Welfare Support

Health & Emergency Care

We take our duty of care very seriously and are committed to the wellbeing of our students. Prior to arrival at OIC, we will ask you to complete a health questionnaire to provide us with the information we need to ensure you are well looked after. Students will also be asked to complete an Emergency Care consent form. This allows us to provide for you in any situations where emergency medical care may be needed.

OIC requires students to register with a local doctor in Oxford, and we have access to an excellent team of local GPs. Similar arrangements should be made to register with a dentist and an optician if necessary.

Medical treatment on the British National Health Service is generally free to international students, but there are fairly complex requirements for a free service, especially for students on short visas. We recommend strongly that you take out medical insurance before leaving home to cover hospital stays or return home in the event of accident or illness. We are currently looking into providing opt-in private health insurance to our students; please reach out to Student Services to learn more.

Guardianship

Students under the age of 18 must have a guardian. If 18 or over, we still strongly recommend that you have a guardian, so that there is someone in the UK who can act on your parents’ behalf in the event of an emergency.

A guardian may be a relative or a family friend. Some international students may choose to use professional guardianship companies: the College can provide advice on this if necessary.

Each of our boarding houses is staffed by houseparents, who have a welfare and disciplinary role. They are also the first point of contact should any personal need arise. Students are asked to stay in touch with the houseparents at all times.

Welfare & Safeguarding

We understand that living in a foreign country while undergoing an ambitious academic programme can be a struggle. To support our high achievers, there is a comprehensive welfare system in place. Each student is assigned a mentor and a progress tutor to counsel them throughout their school experience, and they have monthly one-to-one meetings to ensure their wellbeing.

Our Student Services team is available for a chat at any time and prepared to offer logistical support (such as booking doctor’s appointments, taxis, flights, hotels etc.) to ensure our students feel safe and at home both in the college and the country. The Principal, the Student Services Manager, Extracurricular Manager, Chief Education Officer, and Progress Tutor Manager are all available to speak to any student seeking help.

We foster an informal, friendly environment and mentor-mentee relationships between our students and staff, which encourages students to speak up if they need any support – be it academic or personal.

Where the support needed is of a more sensitive and personal nature, a student may prefer to speak to the one of the Safeguarding Team who will be pleased to offer whatever help they can. An appointment may be arranged at any time, and in a situation demanding more immediate support and advice, is given priority. In certain circumstances, we may enlist the help of an independent counsellor. Such meetings are entirely confidential.