What to bring

Item	Comments
Cold weather clothes	It would probably be most prudent not to bring a large wardrobe due to luggage restrictions, but on the whole England is damp and windy, and after October, Cambridge rapidly becomes cooler. It would therefore be useful for you to bring some clothing that you can layer to provide warmth and waterproof clothing that you can wear in case the conditions aren't ideal onn your arrival.
Formal clothes	There are many formal functions held in Cambridge and whilst these are rarely compulsory, they are often fun to go to. Usually going to formal hall and similar events means suits and ties for the guys, and equivalent for the girls. Occasional events (2-3 times a year) will require black tie dress- although in practice there are no formal police to enforce this down to the letter and you can get away with the simple addition of a bowtie to a normal suit, you may wish to bring/purchase a tuxedo as these are usually very expensive to rent.
Notebook computer	Of course Corpus provides a wealth of computing facilities, so a laptop isn't essential, however ther are very useful especially since all Corpus accomodation provides broadband in your room, and Leckhampton House has wireless internet.
Digital Camera	Such a photogenic place, you'll definitely want a camera in your pocket at most times.
Plug adaptor	Home country to British plug adaptors for you electronic items may be useful to bring over if you want to use them immediately when you get here. Most plug adaptors can be found in UK electronic stores, however it may be easier to purchase these in your home country.
Lots of passport photos	In the UK most card-issuing socities and services e.g. student discount cards, railcards etc. require you to provide your own passport sized photos. These will be particularly handy to have on you at most times when you first arrive here and start joining many things.

Non-essential (you probably don't need to bring these as they can be easily purchased when you're here)

Item	Comments
Dishes, utensils, kettles etc.	Cumbersome, heavy and too fragile to pack, and relatively inexpensive to purchase here.
Basic household electronic items e.g. alarm clocks, irons etc.	Depending on where you're coming of course, but it may be likely that the voltage in your home country may be different to the British stadard (240 V). Most of these items here can be purchased quite cheaply at stores like Argos.
Linen	If you live in college accomodation, the college will provide and wash(!) linen for you. However you might like much nicer linen, which would again probably be more easy to purchase in the UK than transport over.

What to buy

Things to purchase when you first arrive in Cambridge.

Item	Comments
Gown	For more information see this useful page
Bicycle	See our bicycles page
Young Person's Coach/Railcard	Offer significant discounts for students for travel on rail and coach services in the UK. Buy your railcard from the Graduate Union Shop and get a discount.

Transporting your possessions

The easiest, fastest and most convenient way to transport things to Cambridge is to pack economically and bring everything over on the airplane with you. This is because sending large items through the mail is often prohibitively expensive and slow. It may actually be cheaper to pay for an extra luggage piece, however this depends on the airline and where you are travelling from so please check these details in advance. If you must send things by mail, sea-mail may be your most economical option, however be warned that if you're coming from half a world a way, your items may take months to arrive.

Getting to Cambridge from the Airport

If you are carrying luggage with you, regardless of the terminal that you arrive at, it would be most advisable to travel by coach. Coaches, have more space for larger luggage items, and run much earlier/later than most rail services. Trains can be faster, but are less convenient for travel with luggage. National express run frequent services from most major airports. Travel by coach from Heathrow takes around 3 hours on average, and 45 min from Stansted, but this depends on traffic so please take this into account.

Opening a bank account

Please read the attached pdf file which provides a very useful comparison table of UK bank accounts for international students, as well as information on how to open one.

British Bankers' Association guide for international students

Please be wary that some banks here can take a rather lengthy amount of time to set up your account. Therefore it would be advisable to plan ahead and have readily accessible money (whether by cash, travellers cheques etc.) for at least the first fortnight you are here.

Know the Code

If you are unfamiliar with British road signs and markings (not all of them are obvious!) you should check out the Highway Code. Everyone new to the United Kingdom should know the Highway Code, which applies to all road users: including drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

International Students' Booklet

Attachment	Size
Information internatiional students.doc	41.5 KB

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International Students