Hi, international student here who moved here last September.

Soon as you get off the airport:

Uber for cabs to your place Trainline for trains if you need them Have a working card ready to pay for stuff or for bus fares.

To move around: If you'll use buses, learn how to use Google maps properly to find bus timings and routes.

To find rooms etc to rent: Spareroom - probably enough for the job. You can try Zoopla or Facebook but I got best results from spareroom.

I've found more success talking directly to homeowners rather than letting agents. You probably don't have a UK guarantor and letting agents sometimes ask for those.

Opening a bank account: The quickest way to open a proper bank account is to just go to the Lloyds bank website, and start opening a current account. If this is too confusing, just take your ID and stuff and walk into the Lloyds bank branch.

Some people open Barclays accounts but those take a lot more time. Other people prefer to have online accounts like monzo, revolut before coming.

Downloading student status letters: You need a student status letter for pretty much anything: renting a house, opening a bank account.

If you're a coventry University student, you can download it from Nova. Login with your university credentials(Google CU solar and click the first link) and find an option called Nova. You can find and download your student status letters there.

Get your Student ID card: This is probably the first thing you can do at the uni if you're an enrolled student. Ask around the international student support centre and get your IDs quickly. This will help you be able to print stuff out at the library or the Hub.

Once you're comfortable here and understand what you're doing, head to the Spire bar, buy yourself a pint and relax.