How to apply for undergraduate accommodation
Students who have accepted a firm or insurance offer can apply for accommodation. This page will tell you everything you need to know about the application process.
2024/25 applications
Accommodation applications for undergraduates expecting to join us in 2024/25 are now open. Have questions? Read through our answers to most Frequently Asked Questions.
- It can take up to 48 hours for our systems to update once you have accepted your offer of a place to study with us. If you are still unable to apply after 48 hours, please contact us with either your UCAS ID or student number and we'll do our best to get the problem solved for you.
- If you're struggling to load the applicaton system, please try clearing your internet history and cache before trying again.
- Applying for 2024/25 accommodation? Ensure you select the correct year of study on the application system.
Apply for undergraduate accommodation 2024/25
Our undergraduate accommodation guarantee
You're guaranteed an offer of a single-occupancy room in accommodation owned, managed or approved by the University if you apply for accommodation for the full academic year 2024/25, and meet the following criteria:
- You're a new first-year undergraduate (UK or International).
- You choose York as your firm choice on UCAS, and apply for accommodation by 5pm BST on 31 July 2024.
- Your offer becomes unconditional following A-Level Results Day on 15 August 2024.
Undergraduate Visiting students
You're also guaranteed an offer of a single-occupancy room in accommodation owned, managed or approved by the University if you meet the following criteria:
- Accept an unconditional course offer to study at York from Semester 1 (starting your course in September 2024), and apply for accommodation by 5pm BST on 30 June 2024.
- or, accept an unconditional offer to study at York for Semester 2 (starting your course in February 2025), and apply for accommodation by 5pm on 30 November 2024.
Students who are not covered by the guarantee
If you don't meet the above criteria, we would still encourage you to apply for accommodation, applying by the deadline date of 31 July for the 2024/25 academic year.
If you are unable to apply by 31 July, applications will open from 15 August (UK A-Level results day). Whilst you will not be guaranteed accommodation, we'll do everything we can to assist you in securing a room in university owned, managed or approved accommodation.
If we can't offer you university accommodation, we can advise you on private renting options.
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 are coming to Study at York via Clearing, applications will open on 15 August 2024 (A-level results day), however you are not 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.
How to apply
When you apply for accommodation, we’ll ask you to rank your room choices in order. Each choice is for a specific room type in a specific college.
You can apply for different room types across different colleges. Just make sure to include at least three shared bathroom bedrooms in your preferences.
- 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.
What happens next
1. Application confirmed
Once you’ve applied we'll send you a confirmation email. If you mentioned additional requirements, please ensure you upload the relevant supporting medical evidence. We'll be in touch if we require further information.
2. Receive your room offer*
Room offers are sent out from Thursday 15 August (UK A-level results day), and will contain an offer of a room detailing the college, room type and let length.
3. Accept your room offer
You’ll need to accept your offer by the date stated in the email by following the link provided. Make sure you have internet access for this.
4. Receive your room number
Room numbers will be sent out in September. Around this time, you’ll also start to hear more from your college about arrivals and events.
5. Pay your first rent instalment
Your rent is split over three instalments, the first of which will be due in October. We recommend setting up a direct debit.
*subject to change dependent on 2024 exam results day and Clearing period dates.
Your room allocation and offer
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.
Can I cancel my booking?
You are not eligible to end your agreement if you are a registered student at the University.
If you are a new student who does not arrive in York to start your course, you must inform us of cancellation more than four weeks before the start of your booking.
Students who inform us of a cancellation less than four weeks before the start of your booking will be charged four weeks’ rent.
After the start date of booking: Please email accommodation@york.ac.uk. You will be charged the equivalent of eight weeks’ rent from the day you contact us, and a £200 cancellation fee.
To cancel your booking, please email accommodation@york.ac.uk. We'll confirm whether you're eligible, and inform you of any additional charges.