Become a Host Family
Share your home, language, and culture with a foreign exchange student.
Paid Host Family opportunities available for £200/week.
If your family lives anywhere in the UK, and you would enjoy welcoming a guest who wants to come to learn English as a foreign language in a friendly homestay, then Belaf may be interested in placing a student with you.
Typically, our students are aged between 11 and 17 years old, and would be matched carefully to suit the interests and ages of your own children. The intention is that they are closely integrated with your family, normally during the summer holidays. Consequently they do not attend a language school, and so it would not normally suit both parents working. They do come with their own pocket money but they will be expected to be treated as one of your family in terms of outings and treats.
How It Works
The students, aged between 11 and 17, usually visit during the summer months for two to three weeks to experience English family life and to practise and improve their English. We are not just looking for accommodation but for families willing to take the children into their home and include them in their family life. It will be a bit like ‘adopting’ a child for a short time. You can be assured that we shall only offer you someone who we know will fit in easily with your family and way of life.
When we have students seeking homestays, we will phone or email you to discuss the placement and proposed dates of the visit. You can then decide whether you would like to accept or not.
Further Information
Accommodation: it is not essential for the child to have his/her own bedroom. Most are quite happy to share with one of your own children provided that they are the same age and sex. Those who go to families with young children, or whose children are not at home, will obviously require their own room.
Study: Each child will have one or two hours of private study to do each day, involving written exercises, a daily diary recording their experiences, observations and impressions, and a vocabulary sheet. The student. may also have arranged time with a virtual tutor, so appropriate time and space to allow the student to complete their work must be provided.
School: If you have teenage children who are still at school at the time of the visit, you may be able to arrange for your guest to attend school with one of your own children, either on a full-time or part-time basis.
Holidays: you are totally free to make whatever plans you wish for the stay. If you are going on holiday or away for the weekend, you can take your guest with you. (Note: We will require additional risk assessments to approve any holidays).
Restrictions: Because the children come to learn English, they will expect to be in a family whose first language is English. For the same reason, they will not expect to be in the same house as other guests with the same native language as themselves.
Safeguarding and health and safety is our priority in sourcing and offering host family settings.
Our application process demonstrates our commitment to this and ensures all host families are appropriately vetted and suitable for our students.
Our process includes:
Expression of interest
Full application required
Phone meeting to learn more about your family and what you can offer our students
References sourced and DBS checks where available
Viewing (this will be in person or online depending on location). This will assess suitability of your home and available spaces for students
Other checks completed (including outstanding DBS checks, risk assessments, gas safety checks, and fire escape plans)
Confirmation of your success as a Host Family, or recommendations for your next application if unsuccessful