Planning your travel

Coming to study with us will be an exciting time in your life and, like most things, you'll need to plan ahead and get yourself organised.

At this current time we are expecting students to be arriving on a number of different days over the next few weeks. Therefore, there will not be an airport pick up service for September 2020. Please find all of the travel options on part 2 of the pre-departure guides below. 
International Orientation will be fully online this September, available from 7 September. You must be registered to access Orientation.

The most important things you need to do as soon as you have accepted our offer to study are:

• make sure you have somewhere to live. Book your accommodation before you travel. If you want University accommodation it’s best to apply early, especially if you want campus accommodation or have a limited budget.
• make all the necessary financial arrangements to pay your fees and have enough money for your living costs (rent, food, books). If you're not sure how much money you will need in the UK there is a sample budget in our Pre-departure Guide.

Pre-departure and arrival guides

To help you prepare we recommend you read our pre-departure and arrival guides below. They will answer most of the questions you may have about planning your arrival and living in the UK.

Pre-departure guide - Part 1: Planning your arrival

Pre-departure guide - Part 2: Arriving and living in the UK

Arrival guide - Cambridge

Arrival guide - Chelmsford

Our guides include:

• University semester dates
• our Welcome and International Orientation Programme
• applying for University accommodation
• how to pay tuition fees
• examples of the cost of living in the UK
• how to travel to our campuses
• visa and immigration advice
• arrival in the UK (what to expect)
• healthcare provision in the UK
• University contact details.

Making your travel plans

If you are flying from within the EU we recommend flying into Stansted Airport. Flights can be less expensive and it’s the closest airport to ARU, so very easy to get to our campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford by train or coach. Public transport is reliable, frequent and relatively cheap.

We also advise those using Emirates Airlines to travel to the UK, to check London Stansted Airport as an option especially for those flying from South Asia and South East Asia. They are currently operating two flights per day.

London Heathrow Airport is usually the main option for those travelling outside of Europe, but we recommend you check updated flight information.
Please see further information in part 2 of our pre-departure guides. 

Preparing for your studies

Doing some preparation before you arrive will help you adapt quicker to your course. You can visit websites such as prepareforsuccess.org.uk; these self-access materials can help you refresh your English language and improve your study skills over the vacation period before you arrive.

Aside of that, we know it can take time to get used to the way we study in the UK. Once you arrive we can help with your English language as well as study techniques via our Study Skills Plus sessions.