Welcome to this pre-departure online learning resource which will help you prepare for your upcoming studies at London Metropolitan University. There is a lot to consider for an international student coming to the UK to study at either postgraduate or undergraduate level. This programme provides you with an opportunity to think through many of the issues which affect international students on arrival in the UK. There is going to be a period of readjustment for you when you reach the UK, but once you have got through this, we are sure that you will be very happy with your decision to study in the UK at London Metropolitan University.
This programme has been designed based on research with our current international students in London. They have told us what advice would have been most helpful to receive before they travelled to the UK. The schedule of online sessions is designed to introduce you to the issues some students found problematic and to give you some advice and links to research these thoroughly before you arrive in the UK.
Enjoy working through the series of online activities and join in with the live online sessions we will run with tutors from your courses and staff from Student Support Services. The 5 areas most recommended by students are below:
“What is life in the UK like?” – Culture shock & “Fitting in” and Health issues
“What will the university be like?” – Preparing for your first weeks of classes on campus
Meeting the expectations of my student visa – Understanding the academic expectations of the student visa
“How to ace my degree” – Adjusting to different ways of teaching and learning
“What is this strange language? I thought I knew how to speak English!” – Dealing with English language in the first weeks
In each of these 5 areas, there will be an online session to attend and learning materials to work through and a suggested follow-up activity for you to complete.
Preparing for the session:
The learning materials for each session will have links to read, advice from our current students and reflective activities to work through before the online session.
Online sessions:
There will be scheduled live online sessions with tutors and staff from LondonMet which you can attend from your home country. These will also be recorded so that if you miss one you can catch up later.
Follow-up activities:
After the online sessions, there will also be follow-up activities for you to complete. If you miss one, you can watch it later and still complete all the preparation and follow-up activities.
Introduction and Schedule of Online Sessions
The schedule of topics has been designed based on research carried out with our current international students. They told us the topics and questions they wish they had received more information on before they left their home country. Included in the learning materials is advice from our current students on these issues to help you prepare and settle into your new life in the UK more easily.
Over the next weeks, you will be invited and encouraged to engage in some reading and research and to attend live online sessions with tutors and staff at London Metropolitan University. These will happen on different days and at different times of day but are all scheduled on UK BST time, so make sure you know what time that is in your home country. We know you may not be able to join all the sessions so we will record them, so if you miss any you can catch up later.
The online sessions will allow you to meet some of the LondonMet staff and tutors who will support you through your studies. They also provide you with an opportunity to meet other students before you come to London.
Preparing for Study Online Sessions in January 2026- Recordings and Slides
Session 1: What is life in the UK like for International students?
Claire Bradshaw (Head of Subject Education Subject Area)
Monday 5th January 2026 15.00pm to 16.30pm UK time
Recording Link: Session 1 What is life in the UK like for International students-20260105_150612-Meeting Recording.mp4
Slides Link: Blog Version Preparing for Study Jan 26 What will life in the UK be like Claire Bradshaw
Session 2: What will the University be like?
Michael Upton (Head of Teaching and Learning Centre of Teaching Enhancement)
Tuesday 6th January 2026 15.00pm to 16.30pm UK time
Recording Link: Session 2 What will the University be like-20260106_150359-Meeting Recording.mp4
Slides Link: Session 2 Jan 2026 What Will University Be Like Preparing for Study Blog Version.pptx
Session 3: What is this odd language? I thought I knew how to speak English! – Dealing with UK English Language in the first weeks
Claire Bradshaw (Head of Subject Education Subject Area)
Wednesday 7th January 2026 15.00pm to 16.30pm UK time
Slides Link: Preparing for Study Session 3 January 2026 Dealing with UK English Language Sept 2025.pptx
Session 4: How to ace my degree!
Dr Bettina Coleman-Schoels (Principal Lecturer in the Business School GSBL)
Thursday 8th January 2026 15.00pm to 16.30pm UK time
Recording Link: Recap: Session 4: How to ace my degree! 08 January | Meeting | Microsoft Teams
Slides Link: Session 4 Preparing for Study Pre-arrival session – How to ace your degree – January 2026.pptx
Session 5: Academic expectations of student visa holders
Cassim Patel (Director of International Support, Advice & Compliance) & Claire Bradshaw (Head of Subject Education Subject Area)
Friday 9th January 2026 15.00pm to 16.30pm UK time
Recording Link: Session 5 Academic expectations of student visa holders-20260109_150421-Meeting Recording.mp4
Slides Link: Session 5 Preparing for Study January 2026 Academic Expectations of Student Visa Holders
Feedback questionnaire: Please let us know your feedback on whether you found these sessions useful here.
All sessions are interesting and will be helpful for me so,I would like to attend all sessions.
Excellent to hear this Supriya – we look forward to seeing you in the online classrooms soon! I hope you enjoy working through the resources we have set up for you. They should really give you a head start.
its quite interesting and i will attend all the sessions which will comes in august month because my classes will start in early sept.
Is there any recording for the session that happened on 3rd August?
Hi Abhita,
Fantastic news! We are very happy to hear you find the topics interesting and look forward to meeting you during the session.
The next session will be on Friday, so come and join. In the meantime, please have a look at all the material available to get your preparations started. More material will become available every week – so keep on checking.
September is just around the corner – the earlier you start, the better you will be prepared.
All the best and greetings from London, Bettina
Hi Jalaluddin,
Thanks for your query. We are currently working on getting the recording ready and will publish them as soon as possible. In the meantime, please have a look at all the information available on the blog and join us for the second session this Friday when we will be discussing where to live in London. Please work through the resources before you come so that you get your questions answered.
Looking forward to meeting you soon.
All the best
Bettina
Hello! I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the first session nor will I be able to attend the second one. But I will be free for the third and fourth one. I hope this is alright. Is the first session available on the website yet?
Hi by having glance at all the sessions headings it feels like i will get lot of info but unfortunately i miss two sessons can i grt recordings.
Hi Sofia,
Thanks for your message. I hope you could join us to the last 2 sessions and you found them useful. We will be uploading recordings of the sessions soon and look forward to meeting you on campus soon.
All the best
Bettina
Hi Vikas,
Thanks for your message. I am pleased to hear you like the titles of the sessions and hopefully, could also join us for some.
We will upload the recordings of the sessions soon.
Look forward to meeting you on campus soon.
All the best
Bettina
These topics are really important for the new comers to the university and UK. Thanks for organising it. I am happy to participate.
Great Banamali! Thanks for your positive feedback. We look forward to meeting you on campus when you arrive.