Having an International Student Buddy

The International Student Buddying Scheme is for new full-time international students. Your International Student Buddy will share their own university experiences with you and be on hand with friendly advice, whether it's telling you where a certain room is on campus, reassuring you that juggling the demands of university life is possible or telling you where to get the best cup of coffee on campus!

If you are starting a full-time course at York in the Autumn, you will be able to request an International Student Buddy from early September 2025, once you have completed the online enrolment task.

The application for having a Buddy for the academic year 2025/26 will open in early September 2025.

Contact us

If you have any questions relating to having or being an International Student Buddy, please contact the International Student Buddying Team.

international-support@york.ac.uk

What to expect if you request a Buddy

International Student Buddies are current students who have volunteered in this unpaid role to help you settle into university life at York.

Your Buddy will share their own University experiences with you as well as offering friendly advice in response to any questions or concerns you may have. They will have completed training and will also have the support of the staff team who coordinate the Buddying Scheme.

Providing you request a Buddy by the deadline, you will meet your buddy at one of the matching events:

- 12:30-3 pm, 24th September 2025

- 12:30-3 pm,1st October 2025

Some of the things you might like to talk to your Student Buddy about include:

What will your first month at the University be like
What is it like to study in the UK
The different things you can get involved in at the University
Ways to meet other like-minded students
Tips on studying at university level and the differences between school/college study and university study
Where can you go to get support
The best place to go on campus for a coffee
Different things to do in and around York

Opting out or changing your Buddy

If you are matched with an International Student Buddy but decide that you no longer wish to be part of the scheme, please email international-support@york.ac.uk to tell us. You will receive an automatic response asking you to fill in a self-referral form. Please ignore this request.

It is absolutely fine to opt out of the scheme at any time, but you need to let us know so that your Buddy doesn't continue trying to contact you.

If you would like to change your International Student Buddy, you can also email international-support@york.ac.uk, and we will try our best to match you with a different Buddy.