International Studies: Where will I stay if I study at Cambridge Regional College

If you are thinking about studying in the UK but have concerns about where you will live, Cambridge Regional College International Centre can support you with accommodation arrangements. This service is known as homestay. 

The nice thing about homestay is that you get the opportunity to integrate yourself into family life and continue your passive learning outside the classroom. Homestay also provides a great social support structure that you wouldn’t get if living alone. Hosts provide half-board of breakfast and dinner every day and lunch at the weekend.

When you apply to CRC, you will be given an accommodation form to request homestay accommodation. The questions on the form will enable us to build up a picture of the most suitable accommodation to meet your needs. Based on your answers, the International Centre will look to find you a suitable host family that meets your requirements/preferences. While most of the host families that we work with are based within a short walk/ bus ride from the Cambridge Campus, we do work with families up to one hour away. We will try our best to meet your needs while placing you within the local areas of Arbury, Kings Hedges, Chesterton, and Histon/Impington

The host families that we work with come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life and often have preferences of their own that we must consider when securing a homestay, such as short-term students only, vegetarian household, students aged 18+ only. All hosts are regularly inspected to check that they are meeting our standards and student feedback really helps to identify families that may need to improve. 

Once we have found you a family, we will send you information about the host, including address, a short bio, and contact details. We generally find that international students are happy to make their own way to the host address upon arrival, but if you would like us to arrange an airport transfer, just let us know.

Living in a new country with a new family can be challenging at first. You may feel that things are not quite right, but we would encourage you work at it, particularly in the first month when everyone is getting used to each other. Things usually settle and everyone finds their rhythm but if you are finding that that things are just not right, speak to us and we can work to resolve any issues.

Don’t’ just take out word for it, Jack Davies, Accommodation, Welfare and Activities Officer in the International Centre said, “Touchingly, I know of hosts that are still in contact with former students years later, and have been to visit them in their country, so Homestay can result in a really permanent bond!”