Students are reminded of the laws in place to protect them as they look for accommodation ahead of the new academic year. It is important for students to be aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Private landlords

Most students will rent accommodation from private landlords and most private landlords comply with the law. 

All private landlords are required to register on the Landlord Registration Scheme.

Students can check at the following link if a landlord is on the register:

A landlord who does not register may face a fixed penalty of £500 or a court fine of up to £2,500. 

Deposits

Landlords normally ask for a deposit. That deposit is now protected under a scheme which ensures that if you’re entitled to get it back, you can be assured that this will happen.

Landlords must, within 28 days of receiving the deposit, notify the tenant of how the deposit has been protected. 

If, after 28 days of handing over the deposit, the tenant hasn’t received information about how it has been protected, they should report this immediately to the local council’s environmental health department.

A landlord who does not protect a tenant’s deposit may face a fixed penalty of three times the amount of the deposit or a court fine of up to £20,000.

You can find out more about the scheme at this link:

The pages below should also be useful:

Problems with your landlord

If you have any problems with your landlord, the following links have advice:

Sharing a house

You may be thinking of sharing a house with a few friends, or perhaps you’re moving into accommodation with people you don’t know. There are hints and tips on these pages:

Leaving a property

Before leaving a property which you have been renting there are a number of things you should do to make it go smoothly:

• contact service suppliers (like electricity, gas) to advise that you are leaving
• record any meter readings, if possible along with the landlord
• arrange for mail to be redirected
• clean the property
• contact the landlord to arrange for an inspection and return of your deposit
• secure the property when leaving
• return all sets of keys

More useful links

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The A and AS-Level results are out and guidance and advice is available to you on your next steps. Even if you didn’t get the grades you were expecting, all is not lost. While it may appear that a door has been closed, other doors are now open.

For thousands of students the waiting is nearly over. This year, AS/A Levels results will be published on Thursday 17 August and GCSE results on Thursday 24 August. Once you get your results you may have important decisions to make, and you can get guidance and advice from the Careers Service.

Contacting a careers adviser

Whether or not you get the grades you are expecting, it’s important to make an informed choice once you have your results.   

The Careers Service has a team of professionally-qualified careers advisers who offer impartial careers information, advice and guidance to people of all ages.

To contact a careers adviser you can:

Careers Service advisers will be available from 9.00 am to 7.30 pm to provide support to students and their parents on:

• Thursday 17 and Friday 18 August for A-Level students 
• Thursday 24and Friday 25 August for GCSE students

Online information

To help you explore your options, there is also lots of useful information available on nidirect, including articles on:

To find out more, please go to the following page:

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All babies born on or after 1 August 2017 are now being offered protection against hepatitis B as part of the universal childhood immunisation programme. This Hexavalent vaccine replaces the existing 5-in-1 vaccine that children routinely get.

Routine immunisation schedule

There has been no change to the immunisation schedule or to the number of injections – children will continue to be immunised at the ages of 8, 12 and 16 weeks. 

The only change is to the components of the vaccine itself, which now provides extra protection for hepatitis B, as well as protecting against:

• diphtheria
• tetanus
• whooping cough (pertussis)
• polio
• haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

It is already widely used with around 150 million doses having been given in 97 countries in Europe and across the world.

You can find out more about the vaccine at these links:

As adults are the majority of infected people, vaccinating children will help protect them in childhood from potential exposure to infected household or family members. 

Vaccinating infants will essentially reduce the risk of infection and will provide longer term protection against future exposure risks.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is spread by contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person. It can cause liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Hepatitis B can be passed on:

• through having unprotected sex
• from mother to baby
• from contact with infected blood in areas of the world where hepatitis B is more common

You cannot get hepatitis B by shaking hands, coughing, sneezing, sharing food, or by using the same toilet.

People with hepatitis B infection may not be aware that they are infected as chronic infection mostly has no symptoms. 

If you think you may have been exposed to the virus, even if this was many years ago, talk to your GP or nurse and get tested.

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Breastfeeding has many important health benefits for both mother and baby. Any period of breastfeeding, however short, will benefit your baby. People are being asked to show support for mums who breastfeed in public.