Researching your new home before you arrive

The more you know about a city before you land, the fewer surprises you face in a tired, jet-lagged first week. A few evenings of focused research now saves days of confusion later.

Start with official sources

• Read official travel advice for your destination. GOV.UK's foreign travel advice, for example, covers entry requirements, safety and security, health risks and legal differences for each country, and you can sign up for email updates on any country page.
• If you are an Emirati citizen, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs a registration service (Twajudi) so that the ministry and UAE missions abroad can contact citizens in emergencies and crises. It has been offered through the ministry's website and its UAEMOFAIC app; check the current version before you travel.
• Read your university's own pre-arrival pages. The University of Leicester, for example, lists tasks such as paying fees, registering online, uploading an ID photo and checking term dates before you leave.
• Find the international student office's email address and save it in your phone. It is the team that answers visa, enrolment and arrival questions.

Map your neighbourhood

• Look up the route from the airport or station to your accommodation, and screenshot it in case you have no data on arrival.
• Find, on a map, the nearest supermarket, pharmacy, cash machine, bus stop and place of worship to where you will live.
• Check how far your accommodation is from your main teaching building, and how you will get there: walking, bus, bike or train.
• Save your accommodation address plus a contact name and phone number for problems, as Leicester's checklist advises for hand luggage.

Money and costs

• Research living costs for that city, not just the country: rent, food and transport vary a lot between cities.
• Leicester suggests arriving with some local currency for the first few days and researching how to open a local bank account before you go. The Banking module's lesson 'Banking abroad for university' goes deeper.
• Write a rough first-month budget, including one-off costs such as bedding, kitchen items and a winter coat.

Time, calendar and climate

• Note the time difference with home and whether it changes during the year. In the UK, for example, clocks go back to GMT on 25 October 2026 and forward to BST on 28 March 2027, according to GOV.UK, so the gap with the UAE (which does not change its clocks) shifts by an hour.
• Check the term dates and public holidays, and when your arrival and welcome week are.
• Look at average temperatures and daylight for the months you will be there, so you pack for the real climate. The lesson 'Weather, daylight and the seasons' in this module helps.

Build a one-page 'new home' sheet

• Put on one page: your address, university and accommodation contacts, local emergency numbers, your country's embassy or consulate, and the nearest hospital and pharmacy.
• Keep a copy on your phone (offline) and on paper in your hand luggage.
• Share it with a parent so your family knows where you are and who to contact.