Academic Journey 3: Preparing Financially To Study in UK

Bismillah...

Here we go again with another MCO in Malaysia but this time the cases are even worst. We hit 9k cases 2 days ago, but luckily today it's down to 6824 cases. Alhamdulillah. However, a very frightening outbreak is happening in Labuan and the cases recorded have been more than 150 cases for the past 3-4 days. I'm worried for my family in Labuan; keep reminding them to stay at home and praying hard for Allah's protection from afar.

As of today, I have not received any news regarding my MARA application and still patiently waiting. The results are slowly being released via email and MARA is prioritizing those who are about to enroll in May and July. I just hope by the time the result is out, I still have ample time to prepare for my departure to UK. Alhamdulillah, I have settled all the other documents to apply for study leave but there are still two required documents that I have not obtained which are my scholarship offer and my Unconditional Offer Letter. I have written to the university and emailed them again today after about 3 weeks. The process is quite slow as universities are dealing with high volume of enquiries. I just wrote to them again to inform the urgency. I will write another post detailing how to apply for study leave, InshaAllah.

While there is not much to do at this phase, I decided to meticulously study how much money should I prepare and to my surprise, I will need to prepare more than RM 10k to be safe. Here is the rough breakdown 

Student visa: £348

Immigration Health Surcharge: £470

Accommodation deposit: £250

One-way Ticket: ~ RM1500

Student Visa and Immigration Health Surcharge

I can't detail how the process is like yet but I will update in a future post, inshaAllah. But the process will differ depending on which university you are applying to. Here's the info page in British Council Page and this one from GOV.UK.

For the TB test, only a check up from an approved clinic will be accepted. In Kota Kinabalu, the appointed center is KPJ Sabah, the fee is RM 190 and you can contact this number to make an appointment 088-322000. Here is the link to the TB testing guide. I emailed KPJ to ask whether I can bring over a chest X-Ray from another medical check up since I'm going to do one for MARA anyway. The answer is no. You will have to undergo the whole process all over again hahaha

I just learned that IDP offers free consultation services that cover almost all aspects of studying abroad. I thought they only help with IELTS application hahaha. And you might be waived from the unibersity application fee if you apply through them so I guess you should give it a shot as the services are free of charge. Well, there might be some charges for document verification, courier service etc.

Accommodation

Well, London is famous for its high rental cost but I have no idea how much is HIGH. And when I went to do my research, the rental fees are shocking! There are rooms that cost £150 per week but they are quite far from the university which means I will still have to spend a lot for transportation. Those nearby cost £250-£400 per week, undeniably comfortable too.

I finally applied for the university halls and I specified my preference for halls that house postgraduates only. I also opted for a single room; at this age I am willing to pay more for comfort hahaha But the thing is I might be taking an unpaid leave instead of Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh (CBBP) as this was a requirement by MARA in the past. There are rumours saying that the current scholars are taking CBBP. I really hope this is true so I have one less thing to worry hahaha

For now, I haven't paid anything since the halls allocation will be done from 1st July. But after they emailed the result, you will have to respond within 3 days and pay the £250 deposit. You will not get a refund if you decide to cancel.

Another option that I found quite affordable is actually the MARA house but an 8 weeks deposit is required and that alone is around RM9000. And the traveling time to UCL is approximately 35 minutes by bus so I rather spend a few more pounds to cut the traveling time hahaha 

Flight ticket and travel

I am not a fan of long flights thus I will definitely make a transit in the middle east. However, UK categorized countries into green, amber and red and all categories have different rules and SOP for transit and quarantine during arrival. Here is the link and it is frequently updated. I will most probably buy my flight ticket a few weeks before because it will be such a hassle if suddenly the country at which I choose to transit switch to a different category.

The GREP Telegram members are currently discussing about whether or not to apply for My Travel Pass. But when I checked just now, it seems like it is not required for those intending to study abroad. And then again, this is subject to change.

There are so many uncertainties since I haven't got any news from MARA. Whatever the result will be I will have to accept with an open heart despite all the efforts I made. That is all for now. I hope this will be helpful for others in the future. I will keep on posting on my journey, inshaAllah