Homestay Handbook 2026

Please find below a more in-depth coverage on homestay details, with a navigation panel to the left. If you are still uncertain about anything after reading through, try visiting our FAQ, where we provide answers to even more questions (even very specific ones!). If you can’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!

Office: (0900~1700 Monday ~ Friday) 01904 622250
Out-of-hours emergencies: 0770 259 6819
Accommodation Manager: 07780 708 678
Excursion Mobile: 0783 789 0626
Email: booking@melton-college.co.uk

What is homestay?

Most of our students choose homestay accommodation. Homestay is the description used by our industry to describe living as part of a family. Many people still use the term ‘Host Family’ but this is thought by some to be misleading as it might lead students to expect mum, dad and 2-4 children! We place students with families, couples and single people. We mainly offer twin rooms, but we do also use triple rooms, particularly during the summer. There are a limited number of single rooms available. We place a maximum of two students per room and four students in any household.

There are certain limitations on what can be called homestay. To be described as homestay, the hosts treat the student as a full member of the household, eating together and sharing the common living areas; no more than four students will be accommodated in homestay accommodation at any one time.

Our small number of adult students (40+) stay in single rooms. Our juniors aged 11-19, can share, but no more than two students can share a bedroom (other than we the agreement of parents).

Who are the students?

All our students come to Melton College to learn English. This means that they have an English language ability ranging from very weak to very strong. We also have students from a wide range of countries and from a wide age range, from 11 on our junior courses to over 80 on our ‘Gold’ courses. However, the average age during the year is about 22 and during the summer about 16.

Requirements

A clean safe environment (compliance with safety regulations)
Single room for adult students (unless sharing with another Melton College student)
Adequate heat and light
Space to hang/store clothes
A reasonable amount of washing (but not ironing)
A desk to work at in their bedroom or a table elsewhere in the house in a quiet area
Reasonable access to toilet/washing facilities (bath or shower daily)
Breakfast and a substantial, cooked evening meal.
Reasonable mealtimes. Meals eaten with host(s)
Packed lunch Monday-Saturday for students on Homestay Extra only.
Lunch at the weekend (or packed lunch) for all students
A change of towels and bed linen weekly
The opportunity to chat and practice English, especially at meal-times

Gold Course participants (40+) can request a private bathroom, if available

What you and your student should expect

Students expect

A room matching or exceeding the minimum requirements highlighted above

Homestay hosts can expect from the students

Punctuality at agreed mealtimes
Politeness
To keep their bedroom in a reasonable state
To only invite friends round with your permission
That they will only store and prepare food with your agreement
Not to use the telephone without permission
Students over 18 to return at night at a reasonable time or to be quiet and responsible
Younger students to obey College curfews. Students with a Group may have a curfew set by their leader.
To observe any house rules, including those to protect young children (stair gates etc.)
That they will keep any medicine or dangerous substances out of reach of young children
That their arrival and departure will be at an acceptable time (05:00 –01:00)
That they will not make you feel pressured into providing additional services (e.g. ironing)
To pay for any damage
That they will not ask you to lend them money or to look after their valuables

Homestay hosts can expect from the College

Accurate and regular payment for hosting students
Unless we have given you notice that a student may fail to arrive, one week’s payment in lieu
Up to one week’s payment, if a student moves/leaves or is moved without reasonable cause
A 24-hour help-line for any problems
Significant information about the student known by the College
An honest appraisal of the likelihood of receiving student

Who are the students?

Many of you will also take students from other schools in the City. We do ask that, if we offer you a student, you inform us if there will be any other students in the house at the same time. Our students cannot share a room with a student from another school. If our student is under 18, they cannot be in the same house as a student from another school without our first getting the agreement of our student’s parents.

Can I choose which type of student to host?

As a homestay provider you can select students on a number of different criteria. But remember, the more restrictive you are, the fewer students we will be able to place. The main criteria are:

Age - We divide students into 2 groups: Juniors and Gold.
Gender - You can choose to host male students, female students or both.
Diet - You can accept or refuse students with special diets. You can choose to accept vegetarians (even if you are not vegetarian).
Smokers - You can choose not to accept smokers. It is worth commenting that some teenage students are not completely honest about their smoking habits – particularly if they have completed the application form in front of Mum and Dad!

Care of Juniors

We ask the homestay provider and all adults in the house to undertake a DBS check.

We do appreciate that you place trust in the College in accepting students from us. Please be assured that we take steps to ensure that students are suitable guests, particularly in homes with children.

If you do have a current DBS check please do make sure that you inform us in the ‘You and Your Household’ form

How do we place students?

As part of their application, our students provide us with a number of pieces of information about themselves.

In addition, we give them the opportunity to make specific requests. We also ask you about your household and enter the information you give us on the form ‘About You and Your Family’ onto our system to help give us a good match.

We will send you an email saying we would like to place a student with you. This will give a few details about the student including whether he/she is vegetarian, has medical problems, etc, together with date of birth and arrival in York date.
If you are happy to take the student, then please reply to the email or telephone the College. If you wish to decline, the process is the same, but we would ask that you respond quickly so that we can find another suitable host. If you have to decline because you will be unavailable, please let us know which days will be affected then we can update our system. Please contact the College within three days of receiving the email. If we do not hear from you after three days, we may offer the student to a different host.
Nearer the time of the student’s arrival we will send you another email giving details of precisely when the student will arrive in York and either delivered to your home or where/if you will be required to collect.
At a later date (probably during the student’s stay) we will send details by email of the students departure.

Student arrival and departure

Rooms should be available from 1200 on the Sunday before the student’s course until 1200 on the Sunday after their course.

Most students will be delivered to your house, usually by taxi.

Some students, will need to be collected from Holgate Park on arrival and delivered to Holgate Park on departure.

If you are happy for us to do so, we are quite happy to help co-ordinate car sharing for hosts living in the same area. This is especially beneficial with students arriving as part of a group. If you make your own sharing arrangements, you must let the College know in advance. If you arrange for a family member to collect a student, you must let us know. We can’t send students away with people we do not have information about.

If you are unable to collect or deliver a student, then we can arrange for them to be delivered or collected by taxi. The cost of this will be £10 per journey. If you would prefer to arrange the taxi yourself, please make sure we are aware of your plans.

For any students arriving at Holgate Park in a group it is essential that we can contact you on the day of arrival so that we can inform you of delays or early arrivals. This will save you time and ensure that you are there to greet your student.

Some students may be delivered and collected from your home. When you have received arrival or departure information please ensure you are at home to greet your student and on departure to say goodbye.

Evening and Sunday Events

Melton College requires that all Junior Course students inform their host when they are leaving the house during the evening and on Sunday.

All students on the Junior Courses must go on all excursions.

If they are ill or if you know they are going to be late, please ring the teacher leading the excursion on the excursion mobile number, on the back cover.

All Junior Course students must return by the Curfew times set by the College. Please note, these times cannot be changed by the student, their parents, relations, agents, teachers. Group leaders may set earlier curfews!

Students leaving the York area during their stay.

Junior Course students may not leave York unless you have been advised by Melton College that this has been authorised. Should your student advise you that they plan to leave York, and you are not aware of permission having been given, please remind them of this College policy. Please contact the College (either on the college number during working hours, or the Emergency phone at other times).

Students travelling with group

Many students come to Melton College as part of a group. The group is almost always led either by a leader employed by a travel agency or by the students’ teacher, or both. All of the arrangements in this handbook are agreed in advance with the agency or school as part of the booking process. They cannot be changed by leaders or teachers, once in the UK. In practical terms, this means that the leader or teacher cannot, for example, change the curfew times without consulting the college first or ask you to provide additional meals etc. Some groups are either on special programmes or have additional activities. When we have arranged these in advance, we will tell you about them, when we offer you the student. Additional arrangements made by the leader or teacher must be made with the knowledge and agreement of the College (please contact us if you suspect this is not the case!). If a group leader or teacher makes arrangements which involve you collecting the students, then we will be very grateful if you do. However, you are not obliged to do so and, should the student need to come home by taxi, then you are not expected to cover the costs. Where additional plans are made, we will try to contact you by email and/or text and send a note home with the student. Our younger students are the same as teenagers the world over and many notes home leave the College but fail to arrive! It is always worth asking students if they have a note to hand over.

FAQ

If you are still uncertain about anything, try visiting our FAQ, where we provide answers to even more questions (even very specific ones!). If you can't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to get in contact with us, either via our Contact Form, or by email.

Payment

Payment is made at the end of the week (Friday) directly into your bank account. Please note often groups arrive midweek and stay until the following week. For example:- arrive Tuesday depart Tuesday of following week. You will be paid on the Friday for five nights then the following Friday for two nights.

You will be paid £29.50 per night for junior students (and Gold Course students if sharing a room. You will be paid £49.50 per night for Gold Course students if not sharing.

Students who are vegan, Celiac or with a severe allergy attract an additional payment of £4 per night.

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