Weekly Planning Guide in Preparation for Your Journey to the UK

Leaving home and starting a life somewhere new. Now that’s an enormous organisational challenge! If you’ve done it all before, you’ll have all the right equipment and past organisation at your finger tips, you won’t have so many personal belongings to sort out, and you’ll know what to expect. But what if you are new to this? How do you know what to organise? The whole thing can seem overwhelming but if you divide it all up into smaller tasks, then you’ll realise that no task is actually that difficult. We’ve thought of all the essential steps and have then organised them into a realistic weekly plan. Just select the steps which apply to you. 

The secret is to start preparing early. Some steps will take longer than anticipated and you will inevitably run into a few unexpected hurdles. By giving yourself lots of time, you’ll take the unexpected in your stride and you won’t miss anything out. This will help you to eliminate as much stress as you can, so you can step onto that plane with peace of mind, ready for your new adventure!

EIGHT WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Booking travel, passports and visas, insurances, finances...

1. Book your travel (if you haven’t done so already).  Don’t leave this till the last minute as you may not be able to secure tickets for the time you want, especially if it is in the peak travel season.  Note: for many airlines, you  don’t have to pay till closer to your departure date.
   
   
2. Make sure you have a valid passport (check the expiry date).  If you don’t, get some passport photos taken and apply for a new passport!  Application processing times vary and can take longer at certain times of year, so apply now!
   
   
3. Sort out any working visas or holiday visas which apply to you.  Ring the appropriate embassies for the best source of information and to request application forms.  Once again, application times vary and can take longer at certain times of year, so apply now!
   
   
4. Start looking into travel insurance options.  Most insurance companies offer competitive rates and so many people opt for the easy option by arranging travel insurance with their airline, travel agent or their bank.  However, it doesn’t hurt to shop around, especially if you have special circumstances to take into consideration.  Note: it is a good idea to extend your insurance to cover you for your first month in the UK, particularly if you are going to be staying in temporary accommodation until you arrange a more permanent UK address.
   
   

7 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Organising belongings, Financial arrangements...

1. Organising belongings: This is obviously difficult to advise as each person’s situation is different. Whether you need to find tenants to pay for your mortgage, sell your house, or move back into your parents for a while…… you may want to consider these tips when organising and storing your belongings.
   
   • Order your possessions and keep an inventory of what you have packed away. This will make it easy for you to locate specific items on your return or for someone else to locate items and send them over to you.
   
   • Give away or sell items that are of no real value to you.  People love garage sales and you’ll have more money for your UK adventures. 
   
   • Research storage and freight companies….their service charges vary. If freighting gear to the UK, decide on the date it needs to arrive.  This will determine the type of freighting time and cost you will incur. Don’t bother sending gear to start up a home as most flats etc are furnished and it is cheaper to buy home items over there than to freight them over.
   
   • Consider insurance for your gear held in storage and gear to be freighted.
   
   
2. Open up a UK bank account.  Ring TeachLondon for guidance on this. Scholar UK can help you open a UK bank account once you arrive in London but it is far easier and better for you in the long run if you open one before you leave home.
   
   
3. Assess your finances!  Getting yourself to the UK is an extremely costly exercise and full of unforseen expenses.  It is imperative you have enough money to purchase passports, visas, vaccinations, travel equipment, health costs etc and to meet the costs involved in leaving home ie. numerous farewell dinners, removal and storage costs etc. This is all before you even leave the country!  If you are travelling through other countries on your way to the UK, you must devise a budget and know exactly how much money you have to play with on a daily basis.  It’s worth researching this as you don’t want to arrive in the UK with very little money.  We can’t stress enough that you will need to have enough money to set yourself up in the UK.  Many people suffer a financial crisis in their first few months as they don’t realise how expensive it is to establish yourself.  Don’t let this happen to you!  Generally we advise youwill need at least £2000 to pay for your basic set up costs.
   
   
4. Make an appointment with your bank to:
   
   • inform them of your plans and to arrange your new banking requirements.  You may need to close accounts or open new ones.  Try and keep your bank fees minimal – they sure add up while you are away!  Make sure your direct debits are accounted for.  Enquire into the best way to send those valuable pounds stirling home and how to get the best interest rates for your savings.
   
   • A credit card is excellent security when travelling.  Ensure that all your credit cards and ATM cards won’t expire while you are overseas as it is difficult to arrange banking requirements from another country, especially if there is a big time difference. 
   
   • Nominate someone trustworthy to act as your Power of Attorney on your financial matters.  This person will have access and authority to oversee your accounts.  This needs to be arranged directly with your bank.  Inform the bank of your new address so your bank statements to be sent directlyto you and/or your P.O.A  - you may prefer to receive your statements less frequently.
   
   • Organise foreign currency and travelers cheques for you to pick up and pay for in the last week before you depart.
   
   

6 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Vaccinations, dentist and medical needs…

1. Make an appointment with your doctor/nurse for vaccinations and medical requirements.   If you are traveling through other countries on your way to the UK or have decided to travel to specific countries in your school holidays, you will need to ask the doctor/nurse for the appropriate vaccines.  Make sure you either get a certificate or make a record for each vaccine, and the date received.  If you have any special medical needs whilst in the UK, ask your doctor to record this information for you to show your doctor in the UK.  If you are carrying unusual forms of medication into the UK, you will also need to ask for a doctor’s certificate to satisfy immigration’s queries.
   
   
2. Make a dentist appointment.  Teething aches and problems have an uncanny nack of arising while you’re on holiday or in stressful times!  It’s far easier to get your teeth checked out now.
   
   

5 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Email, Driver’s Licence, Tax, Electoral Roll...

1. Apply for an International Driver’s Licence.  These can be obtained from AA outlets in most countries.  Sometimes it is cheaper and easier for you to get one in your home country than in the UK.
   
   
2. Set up a roaming e mail address.  Hotmail and Yahoo are two popular accounts.  Emailing is a vital means of keeping in touch with everyone while you are in different areas in the world.  Scholar UK and schools will need to be able to contact you via email.
   
   
3. required to do so (especially in some countries if you have a student loan). You never know, you may benefit and receive a nice tax rebate!
   
   
4. If you do not wish to vote in your country’s next election, you must request to be taken off the electoral Contact Inland Revenue and ask for a Tax Return Form.  You are legally roll.  Some countries will charge you a fine for not voting if you haven’t informed them of your departure.
   
   

4 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Copies of Important Documents and Healthy Bank Statements, Shopping...

1. Get copies of your bank statements while you have lots of money in your bank  accounts.  You may need to prove to various agencies, banks, landlords and  some countries etc that you are financially secure.
   
   
2. Photocopy all your traveling documents, passport, travel insurance  policy, vaccination certificates, medical details etc to take to the UK.
   
   
3. Check out our list of Packing Essentials to deduce what you will need to take over to the UK.  From this make 2 lists, one list of the items you will need to pack.  Another list of the items you will need to buy.  Start shopping!
   
   

3 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: CV, References, Booking Personal Travel Arrangement, Further shopping…

1. CV on disc or email – make sure you have a copy of your CV on a disc or email it to yourself.  It’s much easier to transport it this way and allows you to further update it with your UK teaching experiences.
   
   
2. References – ensure you have all your work, personal and landlord refs before you leave.  Don’t allow for these to be sent over to you as you may not ever receive them.  Note:  to secure permanent accommodation, most landlords in the UK require refs from past landlords.
   
   
3. Contact all the hotels, hostels, rental cars, tourist attractions and airport transfers and secure advanced bookings.  Make sure you have arranged accommodation for your first week in the UK and transport there from the airport.
   
   
4. No doubt you’ll still be working through your shopping list!
   
   

2 WEEKS BEFORE YOU GO:

TASKS: Pay for Travel Insurance, Cancellations, Disconnections, Change of Address, Farewells...

1.  Arrange for all correspondence to be redirected to a new forwardingaddress.  Notify the Post Office, Bank, Newspapers/Magazines, credit card companies, friends and family of your new forwarding address, email address or means of contacting you. 
   
   
2. Disconnectutilities (electricity, water, gas, telephone etc).  Arrange final payments and cancellation of accounts and ensure your disconnection dates fall the day after you leave the premises.
   
   
3. Cancel services such as; deliveries, memberships, policies, subscriptions and services.
   
   
4. To save time and money, arrange one or two farewell gatherings for you to say goodbye to many friends, family and collegues altogether rather than individually.
   
   
5. Pay for travel insurance.
   
   

1 WEEK BEFORE YOU GO: 

You shouldn’t have much to do now as you would have covered everything else in the prior 7 weeks!  Relax and double check everything to ensure you haven’t missed anything out!

TASKS: Packing & Inventory, Haircut, Bill payments, Confirm Flights, Foreign Currency and Travellers Cheques...

1. Get a haircut!  You don’t know when you’ll manage your next one.
   
2. Pay those final outstanding bills you arranged to pay on leaving the country.
   
   
3. Pack your suitcase or pack!  See our list of Packing Essentials again for advise on what and how to pack.
   
   
4. Write an inventory of what you’ve packed in case your belongings are damaged or go missing.  Leave a copy with a friend or family member and take a copy with you.   You may want to take a photo of anything valuable you are traveling with for insurance purposes.
   
   
5. Confirm airline tickets.  This is a wise move even if the airline doesn’t require you to do so.
   
   
6. Pick up necessary foreign currency or travelers cheques you arranged in week 7.
   
   
7. Make the most of all your homely foods and treats!