Why Community Living is the Secret to Beating Student Loneliness Abroad

Uni overseas is all about experience, new city, new friends, new life. But to so many international students, especially on arrival in Britain, that excitement can be quickly overshadowed by an unexpected and often unspoken challenge: loneliness. 

It is not really homesickness — it is cultural adjustment, acclimatization, and above all, pre-migration support network deprivation. A 2023 report by Student Minds UK discovered that over 68% of foreign students reported loneliness during their initial three months in the country. 

And it's where student accommodation benefits you — and no, not in that we all gather round the kitchen table together to eat, not that we do. We mean student accommodation that unites you: shared lounges which for some reason become impromptu Netflix binge-fest party central, shared study room which gets taken over as group project HQ, and shared activities which transform strangers into friends and flatmates into friends and so on. 

At Acolyte Living, we’ve seen firsthand how powerful a sense of belonging can be. Properties that emphasize community — through social events, student-led activities, and shared spaces — report significantly higher satisfaction rates and student retention. One of our recent internal surveys showed that students living in community-style accommodations were 42% less likely to report feelings of homesickness compared to those in isolated studio lets. 

Naturally, Gen Z doesn't necessarily want to find a home. They want homes where they feel loved, heard, and seen. Is it to have somebody go with them to class, be able to celebrate Diwali outside of the home, or even just to round up a crew and whip up dinner in on a Saturday night — all of those little things make an incredibly big difference. 

In an age of globalization, home is far away and stress in school is crushing, neighborhood is no luxury but a requirement. So whether you're an international student new to town or a parent who cares about the foreign child's psyche, hear this: getting the right kind of accommodation may be the wisest thing you do. 

For indeed, there is a working student who is a cheerful student. And there should never be anyone at all who is alone — not even when he is starting.