Once you've received your visa you're ready to make your arrangements for travelling to the UK and arriving in Bath.

This may be your first time travelling to the UK and living away from home. The experience can be both exciting and overwhelming and you may not know what to expect when you finally arrive.

Here, we cover everything you need to know before you leave. You may also like to read our information on travelling to Bath and important information for when you arrive.

Checking your visa is correct

Once you’ve received your visa you should check that all your details are correct and report any errors as soon as possible.  The way to do this depends on the type of visa you have.

If you applied for your visa before 15 July, and if you attended a visa application centre as part of the application process, you may have been given an entry clearance vignette (sticker) in your passport to allow you to enter the UK.  You may also have been given a vignette if your course is less than six months in length.  

If you identify an error on your vignette, you should report this to the visa application centre you attended as soon as possible so that the error can be corrected before you travel to the UK.

If you applied for your visa after 15 July, or if you used the ‘UK Visas and Immigration ID check’ app as part of the application process, you may have been issued an eVisa.  

If you identify an error on your eVisa, please contact the Immigration Advice Service who can help you report this.

Planning your journey

University accommodation

If you're hoping to secure a place in our Halls of Residence, please refer to our accommodation web pages.

Proving your Right to Rent for private sector accommodation

We understand that some international students will not be moving into University accommodation and may be hoping to secure a tenancy elsewhere. The Accommodation team are able to assist and advise you on private sector accommodation. 

As an international student, you'll need to prove your right to rent before a property owner or landlord will enter into a contract with you. The easiest way to do this is to prove your right to rent with a share code and the property owner can carry out the Right to Rent check. 

You can use this service if you have an eVisa and a UKVI account.

Students who can't prove their right to rent before travelling to the UK can still agree to a tenancy agreement with a landlord ‘in principle’, as set out on page 17 of UKVI’s Right to Rent Checks guidance. You must then provide acceptable proof of your right to rent before taking possession of the property.

Any students who don't have an eVisa (such as those who have entered the UK as a visitor for an exchange, or who have a visa shorter than six months) can use alternative documents to prove their status, such as an entry clearance vignette or a passport and boarding pass showing date of arrival.

It should also be noted that a landlord can't insist you use the online service if you can provide a document from the acceptable document list. They can't discriminate against you because you need to prove your right to rent in a different way.

If you have an eVisa, you can travel from the ‘Valid from’ date shown on your view-and-prove share code.

If you have an entry clearance vignette, you can travel to the UK any time between the ‘Valid from’ and ‘Valid to’ dates this shows.

We need to know your travel plans so please make sure you complete our form as soon as you have these in place. 

It's important that you tell us if you're going to be late arriving to the UK – in particular, if you'll miss the registration and welcome week activities when we hope to see you for in-person enrolment.

If you’re coming to the UK on a Student visa, you must arrive by the latest course acceptance date stated on your CAS. If you've been delayed and think there is any chance you may miss this date, you should contact the Immigration Advice Service as soon as possible.

Ready to travel?

When you’re ready to make firm travel arrangements please have a look at our Travelling to Bath page.