We will be running the main arrivals period on Saturday 11 September and between Friday 17 and Sunday 19 September. In order to ensure a safe arrival for you, your new flatmates and our colleagues, specific arrival days have been allocated for each accommodation site. Your exact arrival date will be detailed in your contract. 

If you are an international student arriving from an amber-list country, you will be able to arrive at selected University accommodation from Monday 6 September. This is to enable you time to complete any period of self-isolation before the start of term. Unfortunately, early arrivals are not possible for Grand Hotel and Bowsden Court standard rooms; the earliest date you can arrive at those sites will be 11 September.

We would like to confirm that no rent charges would apply for early international arrivals during the period between 6 and 18 September. All rent charges will be applicable from 19 September.

All students allocated into university accommodation will need to book an arrival time slot. This will help us to manage the volume of arrivals on each site and keep everyone safe. Larger accommodation sites will have specific arrivals days for each flat/corridor.

 

There will be a dedicated arrival slot booking page for students arriving from outside of the UK. We understand that those students may not be able to give an exact arrival time, but we are asking that you provide us with your expected arrival date and an approximate time.

 

Arrival slots will be available to book from Wednesday 1 September, and we will send an email to your personal email account as soon as the booking system is live. Please book your slot as soon as you can, as slots will be available on a first come, first served basis. We will have a dedicated team managing the arrival slots process and contact details will be included in the email, should you have any questions or booking queries. 

If you are arriving from an amber list country, you will be able to self-isolate in your university accommodation on arrival. Accommodation is allocated to enable you to self-isolate in your permanent flat with other overseas students. University-owned accommodation will have all the basics that you need for your arrival, including bedding, towels, a toiletry pack, crockery, cutlery and kitchen equipment. You can use these items throughout your contract period. We will also provide a voucher prior to your arrival to enable you to purchase food on arrival.

If you are arriving from a red list country, you will need to complete your self-isolation on arrival in the UK at a managed hotel quarantine facility. Once your managed quarantine has been completed, you will not be required to self isolate upon reaching university accommodation. University-owned accommodation will have all the basics that you need for your arrival, including bedding, towels, a toiletry pack, crockery, cutlery and kitchen equipment. You can use these items throughout your contract period. 

Further information regarding the University’s airport meet and greet service and International Welcome can be found here. 

Support for new & continuing international students travelling to Newcastle this September

 

We will email all our new students with accommodation pre-arrival information in early September. This will be sent to your personal email account so please keep an eye out for it. 

In order to collect your key, you must have booked an arrival slot.

During the main arrivals period, our team on site will be on hand to meet you and provide directions to your key collection point. During peak arrival times, keys will be brought out to your vehicle at our larger sites. You will then be directed to a drop off and unloading point. Outside of the main arrival days and times, keys can be collected from the accommodation reception.

Once you have collected your key, please keep it safe and follow the guidelines to access your new home.

Additional information about key collection and the arrival procedures for your accommodation will be made available closer to your arrival date. We will include a link to the information from this page once we have finalised our procedures. Please make sure you have this information to hand when you arrive onsite to help guide you safely through the steps for access to your new home.

 

The key collection process will follow social distancing guidelines and you may need to queue while we safely manage the moving in process. Face coverings will be required to be worn whilst moving into your accommodation, and while collecting your keys.

 

Full address details for our accommodation can be found here. 

 

If you expect to arrive outside of opening hours, you'll need to contact our Estates Security Office on +44 (0) 191 208 6817. Security Officers will arrange to meet you and give you your key and you will be asked to show a copy of your Accommodation Acceptance with details of your room allocation. 

 

If you’re staying at one of our managed partnership sites, you’ll need to contact your accommodation directly in advance; contact details for your accommodation and the out-of-hours team is available within the location section of your accommodation webpage

We can only accept one car per arrival, no trailers or vans please.

If you arrive by car at Park View, Marris House or Castle Leazes, a contracted moving team will take your luggage from your car to outside your flat door. For all other accommodation, a 30-minute slot will be allocated to you for the unloading of your vehicle.

Colleagues will be on hand to assist with wayfinding, unfortunately we will be unable to assist with any luggage handling. There will be no trollies available on sites, so you may wish to bring your own.

To protect you, your family, your new community and our colleagues, we request that you wear a face covering at all times when you leave your vehicle or your flat. Hand sanitising units will be available at all building entrances. 

A member of your party will be required to stay with your car at all times so that it can be removed from site to a local car park. This is to keep traffic moving through the site in order to accommodate social distancing and the number of students arriving that day. Please note that there will be no onsite parking available. A map of local car parking will be available on your arrival on site.

Your room will have been deep cleaned before you arrive, once here, you will see signs and posters directing you around the accommodation and showing you how to use stairwells and lifts safely.

You will get to know the friendly faces of our residences team as they clean high traffic areas such as staircases, lifts and common rooms frequently. There will be hand sanitiser available at the entrance to every building, too. If your room has shared washroom facilities, these will be regularly checked, cleaned, and sanitised. But we encourage you to develop a new life skill and clean too! After all, it’s working together and helping one another that’ll help to keep us healthy and safe.

 

Wondering what to do in your first week?

You will be welcomed into your Newcastle home with a range of activities with your ResLife team who are there to support you throughout your time living with us.  These activities will be organised both present in person and remotely.

Your ResLife Coordinator (RLC) will be available throughout the week to answer any questions in the ResLife Connect Zoom Rooms, as well as offering a range of ‘hacks’ to help you get used to living with your flatmates and how to survive with everything cooking, cleaning and living independently. And if you want some top tips from an experienced student, one of our ResLife Student Assistants (RSA’s) will be available as well to talk through any information or support you might need, as well as talk through what to do in your accommodation, University life, and within the city.

In your first weeks you will be able to choose from:

• Online Quizzes
• Netflix Parties
• Online Games nights
• Art therapy
• Online arts classes to make your room a home
• Online Cookery classes
• Online exercise and yoga classes
• Sustainability and everything ‘recycle and reuse’
• Webinars on independent living
• Orientations around your accommodation and the city
• Competitions and Giveaways
• Online top tips and ‘hacks’ providing handy information

You will receive a full schedule for the first four weeks from the team, and you can also visit the ResLife webpages.
 
In the meantime, please also check out the University Welcome pages.

Although it is tempting to bring as many of your belongings as possible, you should consider the amount of storage space available in your room and communal areas – filling most of the cupboards with your things before anyone else arrives might not be the best way to meet your flatmates!

Bedding and crockery isn't automatically included in your accommodation, but you may have the opportunity to purchase items when you accept your accommodation contract depending on where you will live. You can also do so via UniKitOut(with a 10% discount with the code NEWC10) The deadline for orders is midnight 5th September 2021.

If you are planning to order essential items such as crockery, bedding, etc from any other retailers, please ensure that these will be delivered after your arrival as we will be unable to take deliveries of parcels before your contract start date.

Some items can also easily be purchased once you’ve arrived, such as stationery, books, food, etc. There are plenty of shops in town, and you will be able to find most of the things you need there.

Typically, the things that new students find most useful to bring with them are:

• Documents – ID, passport, bank card, etc.
• Your National Insurance number
• Clothes (don't forget your fancy dress!)
• Necessary medicine, plasters, etc.
• TV licence - if you'd like to watch TV as it's being shown on any of your personal devices (TV in your bedroom, PC, laptop, tablet, phone), or use BBC's iPlayer, you'll need to be covered by your own licence!
• Hygiene products (toothbrush, hairbrush, soap, etc.)
• Towels 
• Bedding (pillow, duvet, sheet)
• Tea towels
• Laundry basket
• Cutlery, a pot and a pan - although to make moving in easier, we'd recommend that you buy these once you're in Newcastle!
• Coat hangers
• Laptop/desktop PC
• Chargers
• Alarm clock
• Things that will remind you of home – e.g. photos of friends and family, a cuddly toy 
• Items to personalise your room with – cushions, bed throw, battery-operated fairy lights, photo frames

We wouldn’t recommend bringing anything that might take up too much space, be a potential hazard (either to you or the property) or cause disruption to your flatmates and neighbours. Some examples are:

• Your pet (sorry!), no matter how small 
• A drum kit
• BBQ
• An inflatable pool
• Candles 
• Kettles, toasters, microwaves – your kitchen will be equipped with electronics which have been tested and proven to be safe
• Portable heater
• Mains-powered fairy lights
• Mini fridge (if you need a mini fridge for medical reasons, please contact us)
• Furniture - your room and flat will be fully furnished 
• Vacuum cleaner - your University-owned residence will provide you with this (for Managed Partnership residences, please check with them directly)
• Ironing board - as above