Application and room allocation guidance

At the application stage, students will be asked to select several room preferences. The number of preferences is dependent on student type (e.g UG, PG) and is based on factors such as College, type of room, catering package, bathroom type and cost. There is a limit to 4 ensuite preferences per application. We will aim to allocate you a room based on these preferences.

We can't guarantee you your top preference. If we cannot allocate you to your preferred College or type of room, we aim to work down your preference list to offer an alternative. On rare occasions, we may not be able to match any of your preferences.

All applications are considered and rooms are not allocated on a “first-come, first-served” basis, but use a computerised auto-allocation system to select impartially from the applicants based on preferences.

There are multiple factors that influence the allocation of rooms:

We allocate accommodation throughout the academic year, depending on your year of study, course details, and accommodation requirements.

• As part of our commitment to ensure appropriate pastoral care is provided for the well-being of students who are under the age of 18 at the time of starting University, we ensure those students will be offered a room in University owned and managed accommodation and will live with others of the same age.
• Students with declared, medically certified health concerns, should read our additional requirements guide and complete the Supporting Evidence Form and send in with the application, or email us, official documentation in relation to your diagnosis as part of the application process.
• Standard accommodation application processes shall provide the opportunity for prospective residential students to disclose details of food allergies. We do not group students with the same allergy together, and do not provide any dedicated storage.
• Accommodation is mixed gender and we ensure there is a mix of genders within each flat. Ground floor rooms are available for all genders.
• Where accommodation has shared bathroom facilities, this will be mixed gender with lockable bathroom/shower and toilet facilities.
• If you inform us of any medical condition and/or disability during the application process, we will make every effort to allocate a suitable room and/or make reasonable adjustment(s) to a room. Such reasonable adjustments may be subject to an occupational health assessment to ensure that the room/adjustment will meet your needs. There may be adjustments we are unable to make to rooms.
• Each year we allocate a limited number of bed spaces for returning students, which are offered and allocated based on priority groups of students. We will communicate all information on the returning student's webpage.
• We do not accept accommodation requests for group bookings.
• All rooms are allocated to students studying on a course which may not be the same or similar to those they are studying. Colleges are not open to all students and no one College is reserved for a specific subject.
• The majority of first-year undergraduate students will be emailed their accommodation offer after the A-level results in August. Do not be concerned if friends receive their offer of accommodation before you as offers are sent out in batches and applications can only be processed once you hold an unconditional offer of a place of study.
• No animals, with the exception of assistance dogs, are permitted within any residence.

Receiving an offer of accommodation

We only send one offer of accommodation so it's important to consider carefully the offer received. We often get contacted because students have not been offered their first choice of accommodation. Unfortunately, we cannot change the offer we have made, however, you can advertise your room to try to find someone to swap with you. Please see our Leave of change your room webpage for further information.

Alternatively, once you have settled in, you can consider applying for a room transfer after the 1st of November and before the 1st of March the following year, if you are staying in on-campus accommodation. Transfer requests are handled by your College and are subject to room availability and may be subject to a minimal charge.

If the offer of accommodation we have sent is rejected, we will not be able to make another offer and any accommodation guarantee is null and void.