Why?

Moving to a new place is exciting...

... but stressful if you are unsure about details or don't have any friends there.

International Student Welcome (ISW) offers friendship and support for international students new to Cambridge University. It is hosted by friendly students and residents who already know Cambridge and are willing to answer small (and big) questions that aren't always easy to figure on your own.

The friendly faces of ISW volunteers will meet you at the coach and railway stations upon arrival and help you locate your college (if you arrive between a certain two-week window).

We also have a number of events where you can meet freshers like you and current students. Those events will help you to make friends and explore the University as you settle in.

ISW is organised by the Christian Graduate Society (CGS) for all new international students alongside Friends International with student volunteers from the CGS, Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), Cambridge Chinese Christian Fellowship (CCCF) and various local volunteers from different churches.

Buddy System

We seek to warmly welcome all international students to the town and university of Cambridge, welcoming them as our friends and supporting them in their needs through different events and by running a buddy system for new international students. For more information about the buddy system and to sign up, please click here. Please do share this link with any new international students who may be interested. We can't wait to meet you!

Where we cannot help

Before contacting us...

... here's how we can and cannot help.

The ISW team will assist you in any way it can, but there are some areas where we will not be able to, and you may wish to look elsewhere. We are always happy to point you in the right direction.

What we CAN do: When you arrive in Cambridge, we can show you where you need to go from there. We can help you find out further information about your college or accommodation that you may need, and we can tell you a lot of general day-to-day things about living and working here.
A lot of useful information will be found in our Welcome Booklet when we release this in the coming weeks, so watch out for this!

What we CANNOT do for you: We cannot offer academic advice. Questions about which courses to take or what study options would work best for you are best directed to academic staff in the relevant departments. Contact details for various university and college staff can be found here.
We are also unable to advise about scholarships and funding, and would again direct you to the relevant staff in your own colleges and departments, although some information about graduate funding can be found here.