The International Office
Online Handbook
Bringing money to the UK
Don’t bring lots of cash to the UK. The University does not have any facilities to guard cash for you. Travellers cheques are safer than cash because they are insured against loss and theft. Bring enough travellers cheques to meet your needs for the first week including travel. £500 should be adequate. Any bank or post office will cash travellers cheques.
Before you leave home talk to your local bank about taking money with you (some countries restrict how much currency you can carry) and about how money can be transferred to your English bank account. Find out how long transfers will take and how much they will cost. If your bank at home asks for proof of you coming to study in the UK, contact the International Office.
Money transfers
Banker’s draft: It’s best to bring a banker’s draft (in £ sterling) to pay for your tuition fees and living expenses. A banker’s draft is a document from your bank at home to a bank in the UK. When you open an account here you pass the draft to your new bank, and they credit your account with the amount of money specified. If your draft is for tuition fees it must be made payable to ‘The University of Bath’.
International money order: Buy this at home and pay it into your new UK bank account or take it to a post office for cash (the money order must be in £ sterling to cash it).
Electronic transfer: your bank at home transfers money to your new account in the UK.
Telegraphic transfer: this can be arranged once you have opened a UK bank account. If you are being sponsored (by your government, for example), bring a letter from your sponsor which shows exactly how much money you will receive.
When you arrive in the UK you will need to show this letter to the Immigration Officer and to the Finance Department at the University.
Exchanging money in the UK: Banks and post offices are the best places to exchange foreign currency for £ sterling.
Using your debit and credit cards in the UK
Ask your bank at home if you can use their debit and credit cards in the UK. European banks especially, provide cards that work in UK cash machines.