• Cigarettes in a shop £3.75p for 20; in a bar £3.50p for 16; supermarkets are slightly cheaper.
• Beer/lager The cost of beer varies a great deal depending on the type and strength you drink - and where you drink it. English beer is between £2.00 to £2.50 per pint; lager £1.00 to £2.50 per pint; strong lager 9% £1.65 to £2.00 per half pint; super markets are cheaper - a half litre of 9% lager would cost you £1.85p but you cannot drink it there. Tip: In England it is tradition to buy someone a drink after they have bought you one.
• Cinema costs between £2.50 and £5.00 depending on the time of day.
• Discos - average about £3.00.
• Restaurants You can eat for as little as £5 but on average £15; wine starts at approximately £5 for a bottle of the house wine; an average priced wine would be £8 to £10; wine from a supermarket starts at £3 per bottle.
• Bus passes one week £20, four weeks £52.50. This is for a local bus which you can use as often as you like and changing buses as often as you want. A taxi for a short, local, journey costs between £3 and £5. From Heathrow Airport to Bournemouth the cheapest would be £65. (Prices change regularly.) Always ask the prices before you start your journey.
• Your agent can supply the price of transfer by coach or train from Heathrow to Bournemouth. More information will be in your information pack on arrival. If you need to know more - ask your agent or email or fax The College.

Information supplied by Mike Hayes, Business Manager at the Bournemouth Jobcentre, 183/187 Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH1 1JT. Telephone: +44 (0) 1202 276000 and fax: +44 (0) 1202 276001.

Jobcentre services are free at source and available to all people including foreign students. We are unable to offer a matching service, all our vacancies are displayed on a self-selection basis and carry a reference number. If someone wants to apply for the job they will need to complete a job slip with their full name and the reference number. Staff will then given them further information and arrange an interview if appropriate, they will also ask for the client's date of birth.

Jobcentre staff are required to screen all applicants and only submit the most suitable to the employer. For nearly all our jobs at least a basic understanding of English is required and clients will be refused if their standard is not sufficient for the job they have applied for.

Non-EC students may have restrictions on their passport or will have to apply for a Work Permit - available from the Jobcentre. Work permits cannot be issued until (a) we have checked their passport stamp and (b) the student has a definite job offer. When the application has been approved the permit is sent direct to the employer. If the student changes jobs at a later date they will have to apply for a new one.

It would be helpful when applying for jobs that students know whether they are in fact allowed to work in this country. If they are unsure we could check their passport for them. EEC students and nationals of Norway and Iceland have equal employment rights as a British citizen.

Being the largest Jobcentre in the area we are extremely busy especially during the lunch period and would ask that students could avoid where possible applying for jobs between 12-2pm as it could involve a long wait. Work permit applications/enquiries can only be dealt with between 9-10am.

Our opening times are 9:00am-4:30pm Monday-Thursday and 9:30am-4:30pm on Friday. There are 8 other Jobcentres in the area and a list is available at The College.