How to apply for undergraduate accommodation

If the University of York was your Firm choice via UCAS before 31 July 2025 and you did not apply for accommodation by this date, you will still be able to apply for accommodation after 14 August 2025 (A-Level Results Day) when applications open again, however you are not guaranteed accommodation.

• 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. You'll also need to include at least six accommodation preferences, a maximum of four of these being ensuite rooms, and the rest being shared bathroom bedroom preferences. 

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.

For first-year undergraduates:

• For 2025/26, firm and insurance offer holders are covered by our accommodation guarantee. Firm-choice students will be put through our 'mass allocator' system first, followed by insurance students. 

How it works:

• We collect and hold all applications until our guarantee deadline date.
• From UK A-Level Results Day, we’ll begin by processing all firm-choice guaranteed students through our ‘mass allocator’ system, followed by a second round for insurance-choice guaranteed students. The mass allocator selects students at random. Each student is allocated their first preference if available; if not, they are offered their second choice, then third, and so on. This process continues until all students in the group have been 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.