Global Student Shipping
What are you moving?
Ship Your Student Belonging Anywhere in the World with Anglo Pacific
Heading off to university overseas or coming to the UK to study? Our international student shipping service sends your suitcases and boxes ahead of your flight, so your belongings are waiting for you when you arrive, without airline excess fees or check-in queues. Whether you are a UK student moving to a university abroad or an international student starting your course in the UK, we handle the lot: collection from your home, freight, customs, and delivery to your student accommodation.
Anglo Pacific has shipped students’ belongings internationally for over 40 years, with more than 20,000 consignments handled every year in both directions. We collect from any UK address (including university halls of residence and family homes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge and beyond) and deliver to your destination address worldwide.
How Much Does Student Shipping Cost
Student shipping is priced by the volume of your shipment, not by the kilogram at check-in, so there are no excess baggage shocks at the airport. We charge a fixed price per shipment, agreed at the time of booking, that covers UK collection, freight, customs documentation and door-to-door delivery to your student accommodation.
- Single suitcase by sea freight: from around £180 door to door. Cheaper than most airlines’ excess fees for a single extra checked bag.
- Single suitcase by air freight: from around £320 door to door if you need it faster.
- Two to three boxes plus a suitcase (around 0.5 cubic metres) by sea freight: from around £290.
- A small flat’s worth of student belongings (around 1 cubic metre) by sea freight: from around £550.
Quotes are fixed at the time of booking. For an exact figure based on what you are shipping and where it is going, send us a quick inventory and we will respond the same working day.
Student shipping runs on two routes: sea freight and air freight. The right choice depends on how soon you need your belongings and how much you are sending.
Sea freight: cheapest for most students
Sea freight is the most cost-effective option for student shipping and works well if you can post your belongings a few weeks before term starts. The per-cubic-metre rate drops as your volume increases, so consolidating suitcases and boxes into one shipment is almost always the cheapest way to send student luggage overseas.
- Transit time: typically 2 to 4 weeks for European destinations, 4 to 8 weeks for Asia and the Middle East, 5 to 9 weeks for North America, and 8 to 12 weeks for Australia and New Zealand. Your destination page sets out exact transit windows.
- Best for: anyone with flexibility around term dates, most international undergraduate moves, anyone shipping more than a single suitcase.
- Cost: cheapest option for student volumes.
Air freight: faster, for last-minute or smaller shipments
Air freight is the faster option if you have left it close to term start or are sending only a small load that needs to arrive quickly. Air freight typically delivers within 3 to 10 days door to door, depending on destination.
- Transit time: 3 to 5 days for European destinations, 5 to 10 days for long-haul destinations.
- Best for: last-minute shipments, single suitcase, anyone whose timing is tighter than sea freight allows.
- Cost: more per kilogram than sea freight, but materially faster.
Getting the timing right matters more for student shipping than for most other moves, because your belongings need to arrive after you can take delivery but before you actually need them. Here is how to plan it.
Outbound: UK students going to university abroad
- Plan backwards from your move-in date: if your accommodation opens on 15 September and you want belongings waiting, your shipment needs to arrive by then or shortly after you do.
- Sea freight: book 8 to 12 weeks before your move-in date for Australia, New Zealand or distant destinations. 4 to 8 weeks for Asia or North America. 2 to 4 weeks for Europe.
- Air freight: book 2 to 3 weeks before move-in date, regardless of destination.
- Delivery address: confirm with your university or accommodation provider that they will accept inbound parcels in your name. Most halls will, but some prefer a date close to or after your arrival.
Inbound: international students coming to study in the UK
- Plan backwards from your UK move-in date: most UK universities open accommodation in mid to late September.
- Sea freight: book 8 to 12 weeks before from Australia, New Zealand, the Americas or Asia. 4 to 8 weeks from the Middle East or Europe.
- Air freight: book 2 to 3 weeks before, regardless of origin.
- UK delivery address: most universities accept inbound parcels at halls. Confirm the address format your university uses (some require a room number, others use a building-level address).
End of term and end of degree shipments
At the end of a term or your degree, the same service runs in reverse. We collect from your overseas student accommodation and deliver back to your UK home address (or vice versa for international students returning home). End-of-term shipments are usually less time-sensitive than the move-in shipment, which means sea freight is often the most cost-effective choice.
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Why Choose Anglo Pacific for Student Shipping
Students get a raw deal from airlines on baggage. One extra 23kg checked bag can cost £60 to £120 per leg, and the airline weight limit means you are usually picking what to leave behind by the door. Our service is designed to solve that. Here is what our full-service international student shipping includes:
- Cheaper than airline excess fees: single-suitcase sea freight from around £180 door to door, against £120+ for a single airline excess bag (one leg, before international long-haul surcharges).
- No weight limit per bag: we charge by total shipment volume, so you can pack a heavy case of textbooks alongside lighter clothing.
- Fixed pricing, no surprises: your quote is fixed at the time of booking. No per-kilogram surcharges, no surprise port charges.
- Packing materials available: we can supply sturdy double-walled boxes and packing materials with collection if you prefer not to source your own.
- Collection from anywhere in the UK: university halls of residence, family home, student flat. We collect from any UK address.
- Delivery to student accommodation: we deliver to your university halls, off-campus flat or any address you nominate at the destination.
- Customs handled for you: international shipments need customs paperwork at the destination, which we prepare and submit on your behalf.
- Both directions covered: the same service runs in reverse when you finish your course and need to ship belongings home to the UK.
Student Shipping Cost
Student shipping is priced by the volume of your shipment, not by the kilogram at check-in, so there are no excess baggage shocks at the airport. We charge a fixed price per shipment, agreed at the time of booking, that covers UK collection, freight, customs documentation and door-to-door delivery to your student accommodation.
- Single suitcase by sea freight: from around £180 door to door. Cheaper than most airlines’ excess fees for a single extra checked bag.
- Single suitcase by air freight: from around £320 door to door if you need it faster.
- Two to three boxes plus a suitcase (around 0.5 cubic metres) by sea freight: from around £290.
- A small flat’s worth of student belongings (around 1 cubic metre) by sea freight: from around £550.
International Students Coming to Study in the UK
A significant share of our student shipping work is inbound to the UK. If you are an international student starting an undergraduate or postgraduate course in the UK, we can ship your belongings from your home country to your UK university accommodation. The service runs the same way as outbound: door-to-door collection in your home country, freight, UK customs handled by us, delivery to your halls or off-campus address.
- Collection from your home country: our partner agents collect from your home address.
- UK customs handled: we complete UK customs paperwork on your behalf. Students arriving on a study visa may be able to claim relief on used personal belongings; we will advise on your specific situation when we quote.
- Delivery to your university accommodation: we deliver to halls of residence, off-campus housing or any UK address you nominate.
- End-of-course shipping back home: when your course ends, we can ship your belongings back to your home country under the same service.
For more on what to pack and what to leave behind, our packing smart for students guide has practical advice for international students moving to the UK.
Interested in anything else?
Reviews
Call us to arrange your video survey.
A video survey allows us to virtually assess the volume of your move. Using your phone or laptop as the camera, you can guide us from room to room showing the objects you wish to move. It allows us to see anything fragile, so we can arrange appropriate packing for you, and check things like access to your property to avoid changes to your quotation at a later date.
Our Anglo Pacific app offers cyber security and is GDPR compliant. It’s really easy to set up, call us and we’ll agree a suitable appointment time for your online meeting. It’s as simple as that!
- Book a remote video survey
- Show us your items
- Get your quote
Student shipping is priced by shipment volume, not by the kilogram. As an indicative range, a single suitcase by sea freight typically starts from around £180 door to door, with air freight from around £320. Two to three boxes plus a suitcase (around 0.5 cubic metres) by sea freight starts from around £290. Larger volumes attract better per-cubic-metre rates. For an exact quote, send us a quick inventory and your university destination and we will respond the same working day.
Sea freight is the cheapest student shipping option for almost everyone. The per-cubic-metre rate drops as your volume increases, so consolidating suitcases and boxes into one shipment is usually cheaper than booking smaller shipments separately, and almost always cheaper than airline excess baggage fees. If you can post your belongings 6 to 12 weeks before term starts (depending on destination), sea freight is the right answer for cheap student shipping.
Yes. We collect from any UK address, including university halls of residence, off-campus student flats and family homes. We work with students in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge and every other UK university city. Booking is the same regardless of address type: tell us where to collect from when you quote.
Yes. We deliver to halls of residence, off-campus student housing or any address you nominate at the destination. Most universities accept inbound parcels in students’ names. Confirm with your accommodation provider that they will accept the shipment in your name, and confirm the address format the building uses (some halls need a room number, others use a building-level address).
Plan backwards from your move-in date. For sea freight, allow 8 to 12 weeks for Australia, New Zealand or distant destinations, 4 to 8 weeks for Asia or North America, and 2 to 4 weeks for Europe. For air freight, allow 2 to 3 weeks regardless of destination. If you have left it close to term start, we will tell you honestly whether sea freight still works or whether air is the only realistic option.
In most cases, yes. Airline excess fees commonly run £60 to £120 per extra checked bag per leg, with international long-haul fees often higher. A single 23kg suitcase shipped by sea freight starts from around £180 door to door, and the saving scales as you ship more (you would pay the airline twice or three times the airline excess fee for the equivalent volume). You also avoid airline weight limits, which can mean leaving items behind at the gate.
Yes. International student shipping into the UK is one of the most common uses of our service. We collect from your home country, handle freight and UK customs, and deliver to your UK university accommodation. Students arriving on a study visa may be able to claim customs relief on used personal belongings, and we will advise on your specific situation when we quote.
Yes. The same service runs in both directions. We collect from your overseas student accommodation and deliver to your UK home address (or vice versa for international students returning home). End-of-term shipments are usually less time-sensitive than the move-in shipment, which means sea freight is often the most cost-effective option.
A useful rule of thumb: ship anything that is hard to replace or has personal value, and buy locally anything that is bulky and cheap to buy where you are going. Worth shipping: clothing, bedding from home, books, electronics, sentimental items, kitchenware you actually use. Often better to buy locally: cheap kitchenware, bulk linens, hangers, basic furniture, anything heavy and inexpensive. The exception is textbooks, which are often cheaper to ship from the UK than to buy locally.
The same rules apply to student shipments as to any international shipment. Prohibited items in most destinations include narcotics, weapons, certain plant and animal products, perishable food, live plants and seeds. Australia and New Zealand have strict biosecurity rules on used outdoor kit (boots, sports equipment). Some destinations restrict e-cigarettes and vape products (notably Thailand) or alcohol. Your destination page has the specifics, and you can always check with us in advance about anything unusual.