How to apply for undergraduate accommodation

If you have selected the University of York as your insurance choice through UCAS you can apply for accommodation until 31 July 2024. You are not guaranteed accommodation, however your applications will be considered once all guaranteed students have been offered accommodation.  

If the University of York was your firm choice via UCAS before 31 July 2024 and you did not apply for accommodation by this date, you will still be able to apply for accommodation after 15 August 2024 (A-level results day), however you are not guaranteed accommodation.

If you receive a Clearing offer from 15 August (UK A-Level Results Day), Clearing accommodation applications will be open, however you will not be guaranteed accommodation. 

We welcome applications from couples and families, however, we have a limited number of suitable bed spaces and therefore we cannot guarantee accommodation for those applying for couple or family accommodation.

Due to the limited availability of rooms for returning undergraduate and postgraduate students, we are unable to offer an accommodation guarantee for all returning students.

• Login at accommodation.york.ac.uk using your You@York login details.
• Click ‘create application’ for the next academic year.
• On the first page, check that all your personal details are correct.
• Select your application type: single, couple or family.

Remember not to use your school or college email address as your contact email, as you may miss out on important communications after A level results day (such as your room offer) if you lose access to this.

List your top seven accommodation options in order of preference by clicking the rooms banner icon. Each preference will specify a college, room type, let length, catering and bathroom information.

• You can use the dropdowns and slider in the right-hand column to filter your search.
• You can rearrange the order of your preferences by dragging and dropping them in the right-hand column.

If you're a Nursing or Midwifery student, catered accommodation won't be included in your options.

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.

You’ll then be asked if you have any additional requirements for health, welfare or mobility reasons. Please don't wait until you have received a room offer to let us know about these, as we may not be able to find you a suitable room at that stage.

• Upload your completed Supporting Evidence Form (PDF , 223kb) using the option provided and click the ‘upload’ button to attach it to your application .
• If you aren’t able to complete the form before you apply, you can upload it at a later date (before our accommodation deadline) by logging back in and selecting ‘edit my application’.

Read our web page to learn more about Accommodation for students with additional requirements

The last thing you’ll need to do is let us know who we can share your data with. This will include who we are able to talk to about your accommodation and room offer (including family members or carers), and the third-party accommodation providers we can share your application data with if we need to.

Once you’re happy with your consent options, you’ll be asked to review all your options and choices before you submit your application. Remember, you can log back in and edit your application at any time.

If you’d like to change your consent options, or allow us to speak to someone other than yourself about your accommodation once you have moved in, please let us know at accommodation@york.ac.uk.

How are rooms allocated?

For first-year undergraduates:

• Firm offer holders receive priority under our accommodation guarantee.

How it works:

• We collect and hold all applications until our guarantee deadline date.
• From UK A-Level Results Day, we put all firm-choice guaranteed students through our ‘mass allocator’ system. The mass allocator will pick out a student at random. That student will get their first choice if possible. If their first choice is sold out, they get their second choice; if their second choice is unavailable, their third choice; and so on, moving through students until everyone in the batch is assigned a room offer.

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.

Not everyone will receive one of their top three accommodation preferences, given the variety of our rooms and that some room types are more popular than others.

If you are unhappy with your room offer, there are options to consider. However, most students are happy with their room after moving in, and we receive very few transfer requests.

Please contact us at accommodation@york.ac.uk before you reject your offer. If you reject your offer, or don’t accept in time, you’ll be outside our guarantee. We’ll still try to assist you, but will help those still covered first. Consider swapping or transferring your room instead.