Posts Tagged ‘ Student life ’


How to … win at Immigration Control

November 10, 2015 | Posted by ECA UK | No Comments »

When you arrive in the UK, you’ll probably arrive at one of the international airports close to London, especially if you’re coming from outside the European Union (EU). Your most likely arrival destination is Heathrow Airport, though you might also land at Gatwick. As Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world, it is more likely that you’ll land there. It is now quite convenient to get to the centre of London from Heathrow, so definitely aim for that airport if you have a choice.

After you land, you’ll pass through Immigration Control, which is also called Passport Control. If you’re an international student, you will need to prepare a few things for this before your flight to the UK, as the border force officer who will check your passport and visa or entry clearance, will also ask you a few questions about your study and how long you plan on staying in the UK.

So, you should keep these things in your hand luggage:

  • Your passport, obviously
  • Your offer letters and confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS letter)
  • Copies of your financial documents
  • Address of the place you’re going to stay

Many students will only buy a one way ticket, so the border force officer will ask you how long you’re going to stay in the UK. You can show him your CAS and offer letters, and tell him that you’ll be returning home after your course finishes.

This is especially important if you’re going to enrol at university in the UK, but you’re first studying a pre-sessional course or English course that requires a separate visa. You will need to show your offer letters for your university course, which will explain your situation clearly.

There are usually two lines at immigration control: one is for European Economic Area and Swiss nationals, and the other line is for everyone else. Make sure you join the correct queue! The border force officer will then stamp your passport, usually on the visa page, and this will be the date that you arrived in the UK. This date is important for future visa applications.

However, if you’re coming to the UK for a course that is less than 6 months, then the officer will stamp ‘short-term student’ in your passport. The guys at Immigration Control don’t usually make mistakes, but check your passport to make sure everything is in order.

After you’ve got through immigration control, you can go and collect your luggage. The immigration lines at Heathrow can get pretty busy, but hopefully you won’t have to wait too long. After picking up your luggage, your final destination is Customs Control, which is where the officers ask if you have anything to declare. Well, they used to ask this, but now there are colour-coded lines and signs for you to look out for.

These are the colours you need to look out for, and what the mean:

  • Green: you have nothing to declare
  • Blue: you have arrived from an airport in the EU and have already cleared all your baggage through Customs Control there
  • Red: you have goods to declare

Having goods to declare means that you have certain items in your luggage that are controlled in the UK; also, if you are carrying the equivalent of 10,000 euros or more in any currency (and that can be in cash, banker’s draft, or any cheque), then you will need to declare it too.

Other items that you need to declare at customs are illegal drugs; weapons; self-defence sprays such as pepper spray; rough, uncut diamonds; and personal imports of meat and dairy products. Obviously you’re not going to be carrying any of these – hopefully – but it’s good to know, just in case.

One final issue that you will need to declare is if you have gone over your duty free allowance. All passengers coming from outside the EU are allowed to bring a certain amount of duty free alcohol and tobacco products into the UK, and you can see the limit here.

It is possible that your luggage will be searched at Customs Control, so make sure that you declare any items that you need to. If you have items that need to be declared, then depending on what they are you may be asked to pay tax or duty, give up the banned goods, or show documents such as permits of licenses that allow you to have possession of certain restricted goods or items.

The UK Border Force has a list of Customs Control and Immigration Control tips for students, and you can see them here.

Are you ready for Freshers’ Week?

October 9, 2015 | Posted by ECA UK | No Comments »

Sometimes Freshers’ Week doesn’t last a week – it lasts a fortnight. That’s 14 nights – and days? – of hard partying, socialising, and not much else. It all sounds pretty good, really, and many people will tell you it’ll be some of the best weeks of your life. Don’t worry if it’s not, of course, and don’t worry if you don’t seem to make loads of new friends, either, as you’ll have 3 or more years to do that. If there is one thing guaranteed, though, it’s that you’ll get Freshers’ Flu, which is basically just a cold you’ll get from meeting people from all over the country, made worse by all the excitement and not resting properly. You can blame it on all those boozy club and pub nights you’ll be going to, but everyone gets it and it’s nothing to worry about. Just make sure that you get some rest, and try not to spend all your budget in those first few weeks.

Believe it or not, there are things to think about during your first few weeks at university other than going out and having fun. The whole going out and having fun thing is of course the main point of Freshers’ Week, and it would be remiss of us to encourage you to do anything other than have fun and meet people. But there are certain essential chores that you need to do when you move in to your accommodation for the first time, such as checking the inventory that your university provides you. You’ll need to have a look at this and make sure that everything listed is indeed in your room. You can also check your room for any damage – if there is any, take a photo of it, and let the university housing department know about it. You don’t want to be charged for damage that you didn’t cause, which is what might happen if you’re not careful in those first few days. It’s important to take care of those first few housekeeping chores, and then start thinking about meeting people and heading out into university life.

Not everyone is bouncing-off-the-walls sociable, and some are just plain scared of this big new university world they’ve stumbled into. If your neighbours or roommates are not keen on going out, or doing the same things as you, then don’t think anything bad of them – everyone goes at their own pace, and being able to develop and live at your own speed is one of the great things about university life. If you’re one of those who doesn’t like going out, and doesn’t want to get involved in all those crazy events with music you don’t care for, then don’t worry – there will be many, many more opportunities to make friends throughout the year. The hard truth is that the people you meet in your halls of residence probably won’t be your best friends throughout university, and a year – or 3 years – is a whole lot longer than Freshers’ Week.

One of the great things at Freshers’ Week is having the opportunity to join all manner of societies, like those that match your interests and those that you just like the sound of. After you’ve joined up, you’ll be able to meet new people, learn new things, and get involved in different activities. It is probably tempting to join as many as possible – as you’ll be able to meet lots more people and do things that might be outside your comfort zone. All of which is good and healthy, of course, but you don’t need to go crazy and join every society and club that you see. You could join a sports society to get some exercise, or a music society, and meet people who have the same interests. You don’t need to spend all your time at Freshers’ Week going to the drinking events, as there are many more ways of meeting people, making new friends, and getting involved in university life than just going to the Guild of Students or various student nights in the town centre.

It’s not just other people that you’ll need to get to know, as you should spend some time getting to know your surroundings and the campus. How to get into town and back, for example. What are the best bus routes? Where is the train station? And try to learn your address and postcode – that always helps.

And lastly, you’re at university to do some work, most likely on a computer. Don’t forget to back it up.

The 4 truths of choosing a PhD supervisor.

July 21, 2015 | Posted by ECA UK | No Comments »

A PhD is a lot of hard work. In fact, it’s a lot of hard work even applying for a PhD, what with all the proposal writing and application to go through. Even after doing all that, there is no promise that you’ll even get accepted to the PhD programme, as you will first need to find an academic to supervise your studies. This can be the toughest part, as it will involve speaking with academics in the department you’re applying to, sending out your proposal for feedback, and – if disaster strikes – there is even the possibility that you won’t be able to find anyone willing to be your supervisor.

That would indeed be a disaster. And let’s face it, academics don’t always make it easy for prospective students: if you contact the wrong guy, he probably won’t take the time to point you in the right direction. So it’s important to be on the money from the start, and not waste anyone’s time. To make things easier, and help you find the right target, we’ve got 4 truths that you can follow, and that will lead you down the path to postgraduate enlightenment.

1. Find someone who knows about your research area.

Let’s start with the obvious one: your supervisor will need to be someone with an interest in the topic you’re going to research, and will have already supervised other PhD students in a similar field, written papers on a similar topic, and basically be ready to share his expertise and impart his wisdom. If you try to choose a supervisor who doesn’t have an interest in your particular field, then be prepared for them to say no. Not all economists have research interest in every aspect of economics, for example, though some academics have quite niche interests which could benefit your own research. Universities have staff lists online detailing each academic and their interests, so that is the best place to start looking. These staff lists also have contact details, so you can reach out and begin talking to your chosen supervisor that way.

2.Find someone who will be available when you need them to be.

It will be tempting to find a supervisor who is a star professor, a stud academic who will be able to take your research to the next level, and sprinkle magic dust on your career. This may well be the case, and good luck if you can find one. But being supervised by a famous academic – or any academic, in reality – could in fact have pitfalls, the most pressing one being, Will they be able to commit as much time as you need? If they’re a well-known academic, they might be off at conferences, going to book launches, or even jet off overseas on a regular basis. That won’t be very helpful to you – especially when you consider that you should ideally be meeting your supervisor at least once a week!

Every meeting you have with your supervisor is valuable, and when you have the opportunity to speak with them you should take it. They are your guides, as much as anything, so make sure that the supervisor you choose is well-regarded, but is also going to be available when you need them. It would be great to have that famous academic supervising you, and have their name next to yours on your thesis. You will be able to say that he or she supervised you, but what did they actually do? If they’re genuinely famous, not much, probably. Don’t forget: it’s your time, not theirs.

3. Find someone with experience.

When you’re trying to choose your supervisor, you need to consider their track record, and their past successes. An academic supervisor guides students through the process of a research degree that can last 3 or 4 years: some students don’t perform as well as they hoped, some finished late, and some don’t finish at all. So you’ll need to ask, how did your supervisor’s previous students get on? Did they finish in time? Were their doctorates successful? A great supervisor will have a great track record of seeing students complete their degree both on time and successfully.

You’ll need to make sure that your supervisor is experienced, and knows what they’re doing. If they’ve only recently started taking on their own PhD students, they might be doing so with supervision from other academics, and so they will be feeling their own through the supervision process. If they are the only academic with an interest in your research area, then you might not have any other option, but getting someone experienced is the best route. An experienced supervisor will already know what effective supervision is, and will be able to anticipate issues before they even arise.

4. Find someone who you can get on with.

A doctorate is the pinnacle of studying at university. It is another 3 or 4 years of ups and downs, with struggles and new discoveries on the way. You will be relying on your supervisor to help you navigate your way to completion, and you will spend time with them each week, discussing ideas, talking about new research, arguing, laughing, and going through the whole range of emotions together. One of the most important questions you’ll have to ask yourself is: Can I get on with them? Are they a decent person? This could be difficult to judge, and you will need to speak with your potential supervisor in order to find out. Many universities encourage students to send in an application, and let the administrators match them with a suitable member of staff. This could save you time, but it’s an inefficient process in reality, as the administrators sometimes don’t know what they should be looking for in an academic profile. It would be far better if you looked for a supervisor yourself, as you will be able to gauge their willingness to supervise you, their interest in your proposal, and then inform the admissions team of their commitment.

Of course, finding a supervisor by yourself isn’t easy, and ECA UK can help you with the process. It will be far more rewarding than being supervised by someone who was chosen for you by admissions, just because they had a slightly smaller workload. Being supervised is a personal process, so finding a supervisor should be a personal process too. Follow ECA UK’s 4 truths, and make it that way!