Sanctuary Students has teamed up with Convera, a leader in global payment services, to offer international students a simple way to pay for their accommodation fees in their home currency. Following the UKs vote to leave the European Union, the British pound is not as strong as it was before the vote in June 2016. This means that paying your rent in full in your home currency could be up to 12.2% cheaper than 8 months ago.

If you’re a student from China, looking to study at one of Manchester’s universities for the 2017/18 year, you could save money by paying now in Chinese Yuan. For example, a room at Sanctuary Students Grafton Street costs £6,225 (based on a 50 week contract for a double en-suite bedroom). By paying the full yearly amount in CNY in advance, you can save up to 7,212 CNY* compared to 23 June 2016, the day of the Brexit vote (11.9% cheaper).

For the same contract, other international students can see the following savings:

• Eurozone students - €721* that’s 8.9% cheaper

• American students - $1,564* that’s 16.9% cheaper

• Malaysian students – 2,722 MYR* that’s 7.3% cheaper

These rates aren’t likely to stay and could start to climb back up to higher levels soon. So, if you are an international student who has applied for a room with us for 2017/18 and accepted your offer, why not take advantage of these favourable exchange rates?

Paying your rent for the year now will save you money and time. You can pay by international bank transfer using your own currency and your rate will be locked for three days so even if rates start to climb, the price you’ll pay won’t.

(*figures correct as of December 2016)