Family Accommodation

We recognise that some students require accommodation for their partner and/or families. Glasgow Caledonian University do not offer family accommodation, therefore we recommend that families seek traditional private accommodation for the duration of their studies.

On top of decisions around schooling for your children or job opportunities for your partner, it is important to note that there is strict legislation around safeguarding of children under the age of 18. This includes having suitable arrangements regarding care and accommodation whilst you and your children are in the UK.

Please note however, there is a housing shortage in Glasgow meaning you should focus your search beyond the City. You can find more information about this and how to look for accommodation on our private accommodation webpages.

You can contact the Accommodation Support team for advice or guidance on the accommodation-finding process both within and out with the city centre.

Bringing your family to the UK is a big undertaking and the information below will help you make an informed decision on whether moving to the UK is the right choice for your family. If you plan on bringing multiple dependents with you, please bear in mind that the cost of living will increase accordingly. You should think about whether bringing your family with you to the UK for the duration of your studies is the right choice for them; you may consider joining them back home once you have completed your studies in Glasgow.

Please note that the total amount of money asked of you by UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) to prove that you can afford to sustain yourself in the UK does not currently reflect the cost of living at present in the UK, and we would encourage you to research this before coming. You will be asked whether you have arranged suitable accommodation for your family, we wish to remind students that they should be conducting their searches on verified letting websites. Please do not use unverified sources such as Gumtree, Facebook and SpareRoom when looking for accommodation for your family. We would also recommend that you don’t enter in to a contract for a private rental without having seen the property first. Due to the current accommodation crisis affecting parts of the UK, we have been advising students to book temporary accommodation for themselves for a number of weeks after their arrival so that they can find something more permanent. The earlier students begin to look for accommodation, and start to inform themselves of the true cost of living, the less of an impact this will have on them when they arrive.

Finding accommodation for you and your family will not only be costly but may take some time to arrange; therefore, you should be prepared to have to search for suitable accommodation once you arrive in Glasgow. Coming to the UK on your own in the first instance to find accommodation that most suits your needs is the best option; you can then bring your family to join you. The University has no accommodation for families and the Accommodation Support Team is unable to source accommodation for you.

As well as the cost of suitable family accommodation, you should consider other factors such as limited and expensive childcare facilities. Full-time childcare for children under school age is likely to cost around £1400 per month per child.

NOTE: If you have a Student Visa, your dependant partner is allowed to work full-time whilst you study in the UK. However, finding suitable employment may be difficult. Your partner may also have to consider their language skills when looking for employment. You and your family cannot rely on earnings from employment here in the UK to finance your stay in the UK. You and your dependants are not allowed to access public funds.

Glasgow Caledonian University can only offer accommodation to individual students, so if your family will be living with you, you will need to find private accommodation. Therefore, it is important that you plan ahead and ensure you have suitable accommodation in place before the arrival of your dependants, as currently the demand for private accommodation in Glasgow is high. However, whilst looking for permanent accommodation for your family, you may need to stay in temporary accommodation (ideally with friends or extended family or in an Airbnb or hotel).

You can contact any local letting agencies by finding them on the internet and viewing properties on their websites. We do not recommend paying any money or signing contracts without viewing the property. If possible, you can ask a friend or family member living in the UK to help as they will be more familiar with the market. You can get in touch with the Accommodation Support Team on accommodation.support@gcu.ac.uk, they can support you with any queries you may have about the legitimacy of a property.

When searching for accommodation, it is important that you provide letting agents or property owners with all relevant details. For example, you must tell them if children will be living in the property as some properties are not suitable for children. It is important that you share all relevant details, if a property owner later finds out that you have falsified information the contract can be broken.

Depending on where you come from you may think rental costs are reasonable or expensive. If looking for a two-bedroom property in Glasgow City Centre, on average it can cost around 1,200-1,800GBP per month. This does not included utilities or council tax as well as some properties may be unfurnished and this will need to be taken into consideration. Due to the current accommodation shortage and the rising cost of living, we are advising students to seek cheaper properties outside of Glasgow’s city centre on average £600-£900 (excluding bills).

When thinking about where to choose to live you may want to think about some of the following things:

What is your budget as this will help you figure out where you can afford to live?
How far the accommodation is from Glasgow Caledonian University?
Is it near local schools/childcare facilities and local amenities like a GP (doctor) surgery or play parks?
Are there good transport links?
Is city centre living right for my family? You may want to consider searching a little further away from the city centre. Some areas you may wish to consider are listed in our accommodation dossier.

Additional support

It is imperative that you secure accommodation before the arrival of your family, so that you can register with a GP and your child(ren) in school or nursery. It will be extremely challenging to do this living in temporary accommodation which can therefore result in childcare issues.

The advice that follows applies to dependent children of holders of student visas. Children who are staying with you for up to 6 months on a standard visitor visa are not eligible for public schooling or childcare.

Children aged 3-5 are entitled to up to 1140 hours per year of funded childcare. In Glasgow nurseries, you can access your child's funded entitlement from the Monday after their 3rd birthday. If you take more than 1140 hours in total, you will have to pay for the extra hours yourself.

Children between the ages of 5 and 16 must attend school. Your child will be accepted for free to a local state school. To find out more about how to enrol your child into school or for information about schools nearby, you can do so by visiting the appropriate Glasgow City Council websites. For before and after-school care, you can use register childminders; there is a fee for this service payable directly to the childminder. To use childminding services, you must utilise a registered childminder; information can be found on the official Scottish Childminding Association website. For other information about nurseries and childcare, please see our webpages.

If you have to pay for childcare, you should expect to pay from £200 per week and up to £1,400 a month per month. You can find more information about this here. However, the best option for childcare is to have your partner look after the children whilst you are in class. For obtaining a dependent visa for your child your confirmation that there will be adequate arrangements for the child's care and accommodation which must adhere to relevant UK and Scottish Government legislation.

We recognise that it can be a challenge balancing parenting with studying and that there may be times when it is necessary to bring your children onto campus. However, please ensure that they are supervised at all times and take into consideration that it is not appropriate for them to accompany you to classes.

Please find information below concerning nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools for children who are not registered yet:

Schools and Nurseries - Glasgow City Council

GFIS : Home

Please find added information concerning keeping your child safe:

Keeping your child safe - mygov.scot