Host Our Students

Each year EngXcel welcomes hundreds of students to the UK to study English and we are looking for people who can offer a home away from home.

If you have a spare room and can provide a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, then we need you!

​Our students join us for a minimum of one week and many of our students are looking for an opportunity to practise their English in a relaxed, homely setting in addition to studying English in class.

What do I need to do?

Think this might be for you? Scroll down to find out more about what's involved and to register your interest. Alternatively, if you're ready to sign up now, use the button to the right to skip to the sign up form.

First and foremost, we want our students to feel safe, comfortable and welcomed in their homestay home. As their homestay family, you will need to make sure to welcome them into your home, treating them as full members of the household, eating together and sharing the common living areas. The students are here to improve their English, so they'll want to chat to you to do this, as well as to get to know you and learn about life in the UK. A trip to Cambridge speaking only in a foreign language can be daunting, especially for some of our younger students, and a friendly face at home can really help!

What you need to provide...

Food:

• Breakfast and dinner -  these should offer a well-balanced diet, taking into account any reasonable dietary requirements students may have
• If hosting students from our group stays, you will typically need to provide a packed lunch on any Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays during their visit

Facilities:

• Clean and comfortable bedroom and living spaces, with natural light and adequate heating and lighting
• Clean bed linen and towels
• Full-sized beds with adequate duvets or blankets
• Sufficient washing facilities and access to a bathroom - this can be shared or private for the students' sole use
• A minimum of one laundry load per week for those students staying longer
• Desk or workspace for private study

There are a few stages between now and hosting your first students with us. This is for everyone's benefit - as well as making sure our students will have a happy stay with you, we want to make sure you have the best experience possible too, so we want to make sure you're happy with how things work and know what to expect. We'll be available to help at every stage and will try to ensure the process is smooth and efficient.

Stage 1

First, you'll need to complete an enquiry form to let us know what area you're in and what rooms you can offer - you can do that below. Once we receive this, our accommodation team will be in touch to provide any further information and arrange a home visit if your details match our needs.

Stage 2

Home visit - a member of our team will arrange a home visit with you to view the room/s and any common areas etc, talk to you about hosting with us and answer any questions you might have. 

Stage 3

Finally, we'll need to finish gathering any of the necessary documents we don't already have from you by this stage (see right for list).