The number of students travelling across the world to study in the UK has shot up over the last few years. It used to be a luxury that few could afford but universities are prioritising the need to make their campus somewhere international students want to be.
Leaders from the student body, academic staff and the wider faculty should be thinking carefully about how their university can encourage, welcome and support international students.
Before Arrival
It’s vital that new international students be given detailed and specific information before arrival. Student broadband access means that they will be have reassurance, advice, packing lists and course details available on their laptops, phones and PCs.
Apps, websites, podcasts and blogs can all work together to make sure students are ready from the first day they arrive in the UK – don’t overwhelm them with lots and lots of detail though. Think carefully about what can be conveyed once they have settled into their new life.
Appreciate too that international students will be keen to contact anxious parents soon after arrival so a broadband connect that makes a Skype call easy without breaking down will be appreciated – by the student and their parents!
Connection
Give students from other countries the opportunity to contact fellow undergraduates from their own country, students at your university and also existing international students. Communication like this will mean happy, confident new students with connections, friends and little trepidation.
There will undoubtedly be questions and issues they may want answers to that even the best prepared academic or student support staff member will not know the answer to. But someone from their country who has settled into the UK student lifestyle may well do.
Social media and Skype are excellent ways to encourage conversation and with fantastic value student broadband deals available from Glide those conversations will continue once they have arrived. They may also want to sign up with a streaming service that delivers favourite programmes from home so a fast connection with lots of download data is a must.
First Days
Meet your new students at the airport. This is standard practice for most universities. Panicking about getting to their new accommodation in a brand new country is the last thing they need.
Make sure their room and all living spaces are welcoming and ready on arrival. Try and co-ordinate the arrival of their roommates at the same time so that everyone can settle in together. This is a great way to break the ice and help ensures that a shy student isn’t hiding in their room so they will have to mingle. Perhaps having a welcome meal together would work wonders.
A welcome pack is a nice idea too. Food shopping to last a couple of days, a phone charger, vouchers for local cafes and bars and maps are a lovely touch to make the student smile.
A guide to local culture
Help your new students learn about local culture, society and the fun things they are able to do all while allowing them to bond with fellow students who they may end up sharing household expenses with next year.
- Provide guided trips to the supermarket using public transport
- Showcase the best parts of the city/town your university is in. The best museums, the restaurants with the best value food and drink and a football match
- Take them to nearby seaside towns or into the countryside to really give the flavour of the local area
- Encourage the sharing of their own culture with others. Make a social event out of it.
The aim of this is to encourage international students to enjoy their new surroundings and the British way of life – it’s one of the big draws for students to invest their time and money doing so.
Offer support
Make sure that your international students know where and when they can find support. This might be from a counsellor at a low point in their lives, a GP, a tutor for academic issues or a member of the diversity and equality department.
There’s no doubt that checking regularly on the new arrivals and asking about problems and issues will also help and show that the university and the students there care about the welfare of the new arrivals. Whether it’s a language problem or a cultural one, everyone should step in to offer help and advice.
And for everything else to do with excellent student broadband deals and sharing household expenses for international students moving to the UK, then speak with