individually as well as
in sets. Think about what you need and how much storage
space you have. If you will only be in the UK for a
short time, you may not want to pay for high-quality
goods that are designed to last for a long time. If you
need to save money, you may be able to buy some things
cheaply from someone who is about to leave the UK. Below
are some items that you may need, together with
instructions about how to buy them online (it may be
easier to find things online, you can avoid having to
carry heavy items, and the total cost is often lower
this way).
Transport
A local street map can be bought from most bookshops and
newsagents, or online from amazon.co.uk (as a search
term, use the town's name followed by "street map" or
"street atlas"). Free online street maps are available
at http://multimap.com
or
http://www.streetmap.co.uk
.
You should obtain information about local transport.
- Ask for local transport maps at bus/underground/rail
stations.
- Find out the cost of ordinary tickets and season
tickets, and whether there are student discounts.
- Find the times of the first and last buses and trains,
and (if available) the nearest night bus route.
You can find more information about local transport from
the Travel/Transport/Coach, Travel/Transport/Train and
Travel/Transport/Bicycle sections of this website.
If you are in London, details about bus, underground and
other services are given in the section:
Travel/Transport/London.
Embassy
Although many international students
register with their country's Embassy, unfortunately
there is no such rules exist for Nepalese students.
Nepal Embassy seems to be unaware of how many Nepalese
students or Nepalese people live in the UK. Obviously
this sort of news bring disappointment to every new
comer who come to UK and think Embassy could be their
home outside home. Though it is not compulsory, we
recommend every Nepalese students to visit Nepal Embassy
once arrived in the UK.
School/Colleges/University
Many schools (or colleges or universities) offer an
induction programme to new international students. This
will give useful information about the school and about
living in the UK.
Find out if your school has someone whose job is to
provide support to international students. A welfare
officer may be able to provide information on a wide
range of practical subjects (for example: accommodation,
immigration, opening a bank account), and can give you
advice if you have serious financial or personal
problems.
Check your school's website - there is often useful
information there for international students.
If you are at a UK university check if there is a way of
buying textbooks or other things you need from other
students at the university. A student-led organisation
which you may want to use is Boso ("buy or sell
online"):
http://www.boso.com
If you are studying in London and need to use public
transport regularly, ask your school if they can issue
you with a Student Photocard. With this card you will be
able to get a discount of 30% on bus and underground
travel. For details, see: Travel/Transport/London.
Police
Registering with police no longer
required for Nepalese students. However, If your
passport stamp says something like "the holder is
required to register at once with the police", you will
need to take your passport and two passport photos to
the police registration office within 7 days of your
arrival. There is a fee to be paid (in 2002, this was
usually about £35).
If you are staying in central London (the Metropolitan
Police Area), you need to go to the Overseas Visitor
Records Office, 180 Borough High Street, London SE1
(near the underground stations called Borough on the
Northern line; click here for a map) between 9.00am and
4.30pm Monday to Friday. If you are not staying in the
Metropolitan Police Area (central London), contact your
local police for the address and opening hours of your
nearest police registration office.
Money and Documents
Write down the numbers of travellers cheques and credit
cards in case of loss or theft. To reduce the chance of
having your money stolen, read the advice in the
Personal/Safety section. See Life/Money for information
about opening a bank account, money exchange or transfer
and other financial matters.
Organise your documents. Keep your bank statements,
water/gas/electricity/telephone bills, rental
agreements, as well as any correspondence with your
school, bank or immigration authorities. You may need
these documents, for example to open a bank account or
to apply for an extension to stay as a student in the
UK.
Make some passport photos. Photo booths are located in
many train or underground stations, and in some shopping
centres. They are also sometimes found on a university
campus (often near shops, banks or travel agents).
Passport photos are useful for student cards, travel
passes, job applications and immigration forms. The
picture on a British passport photo is about 4.5cm high
and 3.5cm wide.
PostCode/Post Office and
Directories
Find out your postcode (US English: zip code) by asking
your landlord. You can also find the postcode from your
address by using the Royal Mail's "Postcodes Online"
service at http://pol.royalmail.com or
http://www.royalmail.co.uk/quick_tools/postcodes. It may
also be useful to make a note of the postcode of your
school or workplace.
As well as helping your post to be delivered to you more
quickly, your postcode is also very useful for finding
out about local services on the internet. Websites which
use postcodes include UpMyStreet (
http://www.upmystreet.com
) and Electronic Yellow Pages (
http://www.yell.com
). There is a map showing the locations of London
postcodes in the Life/Accommodation/London section of
this website. This may be useful if you are looking for
accommodation in London.
Doctor
You need to register with your
nearest GP (General Practitioner) in order to receive
free check up.
Library
Visit your local public library. You can usually
find practical information here about local services
such as doctors, dentists and hospitals. To improve your
English, you can read newspapers or magazines or books
(for other ideas about how to improve your English
reading skills, see: English/Reading). You can borrow
books from a lending library, but not from a reference
library. There is usually a section in the library with
books for people who are studying EFL (English as a
foreign language). If you find the books in the adult
section of the library too difficult, look at the
children's section. Reference books or files on local
companies may be useful if you are looking for a job
(for more information, see: Work/Search). In larger
libraries, there may be space on a desk where you can
study during the day (some libraries are also open in
the evenings). Audio books (stories on CD or cassette
tape) can be useful if you want to improve your
listening skills (for other ideas, see:
English/Listening). Many libraries lend music CDs or
cassettes for a small charge: you can use this service
to learn about British popular music (see:
Britain/Music). Many libraries have computers with
access to the internet. This is usually a free service,
but you will need to book a time, you may be limited to
half an hour or an hour, and there may be limits on what
you can do on the computer.
Television
You may want to buy a television, for your entertainment
and also as a way of improving your English. The
following features are recommended for international
students:
- Teletext (so that you can see the words to television
programmes at the bottom of the screen - these are not
recorded)
- Headphone socket (so that you can listen to the TV at
any time without disturbing your neighbours)
- Video casette recorder (so that you can record
programmes to play back, or watch rented videos)
Usually you will need to buy a television (TV) licence
if you can watch television in your own room (either
using a TV or a TV card on a computer). For example, you
will need a licence if: you have a TV and you live in a
room in university accommodation or rent a room from a
landlord. You may not need your own licence if you share
accommodation with your landlord and have signed a joint
tenancy agreement. You may have this type of agreement
if you are living with a host family or sharing a house
with a group of students.
Contact us:
Email:
uk@wnso.org
Forum:
http://chautari.wnso.org
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