Returning undergraduate accommodation

Students’ Care Leaver Status can be confirmed if a student meets the following criteria, and has provided evidence of this to their student finance provider:

• You’ve been in the care of, or given accommodation by, your local authority
• You were in care for at least 13 weeks
• Your time in care ended after you turned 16
• You have not returned to the care of your parent(s) before the first day of the first academic year of your course

Students that have been assessed as an independent student with their student provider on the basis of being estranged and have had this confirmed by the Independent student team are welcome to apply for a room on campus.

If you apply for accommodation under the additional requirements criteria, you should include as much information as possible in the additional requirements section of your application, even if you have applied under this criteria previously.

We are not able to process your application under this criteria without supporting medical evidence. If you have previously submitted medical evidence as part of your application for on-campus accommodation, it has already been stored on our system, and you do not need to resubmit it. However, if your circumstances have since changed, meaning you need to submit new evidence, you should do this as part of your 2026/27 application.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your application is going to be successful, but we prioritise students with evidence of additional requirements that cannot be supported off-campus. If your additional requirements can be supported off-campus or in private sector accommodation, it's likely that your accommodation application will not be successful.

If you’re currently on a Leave of Absence, you won’t have automatic access to the application system once it opens. In order to be granted access to the application, please complete the following form:

Students on leave of absence

The application system will open shortly, and you will have approximately one week to apply for accommodation. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis by a multi-disciplinary panel consisting of colleagues from across the University's student support services to ensure a fair and comprehensive decision-making process.

You will receive an email regarding the outcome of your application. If you're successful, we will contact you with details of your room offer in January 2026.

If you do not fall into the priority groups mentioned on this webpage, please look into private sector accommodation. The Student Hub offers a wide range of advice and support for those looking for, or living in the private sector:

• Private sector accommodation web pages
• Private sector events

Accommodation applications will open on Wednesday 3 December at 2pm for returning undergraduate students who want to apply to live on campus for the 2026/27 academic year. Applications will remain open until 3pm on Friday 12 December.

On Wednesday 3 December we will email every student who isn't finishing their final year this academic year (2025/26), with a link to the booking system. The booking system will be active from 2pm on Wednesday 3 December until 3pm on Friday 12 December.

Alternatively, you can keep an eye on this webpage which will be updated with a booking link from 2pm on Wednesday 3 December.

• 40-week lets start on 13/09/2026 and end on 20/06/2027.
• 44-week lets start on 13/09/2026 and end on 18/07/2027.

This round of applications are open for returning undergraduates only, postgraduate applications will open in early 2026. Keep an eye on our postgraduate webpages for further details. 

No - once the application system closes on Friday 12 December at 3pm, applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with the involvement of a panel formed by Disability Services, College Teams, Student Services and the Accommodation Team. 

We will continue to communicate directly with you about your application, unless you'd like us to talk to someone else, such as a parent or guardian. You will need to give us permission to do this by updating the 'Processing your information' page at the end of your application. You can log back in and edit this at any time.

If you're unable to gather your supporting evidence before applications close at 3pm on Friday 12 December, we would still encourage you to apply and include as much information in the additional requirements section of the application form as possible. While it is not guaranteed that you will be offered a room on campus, supplying us with as much information as you can will help us to review and process your application as accurately as possible. 

No - we do not require an advance payment to secure your booking.

The rooms we have available on campus are prioritised for students who will be under 18 at the start of the 2026/27 academic year, students with additional requirements that cannot be supported off campus, students who have confirmed their refugee/asylum status with the Student Support Team, as well as students who are currently on a study or work placement abroad, and care leavers and estranged students. If you do not fall into one of these priority groups we strongly advise you look into accommodation in the private sector with your friend. 

We are unable to accommodate group bookings for 2026/27 returners accommodation.

The Team are available to contact on +44 (0)1904 322165 or email at accommodation@york.ac.uk during their regular hours of Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, should you need help or have any questions about your application.

We will try our very best to process all applications as quickly as possible with the help of our panel. We anticipate that all applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application during December 2025.

We have a select number of rooms in colleges in which returning accommodation is available. If the college you would like to live in is not on the list then unfortunately, it is not available for returning undergraduate students.

Visit our Finding private sector accommodation webpage that has lots of advice and support, including information about upcoming housing events.

No - all rooms allocated to returning students are self-catered.

Yes, you can. If you are currently on Leave of Absence, you will be unable to access the application system at 2pm on Wednesday 3 December. In order to be granted access to the booking system, please complete this form. If you do not complete the form prior to our applications opening, you will need to contact us directly so we can grant you access to our booking system. 

Please note that if you are successful in securing a room and you do not meet the conditions of return on your leave of absence, your booking may be cancelled.

Yes, even if you live in private sector accommodation you will still be a member of a college. Please speak to your College Team for further information.

Finding accommodation for your following year is really important. We have listened to feedback and have tried to find the best possible time to open up applications, avoiding examination periods in particular. If you know that you are going to miss the opportunity to apply for on-campus accommodation we strongly encourage you to look for accommodation in the private sector instead.