Hi, my name is Roy Billington, and in April I was elected to be this year’s international students' officer. Since moving to Aberystwyth in 2012 I have fallen in love with the town and along the way I have picked up some tips to make life as an international student easier and less stressful.
To work in the United Kingdom it is required that you possess a National Insurance number (NI number). There are a few ways to go about getting one, but the easiest way is to go to Job link which is located in the students' union. There, you will be put on a list and once a substantial amount of students put their names down, a person comes up from Carmarthen to hold interviews with people who have applied, where you just show relevant information to prove you are a student and that you have the right to work in the UK. Following the interview, a National Insurance number is issued in the subsequent weeks. While this may be the easiest way, it takes quite a long time, so if you need to work immediately, I would recommend directly calling the job centre in Carmarthen, booking an interview there and getting a bus down. This will result in you getting your National Insurance number a few weeks earlier.
When you arrive in the UK, setting up a bank account should be a primary focus, but many banks here will not provide international students with student accounts as they haven't lived in the UK in the preceding 3 years. While this is far from ideal, it is unfortunately common practice here so it is very important to find a bank that offers a decent interest rate with low fees for transferring money internationally. I would also recommend not opting for a UK overdraft as the charges for non-student overdrafts are quite substantial.
A common mistake international students make is exchanging their native currency in bulk without checking the exchange rates. For example right now the Euro is especially weak so it might well be worth monitoring currency rates for coming weeks and exchanging only what you need into sterling because if you wait until the right moment to exchange currency you could save yourself a lot of money. If you are travelling with money with you travellers cheques are also advisable.
One of the main concerns of incoming international students is that they will struggle to integrate when they arrive in Aberystwyth but rest assured this isn't the case. Aberystwyth town is an unlikely thriving hub for diversity the town has active religious communities with numerous churches for different belief systems as well as societies within the university for people of all faiths. The Union also offers a number of societies based on languages and there are regular meet ups in cafés where people can speak their native tongue, which is always nice if you feel a little home sick.
This year's team of Students' Union officers have made a strong commitment to making sure the experience of International students is amazing and we look forward to meeting you all.