Quick questions for someone coming to the UK on a student visa (hopefully it gets approved),
the ACCA course is for almost 36 months in the UK, if you have accommodation and food with family, what are the other expenses for a single person during this time ?
Travel by train ( campus is in Holborn and accommodation is in Ruislip, its a 30-40 min commute, no changing trains )
Obviously life style expenses like going out, eating out, clothes etc etc all in moderation ofcourse as funds are limited
Health insurance ???
Working while you study ?
How many hours are you legally allowed to take up employment as a student. Classes are only 15 hrs per week.
What is the minimum pay ?
Any other points to look out for / good to know things ??
Thanks.
Re: ACCA IN THE UK
You shouldn’t need health insurance:
Education UK | International student health advice
International students - A guide to The National Health Service (NHS) — University of Leicester
Generally, you can only work up to 20 hours a week on a student visa:
UK Border Agency | Conditions of your stay
Minimum wage is £6.19 although you should be able to get more than this. I’d find a part time office job if you have the relevant experience. Most students work in services so the wages are low.
Well it’s a zone 6 to 1 journey from west ruislip to holborn. Peak single fare is £5, off peak is £3 (with oyster). So you are looking at between £6 to £10 every time you travel in. If you are travelling in daily, then it makes sense to buy a weekly or monthly travelcard on your oyster. Can’t predict travel fares unless you know how often you will be on campus. Could be anything from just £10-20 a week or £50 a week. For example, if you are going in everyday but during off-peak times then the daily price-cap on your oyster pay as you go is £8.50 so there’s no need to buy a travelcard.
Lunch when you are out, costs anywhere from £4 to £8 depending on where you buy your food (i.e. a supermarket meal deal or somewhere like Pret). To save money you can prepare your lunch from home and buy any extras like drinks and snacks when you do a supermarket shop once a week (or whatever) and then also bring them in from home. People don’t realise how much money they spend on stuff like buying bottle’s of water outside or coffee on the way to work,
Eating out… depends where you go. London has a lot of variety and you can get excellent food for under £15 a head but can easily spend £40 or £50 as well.
Clothing… I can’t remember where you live, for some reason I think it’s the middle east? If so, the prices are basically the same as in Dubai from what I’ve experienced. So then it depends on how often you want to buy new clothes and what sort of places you want to shop in.
Re: ACCA IN THE UK
Thank you so much for your reply.
Regarding work
"If you are on a course at or above *NQF 6/QCF 6/SCQF 9 at a UK higher education institution, or a short-term study abroad degree programme at an overseas higher education institution, you are allowed to: **what does this mean****
*
- work for up to 20 hours per week during term time;
- work full-time during vacations;
- do a work placement as part of your course;
- work as a postgraduate doctor or dentist on a recognised Foundation Programme; and
- work as a student union sabbatical officer for up to 2 years.
If one does not have health insurance , in case of any health issues, are dentist and dermatologist very exp
Do students get discounts on oyster card and any other things ??
Re: ACCA IN THE UK
It generally means a bachelor’s degree or higher but I would say the best way to check is ask the college what its equivalency is.
You should be able to get a student oyster, although you will need to wait until you are enrolled before applying for one. It only gives you a discount on travelcards, so if pay as you go-ing works out cheaper for you than the cost of a weekly or monthly even with discount, I’d go with that.
You can get a NUS card that allows you get discounts in most high street shops. Their website lists participating stores. You can sign up to Unidays for free once enrolled that gets you a discount online shopping on many sites such as ASOS.
Dental care is not free, it’s NHS subsidised and the NHS only offer the basic options. For example, if you need a filling, it will be an amalgam filling. Virtually all NHS dentists also offer private treatment. So for example, I can have an NHS check-up with X-rays and they establish I need a filling - I choose that I don’t want amalgam and I want the white composite - so I will pay their private fee to have that done.
There is only any point going for health insurance to cover dental work if you anticipate you will end up having costly treatment. If you have good teeth that you look after, then probably not.
Dermatologists… depends what you are going for. It’s not guaranteed that health insurance will pay for it anyway. Let’s say you have a sudden issue while you are here and the GP thinks it warrants a referral, you’ll get one. If it’s cosmetic and something you are already having, then you need to go direct to a private derm and I don’t think the health insurance will cover it.
I found this on a dermatologist website:
“If you have health insurance, obtaining a referral letter is usually a policy requirement”
Meaning the insurer will only cover it if the GP has referred you, even if you then decide to go privately to speed up the process and appointments.
I’d say an appointment will cost between £150 and £200 in London.
Re: ACCA IN THE UK
Holborn? Sounds like that is LSBF. LSBF does not have a work right for its ACCA students. Better try LCA or BP.
Re: ACCA IN THE UK
Well my friend told me that LCA is also at Holborn so if you are going to study there, you will be fine. You will be better to live in East London in terms of travelling, rent and food.