This week’s blog is looking at our Accommodation Guarantee, the different types of rooms we have available for 2019/20 and how the Accommodation Office allocate students to these rooms. Please note that our prices for the 2019/20 academic year are now live on our website (self-catered and catered).
The Accommodation Guarantee
Applications for new and deferred students open on Monday 8 April 2019 (from 10:00am) for all undergraduates and International postgraduate students with a firm offer for a University of Exeter course. If you meet our accommodation guarantee and apply before the deadline of 31 July 2019, you will be guaranteed a bed space. Please note that undergraduate applications are not dealt with on a first come, first served basis and allocations to residences are processed randomly.
You will not be able to activate an accommodation account until April 2019 as we are currently updating our software in readiness for applications opening. Once you are able to, we will make it clear on our Facebook page.
What accommodation is guaranteed?
Many people assume that all University of Exeter accommodation is on campus, however, this is not the case because 70% of our accommodation is on campus and 30% of it is off campus. Take a look at our walking distances map to see where our residences are located.
Please note that we are only able to guarantee students a bed space which means that we are unable to guarantee whether students will be offered an on/off campus location or one of their four preferences. Please ensure that when you choose your four preferences that they are ALL places that you would like to live in and wouldn’t mind being offered.
Take a look at our recent highlights of self-catered and catered accommodation blog posts for further information on the types of room available.
Types of room available for 2019/20:
- Standard rooms – these are our lowest priced rooms and within this accommodation type, students share the kitchen and bathroom facilities. A sink is provided within rooms.Please note that within catered accommodation 50% of the standard rooms available are twin occupancy. This means that you will share your room with another student, of the same gender, who shares similar interests to you. If you are an undergraduate student and you apply for a standard room then there is a 50% chance you will be allocated to a twin room. We cannot guarantee that applying for a standard room will mean you get a single room. Please bear this in mind when applying.
- En-Suite rooms – students share the communal kitchen/lounge area and have their own en-suite within their room. Please note that the communal areas mentioned are only available within self-catered residences. Our website provides further information about communal areas.
- Studios – these are available in self-catered residences only and offer independent living. They provide students with an en-suite, double bed and kitchenette area within their room.
How we allocate rooms
Within the application you are required to provide your personal preferences, the things that matter to you. With this information it helps us to allocate you to a flat which we feel would be suited to you based on your requirements and the requirements of other students:
- If you would prefer a quiet flat (to live with other people who have mentioned this within their application)
- The ages of people you wish to live with out of the following options: 20 and under, 21-25, 25-35 or over 35
- If you would prefer to live on the ground floor
- If you would prefer to live with people who do not drink alcohol
- You are also required to a minimum of four interests out of the following: sport (type), music, social, clubs, pubs, shopping/fashion, culture, reading, TV/cinema, travel, art, drama/theatre, current affairs, outdoor, gaming and other
- If you would prefer single gender accommodation or a mixed flat
When we allocate rooms, we do take into consideration the above preferences made on your application and read any additional notes. For students who are applying after our guarantee, this can be a little harder to manage due to the availability of rooms.
Further information about this can be found in our ‘Room Allocation Procedure‘ which I encourage you all to read.
Next week, we will have a guest blog written by one of our current students.
Accommodation Catherine