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“I had the chance to learn about new strategies and activities to use in my school. I will have lots of benefits from the school and the homestay in terms of knowing about the culture and everyday life”

- Yavuz Bayrak, Turkey
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Student life

Lake School of English: Home > Student life > Long stay students

Long stay students

We offer long stay students advice and a range of services to help them make the most of their stay in Oxford.

Accommodation

Many Lake School students choose to live in one of our friendly homestays to help them improve their English and to learn about the English way of life. Your homestay will provide breakfast and cook dinner for you each evening and give you a packed lunch at the weekend, if you want. Students who live in a homestay make faster progress than students who live in a rented house or flat.

However, if you prefer to live in rented accommodation, it costs approximately £350 per month for a room in a shared house, not including utility bills or local taxes. To rent a serviced 1 or 2 bedroom flat, on a shortlet basis (6 months) the cost is approximately £400 per month.

You can find shared houses, flats and houses to rent in local newspapers, our local website www.dailyinfo.co.uk and on notice boards in school.

Opening a bank account

If you are staying in Oxford for more than six months, you may like to open a bank account here. You will need to:

  • deposit money (cash, cheque or bank transfer) in the account.
  • show your passport
  • prove your address in your country, by showing a bank statement with your name and address, for example
  • prove your address in Oxford, by showing your homestay address on your Lake School registration letter, or by showing your contract if you are renting accommodation.
  • prove that you are studying at the Lake School, by showing your confirmation of registration letter.

Registering with the police

If you are from a non-EU country and if you are going to stay in Oxford for six months or more, you may have to register with the police. Check in your passport to see if "holder is required to register with the police" is written there. If it is, you should go to the police station in St Aldates and tell them where you are living in Oxford. You will need to take:

  • your passport,
  • 2 passport-size photos
  • the fee of £34

Staying in touch with home: by phone

Some students bring a mobile phone from their country. Some students buy a pay-as-you-go mobile phone or sim card while they are here, and some students buy phone cards and use public phones or their homestay's phone.

Staying in touch with home: by email

The Lake School has free WiFi and LAN email and Internet facilities. Students can bring their own laptop computers with them. Some homestays have internet and are happy for you to use it (usually for a limited time and for a small charge).

Making friends

In the school and in Oxford you will meet students from all over the world. Hopefully you will find that it can be interesting to learn about each other's cultures and customs, while communicating in English of course! So try to use English as much as possible. If you speak your own language and there are other students with you, they will probably not understand and this can seem unfriendly.

Also, you'll probably notice some differences between England and your own culture. Most English people will be friendly and try to help you if you smile and say please and thank you.

Getting a job

All students who are from an EU country can work without restriction in the UK. Students who have a full General Student Visa can work for up to 10 hours per week. We can help you with looking for a job, if you wish, so you can earn money and study at the same time. Taking a part-time job can improve your future career opportunities.

Students who have a Student Visitor Visa are not permitted to work.

In Oxford, it is usually quite easy to find part-time jobs in restaurants, bars, cafes and shops. There are job advertisements in local newspapers, the local website www.dailyinfo.co.uk  and on information boards in school.

Making progress

Long stay students can make a lot of progress in their English during their course. When you first arrive you will have a placement test and an interview to discuss your study programme. During your course you will have personal tutorials and regular assessments to monitor your progress.

Having a holiday

You may take holidays during your programme, but requests for holidays must be made at least 1 month in advance. We do not refund fees but add the weeks that you take as holiday to the end of your course

Extending your visa

Make sure you know when your General Student Visa expires. If you want to stay longer in Britain, you should complete a "Visa Extension" form and send it to the UK Border Agency. We will show you where to download this form if you need to. It can take quite a long time renew your visa, so don't leave it until the last minute!

The Lake School keeps attendance records. Any visa national student who regularly misses classes will be sent a non-attendance warning letter and may be reported to the UK Border Agency. The hours you actually attend class will be written on your visa extension form.

Students who have come to the UK on a Student Visitor Visa cannot extend their visa and must return home to make a fresh visa application.

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