Good morning everyone! As the year flies by we get closer to April which means closer to our applications opening. Whilst our applications open on Monday 6 April 2020 at 09:00 (we’re drilling the date in a bit aren’t we?!), we don’t work on a first-come-first-serve basis so there’s no rush to apply. As long as you get your application in by Friday 31 July 2020 and you meet our Accommodation Guarantee you will be guaranteed a bed space with us. So, you have a chance to think about your 4 preferences before applying. If you’re wondering how to start narrowing your choices down, this week’s blog is for you.
Type of Accommodation
When considering your accommodation preferences, you will need to determine the level of catering you want. Living in a catered hall will offer you the reassurance that your meals are budgeted and cooked for you, leaving you free to focus on studying and socialising, whereas self-catered offers you independent living and the chance to improve your cooking skills.
We have dedicated pages on each of our options: Self Catered and Catered
To put it as simply as possible; Self-catered accommodation will mean that you will need to provide all of your own meals. Catered accommodation will offer you 16 meals per week which you will take in a shared dining hall.
Our residences offer three main types of room: Standard, En-suite and Studio.
Standard rooms: Bathroom and kitchen facilities are shared with other residents.
En-suite rooms: You will have your own bathroom attached to your room and will share kitchen facilities with other residents.
Studio rooms: include standard fixtures and fittings plus a kitchen area and en-suite bathroom including shower, washbasin and toilet.
Location
Whilst Exeter is a small and accessible city, being close to campus or the city centre may be an important factor for you.
All of our catered halls are located on the Streatham campus. 74% of our self-catered accommodation is on campus and 26% is off campus. However, these are all within a 15-25 minute walk as you can see from our walking distance map.
Those that are based at our St Luke’s campus often prefer to apply for accommodation close to St Luke’s at our various Rowancroft residences, or in the city centre.
Price
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Ah, the fun part! Money. You will need to consider what your budget is for accommodation and remember that you will need to keep an allowance for living. For accommodation fees please see our list of catered and self-catered prices. As you can imagine, a new studio on campus will be significantly more expensive than a standard shared flat a bit further out.
We don’t charge any deposits or holding fees and our accommodation fees are due in three instalments (which tend to line up with maintenance loan dates). These arrangements may differ if you are allocated to one of our “nominated” residences, but you will be advised of this information when you receive your accommodation offer.
We hope these pointers have given you some food for thought. If you haven’t already been to one, we have 3 more Offer holder visit days in March. These are a great chance to explore the campus, go on an accommodation tour and come and chat to us about any questions or queries! For more information see our webpage.
Accommodation Grace