Homestay Accommodation

See what living in Britain is really like by staying with a local British family. Our hosts are carefully chosen to provide a welcoming environment for your education and a safe place to live during your stay. By choosing a homestay, you can practice your English with your host family, experience a real British lifestyle — including homemade British food! — and make new friends with wonderful people who are excited to meet you.

Our homestays are convenient and comfortable for every student. You’ll enjoy your own room (unless you’d like to share with a friend or relative for the full stay), a short commute to our school, and a desk and internet access for your studies. Each homestay includes access to shared living areas, kitchens, and bathrooms, so you’ll always feel welcomed and comfortable. You can also decide if you want your homestay to include a room with breakfast and an evening meal, a room with just breakfast, or just a room without meals, where you will find and make your own food.

When choosing a homestay, you will enjoy:

• A clean home with a welcoming, English-speaking British family who will help you experience British culture, work on your English outside of the classroom, and give you a safe place to stay during your trip.
• Please be aware that many host families have pets. If you have suffer from pet allergies, please let us know in advance.
• Comfortable accommodations, including your own room (furnished with a desk, chair, wardrobe, and drawer space), a shared bathroom and toilet, and access to the home’s living spaces. To show respect to your host, we ask that students keep their rooms tidy and maintained.
• Access to a self-service laundry facility, including an iron and ironing board. You will also receive a set of linens and towels for your use. If needed or desired, public laundry facilities can be located nearby for your use.
• Free, reliable WiFi internet access. You may also have access to the family’s telephone, though we ask that you only make calls with the host’s permission.
• Your own key to your host home, which gives you the freedom to come and go as you want, as long as you respect your host’s schedule. Your key should be cared for responsibly and never copied without your host’s permission.
• Discounted transportation from the Birmingham Airport to your host home
• All students under 18 years will be accommodated in homestay where the main carer will have had an enhanced DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check.

What to expect 

Your bedroom

Bedrooms are for your exclusive use so will not be used by any othermember of the household. You will have a clean, comfortable bed along withadequate storage facilities for all your belongings. There will be a desk andchair in your room for study but if this is not possible, your host will provideyou with an alternative suitable space in the home.

You are not expected to clean the home but you should always keep yourbedroom clean and tidy. Remember that it is a home and not a hotel – there isno maid service in the UK to clean up after you. Plus, most hosts, male andfemale, go to work Monday to Friday and have busy schedules that don’tallow time for them to constantly clean up after you.

Please ask your host if you wish to eat in your room and remember to makeyour bed and empty your rubbish bin regularly.

Meal plans and kitchen use

There are three options to choose from when booking your homestayaccommodation:

Self-catering

With this option, your host will provide space in the cupboard andrefrigerator and allow you to use their facilities. Not all hosts allow this option though.

If you are allowed, you can use the facilities in the kitchen to make your ownmeals in your own time with your own food. But please don’t help yourself tothe host family’s food and drinks if you are staying on a self-catering basis.You should also agree a convenient time to use the kitchen as your host/hostfamily will be using it too. And always clean up after yourself, this includesdoing the washing up.

Bed and breakfast

With this option, you are provided with a ‘help yourself’ style breakfast: cereal and/or toast/jam/eggs and tea/coffee. In the evening you will eat out or have light use of the kitchen. Some hosts will allow full use of the kitchen.Please ask at the time of booking.

It is safe to drink water from the tap in the UK so you shouldn’t expect bottledwater to be available at home. You can buy bottled water from the supermarket if you wish.

Again, you will be expected to clean up after yourself and not leave thekitchen in a mess – your host is their to provide support and guidance but not a maid service.

Half board

With our half board option you are provided breakfast as above plus a nutritious evening meal that you host/host family would normally eat. Yourhosts are not expected to prepare meals from your home country everysingle day. You are here to experience British culture and the variety of food on offer from your host/host family is a part of that. If there are specific foods that you do not like or more importantly, are allergic to, please tell your host/host family and they will prepare food that is more to your liking. You should also indicate any food allergies on your application form so that we can ensure your host is informed prior to arrival.

Meal times should be agreed between yourself and your host. In the UKpeople generally eat their evening meal between 6pm and 8pm.

If you are going to be late for dinner or are meeting friends and eating in arestaurant, please inform your hosts so that they do not waste time, effort and money cooking for you. If you would like your meal to be left in the fridgefor you to reheat later, please let your host know. Wasting food is considered very impolite in the UK.

Washing Up

If you use the kitchen to make a cup of tea, make a sandwich or heatsomething on the stove etc you must clean up after yourself. This means youwash, dry and put away any cutlery or plates, bowls, dishes, pots and pans that you use.

Bathrooms

It can be a little different from your home country in that most bathrooms inthe UK contain a toilet, bath and sink. Often the shower is attached to the bath and sometimes there is a separate shower cubicle. Bidet facilities forwashing are very uncommon in the UK. Private or ensuite bathroom facilities are also not often found in UK homes and must be requested at the time of booking, subject to availability and price supplement.

In most homes, you will share the use of the bathroom with other membersof the household. It is therefore important that you leave the bathroom clean and tidy after using it.

Be careful not to leave your belongings lying around the bathroom or toleave it in a mess. If, for example, the floor becomes very wet during use,please ask your hosts for a mop so you can dry the floor. Your hosts areresponsible for cleaning the bathroom but you should leave it as you would want to find it – not with water all over the floor making it unhygienic and unsafe for the next person who uses it.

There may be a daily bathroom routine, so please discuss with your hostswhat the best time to use the bathroom is. As a guide, we suggest that spending about 15–20 minutes in the bathroom is acceptable. Your hosts will provide you with the use of toilet paper, hand wash/soap and at least a weekly change of bath towel. You should, however, buy your own toiletries, such as toothpaste, shampoo and shower gel.

Laundry

For adult students your host will be happy to show you how to use thewashing machine and how to dry your laundry, sometimes they may insist ondoing it for you. Your host will also let you know when the best time is for you to do your weekly laundry, if you are to do it yourself. If you are aged under 18 your host will do your laundry for you. But, as the host it’s down to the them to provide clean bed linen and towels each week during your student’s stay

Heating in the home

In winter, it gets very cold, and the homestay accommodation will have the heating turned on to keep the house warm. Please note that the heating may not be on all the time as keeping it on all day is extremely expensive. Youshould not be home during the day anyway because you should be atschool. Please don’t open windows when the heating is on as that is a waste of energy and money.

If you are not warm enough, please discuss this with your hosts. They will be happy to provide you with extra blankets. However, it is advisable to bringwarm, comfortable clothing to wear around the home, and a warmcoat/jacket for outdoor wear, especially during the cold winter months.

Pricing Per Week 

Single Occupancy

• Room without meals – £150
• Room with Breakfast – £165
• Room with Breakfast and Evening Meal – £175
• Room with Breakfast and Evening Meal for under-18s – £185

Double Occupancy*

• Room without meals – £125
• Room with Breakfast – £120
• Room with Breakfast and Evening Meal – £145
• Room with Breakfast and Evening Meal for under-18s – £155

Private bathroom (subject to availability) = + £15 per week

*There is a weekly supplement for gluten-free, lactose-free, halal and vegan diets to cover the cost of the extra food that the host will provide.

Special dietary requirements:
gluten-free + £15 per week
halal, lactose-intolerant, vegan = + £10 per week

*Double occupancy homestays include a room with two beds and are only available for students staying with a relative or friend throughout the full stay