FAQs

Richmond offers a range of generous scholarships; these are primarily available to degree-seeking (UG or PG students). For more information, please contact Jason Elliot, the Associate Dean for Financial Aid and Scholarships on [email protected].

This will depend on your visa requirements; information can be found on the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/student-visa/family-members

Please note: the University does not have childcare facilities.

This depends on the sort of program that you’re joining us for:

• undergraduate programs are typically 3 to 4 years (but this may vary depending on your academic plan)
• Visiting programs can be as short as three weeks (during the summer), 12 weeks (i.e. one semester), or 32 weeks (two semesters)
• Postgraduate programs (MA, and MBA) last 12 months; postgraduate MSc programs last 14 months

The academic calendar is available here: https://www.richmond.ac.uk/academic-calendar/

We are very proud of our international community at Richmond, in fact most of our student body is from the US, Europe, and South Asia. Our Student Affairs team can help with a wide range of support needs, including:

• Careers/employability advice
• Wellbeing information, including accessing counselling or other healthcare
• Additional needs, such as disabilities, neurodiversity, or chronic illness
• Clubs and societies
• Visa information

You can reach Student Affairs anytime on [email protected].

Our Office of Careers and Internships within the Student Affairs directorate can help with a range of employability needs, including:

• Reviewing a cover letter or CV
• Structuring a job search
• Employability skills
• Accessing an internship

This will depend on your visa: at the time of writing, students on a student visa can work up to 20 hours during term time. At the time of writing, students on a visitor visa may not work (including volunteering) during your stay.

Visa advice may change, so please check the UK Government website regularly.

As an incoming undergraduate or visitor student:

• Check your inbox regularly – over the summer, our admissions team will be sending you reminders to the personal email address you provided in your application, asking you to complete a number of administrative steps.
• Book suitable housing (please contact us on [email protected] if you intend to book at iQ Haywood House so that we can assign you to the correct contract dates).
• A few weeks before Orientation, we will send you an email explaining how to set up your University IT account. This will be sent to your applicant email address.
• Once you have set up your IT account, you will be asked to complete your Pre-Orientation Checklist.

Please email Student Affairs [email protected] and we’ll be happy to talk about what support would help you achieve your potential.

You can request a letter here. Please give our team 2 working days (we do not work on letters over the weekend) to complete the request. Currently, in most cases we will be able to send you a copy of your letter over email.

Incoming students will receive access to email and other Richmond systems once you firmly accept your offer and pay our deposit (if applicable). You will be sent an email with a unique link to set up your account password.

If the steps within the Pre-Orientation Checklist have been completed and we do not need any additional information from you, then in the week leading up to Orientation you will receive an email invitation to the university portal, Blackboard. This is where we host additional materials for the week of Orientation along with notes for all of your classes.

If you are having any trouble with this, please email [email protected]

To access your student email, you must have set up your IT password first. Once you’ve done that, you can login at anytime at outlook.office.com. Your username will be your student ID number, followed by “@richmond.ac.uk”.

We recommend that you download the Outlook app in order to manage your student emails. Once you have installed the app, you can add your email account by following these instructions.

The cost of living is always changing but as a guide:

• People in the UK spend around £50 per week on average on household food (excluding takeaways or restaurant meals)
• The average monthly rent in London is c. £952 for a room
• If you plan to rent, be aware of any utility costs, deposit, and TV license

Please note that your first term is likely to be the most expensive. Before you join us, it’s important to ensure you have money to travel, study, and enjoy time with friends.

There are several helpful websites that operate in the UK that can help you find housing in London:

• spareroom.co.uk primarily helps individuals find a room
• rightmove.co.uk primarily helps a group to find a whole property of one or more bedrooms

We have several recommendations of nearby student accommodation – for more info, head to https://richmond.ac.uk/accommodation

iQ Haywood House is a third-party student accommodation site in West Hampstead, London. This is where many of our new students stay for at least their first term. iQ offer a range of room types and facilities, plus our Residence Life team live on-site and can help with any queries that you may have.

It’s about a 25 minute direct trip on the London Overground to get to our Chiswick campus from West Hampstead.

• Little Waitrose: 319 West End Ln
• Sainsburys Local: 204 West End Ln
• Tesco Express: 176-180 West End Ln
• Western Food Store: 116 West End Ln
• Hampstead Food & Drink: 200 West End Ln
• West Hampstead Greens: 243 West End Ln
• West Hampstead Farmers Market (every Saturday) : Iverson Road

You can also find two nearby convenience stores/news agents:

• Nisa: 102 West End Ln
• Londis: The Mansions, 33 Mill Ln

There are three gyms nearby to iQ Haywood House, plus a Virgin Active gym at Chiswick Business Park just a short walk from the University:

• The Gym at West Hampstead: 41 Fortune Green Road, 0844 384 3894
• Energie Fitness Gym: 34A-26 Kilburn High Road, 020 7624 8080
• HIIT Gyms: 198a Broadhurst Gardens, 020 7624 8080

Nearby you can also find two parks:

• West End Green, Mill Lane
• Fortune Green, Fortune Green Road

A little farther afield there’s also Hampstead Heath

Students attending Richmond on a visa, will need to collect their BRP cards as soon as possible. You will be sent a letter explaining what Post Office branch you should collect your card from.

Please pick up your BRP card as soon as possible, and bring it to Student Affairs so that we can make a copy.  Bring your passport with you to collect your BRP.

This will depend on the sort of visa that you used when you entered the country.

• If you are on a visitor visa from Europe, NHS services will likely be free but you must present a valid EHIC card. If you are a visitor from another country, we recommend that you purchase appropriate insurance in order to avoid being billed for unexpected healthcare.
• If you are on a student visa, you will receive access to the NHS via the health surcharge that is processed during your visa application. This entitles you to free NHS care for the duration of your visa.

In an emergency, phone 999 or attend an Accident And Emergency Unit (A&E). For non-emergencies, you should normally access healthcare through a General Practitioner (GP). You must register in advance with a GP – click below to search by postcode.

As a student, you will be eligible for discounted travel by train (using a Railcard) and on tubes (using a Student Oyster card). You can get both, but they must be ordered separately.

A railcard or Oyster card can only be purchased once you have registered for classes at the end of Orientation week. It may take several days to process.

To purchase a railcard, visit www.16-25railcard.co.uk. Don’t worry if you’re 26 or older, you will still qualify as a “mature student”. The railcard will give you 1/3 off most train tickets and costs £30 per year to purchase.

To request a student Oyster card, visit the Transport for London website and create an account using “Richmond the American International University in London” as your University. Your Student Oyster card will cost £25 to purchase and gives a 30% discount on weekly or monthly tube travel. It must be topped up online or at a tube station. Once your application is submitted it, we will approve it on-line and then it will be sent to your address.