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Before you arrive

There are a number of things that you will need to think about before you arrive in the UK to study, including visas, funding your course and where you will live.

Student getting help at an overseas exhibition

Support before you apply

How you can get support before and during the application process.

Student getting advice from the visas team

Funding and scholarships

Discover funding opportunities that you may be eligible for.

Accommodation

Find out about applying for accommodation before you arrive.

Arriving in the UK

Information on your arrival and our Meet and Greet programme.

English language support

Discover the English language support available before you start your degree.

Careers and Employability Advice

International students at the University of Southampton have access to our wide range of Careers & Employability resources. These range anywhere from our drop-in careers advice service, to our Career Mentoring Programme and Year in Employment schemes.

Find out more here

Support before and during the application process

Our International Office team travels to meet potential students in their home countries.

We can give you advice and information about the application process, English language requirements, academic entry requirements, finding somewhere to live and life as a student. See our schedule of overseas visits to find out if we will be visiting your country.

You can also get in touch using our online enquiry form .

In addition, we work with a number of carefully selected professional representatives all over the world. They are fully trained to provide advice about studying with us, our courses and living in the UK. They can also help you with your application and pre-arrival preparations. Find out about professional representatives in your country .

Visas and immigration

If you need a visa to study in the UK, our Visa and Immigration Student Advice Service (VISAS Team) is here to help. Our experienced staff can support you through the student visa application process and give you advice on UK immigration issues.

Before you come to study in the UK it is important to find out whether you need a visa and how UK immigration procedures may affect you. Make sure you find out well in advance as it can take a long time to get a visa. If you need a Tier 4 student visa, you can apply up to three months before you start your studies.

Learn more about visa and immigration

Funding and scholarships

You may be eligible for a scholarship from the University or through an external funder to help you finance your degree at Southampton. There are number of opportunities available depending on your chosen subject area or country.

Explore funding opportunities

Accommodation

International students are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence

We guarantee a place in our halls of residence to international students from countries outside of the EU. For undergraduates, this guaranteed accommodation is for the full duration of studies and for postgraduates we guarantee it for the first year of study.

We have a number of halls of residences available, some close to campus and some further towards the city centre. There are also a number of different room types available, varying in size and facilities such as shared or private bathrooms.

You will need to apply for this accommodation before you arrive. You will get to choose which accommodation you would prefer, and we will do our best to allocate you one of your preferences, depending on availability.

If you would like to find out about private rented accommodation in Southampton then advice can be found on our accommodation web pages .

Find out more about accommodation

Meet and Greet

For more information regarding our Meet and Greet service, please visit our Welcome pages.

Our Welcome Programme

The Welcome Programme in September is organised for Students arriving in Semester 1.

Before term starts in September you will be able to take part in a range of welcome events and activities, including some especially for EU and international students.

The talks and events will give you the chance to learn more about life in the UK and in Southampton and Winchester . You will also find out about the support services we provide, plus important information about visas. There will be lots of opportunities to meet people and make new friends.

The Welcome Programme in September includes events such as:

walking tours of the campus and local area
information about English language support
visa workshops
talks of British culture, banking in the UK and things to see and do in the area
welcome events for parents and families
social events such as karaoke, film nights and comedy nights
events organised by the student committee at your halls or residence
the 'Bunfight', where you can join student-run clubs and societies.

There will also be induction activities organised by your school. These might include:

an opportunity to meet your tutors and other students on the course
talks on study skills
an introduction to the learning resources or equipment you will be using during your studies.

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