Bradford College

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• Pre-arrival advice for international students
  • The first few days
    • Enrolment
    • Students with disabilities
    • Personal information
    • British Summer Time
    • Culture shock
    • Items you may need in the UK
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    • Shipping freight and air cargo
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The first few days

Register with a doctor

The United Kingdom has a National Health Service (NHS), which you can use free of charge if:

• you are coming to the UK to study for more than 6 months
•  you are a national of, or refugee in, a European Economic Area country and are currently resident there, or
• your country has a reciprocal health agreement with the UK.

If you don’t fall into one of these categories, you will need to obtain health insurance.  You could arrange this after your arrival in the UK; however, it would be best to arrange health insurance before your arrival from a company at home as you would then be covered straight away.

If your circumstances mean that you cannot use the NHS free of charge, you can still receive emergency hospital treatment, but only the treatment given in a NHS Accident and Emergency department is free.  Once you are admitted on to a ward or given an outpatient appointment, you will be charged.  You will have to pay for any other treatment as a private patient, which can prove very expensive if you don’t have health insurance.  Please note, you will have to pay for prescriptions, which are currently £7.65 per item.

If you are entitled to free NHS treatment, you can also register with an NHS dentist (this is separate and you must register with the NHS doctor first).  The dentist is not free, but NHS treatment usually costs less than private.  Charges vary, so ask the dentist for a quote before beginning treatment.

Information about registering with a doctor or dentist can be obtained from the International Centre or the Health Centre at Bradford College upon arrival.

Opening a Bank Account

We highly recommend that you open a bank account before you leave your home country if at all possible.  More information can be found in the UK bank accounts page.