Before you arrive
If you are an undergraduate or graduate and have met the conditions of your offer and have a confirmed place at the University, you may find the information contained within this section useful before you arrive. Further detailed information is also available for those with recognised student status, visiting student status and those studying with the Department for Continuing Education.
1. University Contract and Arrival Information
Once you have met the conditions of your offer, your college/PPH (for undergraduates) and department (for graduates) will send you the University contract to sign and return together with a passport photograph. Please ensure the contact details and email address you have supplied during the admissions process are valid and checked up until you arrive. If they change please advise your College/PPH and department. You must return this contract to start the University preparations for your arrival. Your college/PPH may also send you a College Contract to sign and return as well as essential guidance on starting at the University.
2. Applying for a UK student visa
Unless you are an EEA (European Economic Area) or Swiss national, you must apply for a visa (entry clearance) in your home country to get permission to come to the UK as a student. You must allow enough time to apply for your visa. If your course is for more than 6 months, you must obtain a Tier 4 Student Visa. If you are coming to Oxford for a shorter course (maximum 6 months) you will need to apply for either a Student Visitor Visa or a Tier 4 Student Visa. The Student Information and Advisory Service provides specialist advice on visa and immigration process requirements.
3. Access to IT facilities
In advance of arriving you will be sent your Oxford Single Sign-on account details to access central student IT services. Information on IT services and support available to students, including how to set up your IT access when you arrive and who to contact for computing support is available from the IT for Students site. These pages provide information and advice on accessing the Internet and your emails to using IT to enhance your research, all the information you need to make optimal use of IT at the University.
4. Starting the registration process
An essential part of being a student of the University is the annual completion of registration. You need to register in order to print a Certificate of Enrolment, attend your programme of study, release your loan from the UK Student Loans Company/sponsor/awarding body, use your University email account, obtain your University Card, and be eligible to take examinations. Your status as a member of the University is not confirmed until registration is completed by your College/PPH/Course Administrator at the start of your course. As a new student you should complete the first step of the registration process by verifying your details online before you arrive at the University using your Oxford Single Sign-on IT account details.
5. Accommodation
All colleges/PPH provide rooms for first year undergraduates. However, you may need to move out to private accommodation in your second or third year, and many students choose to share a house with friends.
Not all graduate students can be accommodated in college/PPH accommodation. The offer of a college place does not guarantee accommodation so you are advised to make enquiries as early as possible since availability is very limited. The University Accommodation Office lets and manages accommodations owned by the University and also provides information on houses, flats and rooms to rent in the private sector. Oxford Studentpad lists private accommodation available via landlords who are registered with the University. Private accommodation is also advertised on Daily Info and in the University Gazette each Friday, and the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) produce a Living Out guide.
If you are an international student and cannot find family accommodation prior to your departure, it is advisable for you to travel here alone a couple of weeks before the start of term and arrange for your family to follow once you have found somewhere suitable to live. For non-EEA nationals bringing family, the UK immigration authorities may refuse your family entry if you cannot prove that accommodation has been organised.
6. Organising your finances
In most cases you will have submitted your funding application at the time of the admissions process. The Fees and Funding website provides advice on support available to students, including those who are parents, who have a disability or who experience financial difficulty during their studies. When budgeting you should be aware that your first few weeks of term are likely to be more expensive as you prepare and settle into life at the University. The Fees and Funding website has useful information on managing your finances and for home and international students wanting to open a bank acccount. The UKCISA website also offers a guide for international students on opening a bank account. If you plan to bring money into the UK and are arriving from a country outside the European Union (EU) you must declare any cash of 10,000 euros or more (or its equivalent in other currencies) to customs officers.
7. Important vaccinations: Mumps and Meningitis C
The University strongly recommends that all UK and international students born after 1982 should seek MMR vaccination (and should receive both the recommended doses) before arriving in Oxford. If you have not done this you should consult your College Doctor once you get here. Contracting measles or mumps would have serious consequences for your studies. You would have to stay away from lectures and tutorials while infectious and, in the case of mumps, this would be a period of at least five days (possibly as long as 25 days). Further information on mumps and the MMR vaccine.
Most students will have had Meningitis C vaccination while at school; if not please arrange this with your GP, again before arrival, for maximum protection. For those coming from abroad Meningitis A & C (or ACWY) vaccine is acceptable if Meningitis C vaccine is not available. Further information on the Meningitis C vaccination.
In the event of pandemic illness your college and department will offer advice about taking precautions and what to do if you or close contacts become unwell. Current information is available from the University's website.
8. Medical, dental and optical treatment
Students from Britain, the European Community and any country with reciprocal health arrangements are eligible for free treatment under the National Health Service (NHS). Details about how to register and the nearest doctor will be provided by your college. Students who are in full-time education and under the age of 19 are exempt from most NHS charges, e.g. prescriptions. Other students may be entitled to help with charges on the grounds of low income. Further information is available from the NHS website.
International students who are on a full-time course of study lasting six months or more or on a course of any duration that is substantially funded by the UK Government, are also entitled to free hospital treatment in England. This entitlement extends to the student’s spouse and children only if they are living with the student in the UK for the full duration of the course. For further information please see the UKCISA website.
9. Discussing your needs
Discussing your needs in advance of starting your study will mean that support systems may be established before you begin your course.
The Disability Advisory Service can help by liaising with your college and department to organise your support needs in all areas of University life, including lectures, tutorials, examinations and college accommodation. The Service offers help and advice about study support and alternative examination arrangements for students with diagnosed medical, physical or learning disabilities. A detailed Access Guide is also available for departments and colleges.
The Support for care leavers page outlines the help available for students from a care background to ensure that you have a successful university experience. Our support has been awarded the Frank Buttle Trust Quality Mark; recognition of institutions who go that extra mile to support students who have been in public care.
10. Insurance
Students are advised to check if they need to arrange contents insurance, some colleges/PPH's have insurance policies that cover their students belongings. If you are travelling from outside the UK it is advisable to have travel insurance to cover your luggage, personal possessions, money and medical costs for your journey and first few days here. If you are planning to take out an insurance policy which covers you for the length of your course in the UK, you may find that this also covers your journeys to and from home at the start and end of each term. Endsleigh are the official insurance service of the National Union of Students and they also offer a policy specifically for international students.
11. Preparing to study
Part of the challenge of University life is learning how to manage your time to fit the demands of your course. You will find that different courses have different work patterns, in terms of both the kind of work and how many hours of formal teaching/practicals you receive and spend in personal study. Each course at Oxford places a different emphasis on lectures, tutorials, seminars, classes, practicals and individual teaching. Effective time management is one of the most important skills to develop during your time at Oxford. Here, you need to devise your own timetable. It is also important to allow yourself time to relax and enjoy the opportunities presented by life as a student in Oxford. Your College/PPH and Department or Faculty will run introductory sessions in the first few weeks of term to explain the emphasis within your subject.
At first, reading lists always appear quite daunting and most students initially feel that they need to read everything on the list in order to get to grips fully with a topic. Although this may be partially true, you will have a limited time in which to read and may have to cope with competition from other students for the same texts. It is therefore necessary to be pragmatic and make reading lists manageable. This can be achieved through some awareness of the purposes of reading and careful selection of the texts.
More information is provided in 'Your first few weeks' section of this site.
12. What to expect
Students from more than 140 countries and territories make up a student population of over 20,000. Over a third comes from outside the United Kingdom.
- Listen to current students talking about their time at Oxford and get a glimpse of what life is like, before you arrive.
- The Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) produce a freshers guide that offers a student perspective on life at Oxford.
- OUSU also produce an international student handbook providing information on welfare and resources available for international students. The health and welfare section of this website also contains information on adjusting to life in a new culture.
- A guide is also available offering advice on life as a mature student.
