Accommodation at Essex

Applications for 2022-2023 are now open.

Accommodation at Colchester Campus

All full-time undergraduate students studying at our Colchester Campus are entitled to accommodation for the first year of study provided they fulfill the following condition:

• You return your application by midnight, Friday 26 August 2022.

 Follow the next steps to see what happens after you have made your application.

Accommodation at Southend Campus

All full-time undergraduate students studying at our Southend Campus are entitled to accommodation for the first year of study as long as they return their application by the deadline date of 26 August 2022. 

If you want to secure your accommodation for longer, then as you are a new student for 2022-23, you can take advantage of our new 3 year Southend Campus deal offering a 10% rent reduction for each of the 3 years, plus free summer storage for your belongings. This deal is only available for single ensuite rooms.

If you have chosen us as your insurance choice, you will only be able to apply for accommodation here, once you have a 'firm' academic offer with Essex.

For full information, read our Allocation Policy 2022-2023 for Colchester and Southend (.pdf)

International students

If you are an International Student (paying overseas fees) joining Essex as an undergraduate in the 2022/23 academic year, you are entitled to guaranteed accommodation for the duration of your course.

For full information, read our Allocation Policy 2022-2023 for Colchester and Southend (.pdf)

Our Allocation Policy covers:

• the criteria for students who want to apply for accommodation
• details of those students who are guaranteed accommodation and
• how we will prioritise applications for returning students, part-year students and those on the waiting list

If you are allocated accommodation you will enter into a legal contract with Accommodation Essex and you will be liable to pay the rent for your room for the full term of the contract.

Please read our terms carefully before accepting any offer of accommodation:

• Read our Allocation Policy 2022-2023 for Colchester and Southend (.pdf)

Contact your Student Services Hub if you have any queries relating to accommodation applications.

New undergraduate students are not required to make an advanced rent payment (previously known as a prepayment).

Applications for 2022-2023 are now open.

All full-time postgraduate students studying at either our Colchester or Southend Campuses are entitled to accommodation for the first year of study as long as they return their application by the deadline date of 31 July 2022.

Please only select areas you are willing to accept as we will not make any changes once an offer has been sent.

Make sure you read the application guide (.pdf) before making an application for accommodation.

You need to:

1. Create your myEssex applicant portal (see timescales below)
2. Login to the portal
3. Go to the Living section of the portal, where you will find the link to the online accommodation  form under the Life and Leisure heading.

Timescales

It can take up to 24 to 48 hours for the relevant data to be imported into the accommodation application system from the point of creation, so set up your portal as soon as you can.

Follow the next steps to see what happens after you have made your application.

Applications for the current 2021-2022 academic year are available via our waiting list.

Applications for the 2022-2023 academic year for new undergraduate and postgraduate students are now open.

Returning accommodation applications for 2022-2023 are open now. 

We are working through waiting list applications now and will send you an offer of accommodation as soon as possible.

Accommodation offers for returning students for the 2022-2023 academic year, will be sent from the beginning of February.

Accommodation offers for new students for the 2022-2023 academic year, will begin being sent from April. You will only receive an offer, once any conditions have been met.

Please make sure you check your email account regularly for updates, including your junk folder and accept any offers within the given deadline.

Essex is a campus-based university and we know that our students value being together on campus. On our campuses we can better support you to achieve success, and you can also experience all the benefits of being part of our diverse, global and inclusive community. It is these experiences, both academic and cultural, that play such an important part of your time at Essex.

For these reasons, in academic year 2022-2023, we are expecting all our students to learn in-person on our campuses at Colchester, Southend and Loughton.

Currently students arriving in the UK are not required to quarantine or self-isolate. As information may change, it is best to regularly review the UK Government website for up-to-date information for the country you are travelling from.

If you live in University accommodation and need to self-isolate due to COVID-19, appropriate arrangements will be made by our dedicated Residence Life team to provide you with advice and practical support. Information regarding how to self-isolate, who to inform and how we can further support you will be made available for you, with further information in your Welcome Book.

We recommend all students refrain from coming on to campus whilst they remain positive for COVID-19.

If you have booked University owned or administered accommodation and are not able to arrive for the start of your contract, please let us know your arrival date as soon as possible.

Our friendly Residence Life team host a range of social activities for students living on and off campus, for you to participate with and meet new friends and make new connections.

The Students’ Union will also organise a broad range of virtual and in-person activities; further information will be available nearer the beginning of the new academic year.

Full details about how you can get involved with these events and activities can be found on our Welcome pages and the University events calendar.

We know that you might be worried about incurring costs should a national/local lockdown happen in the UK and you want to return to your home address. The University has an Accommodation COVID-19 commitment for the academic year 2022-2023 which should be read alongside the standard terms and conditions of tenancy document. This commitment is designed to provide you with clarity and guidance on how pandemic-related events may affect you, your accommodation agreement and your rental liability.

Protecting the health and wellbeing of our students while delivering a high-quality education guides everything we do. Despite very positive signs that the vaccination programme is limiting COVID transmission in the UK, we cannot guarantee that we will be unaffected by pandemic-related restrictions at any point during the next academic year.

Our approach to planning for the academic year 2022-2023 will ensure that we will be able to offer all of our students a transformative, campus experience; with flexibility to adapt to periods of heightened COVID security if needed. Our priority will always be to ensure your safety while supporting you to continue with your education - irrespective of any further disruption caused by the pandemic.

We will comply with all Government guidance, and in addition to this will make our own additional judgements about what works in our campus environments. We have all learned a great deal from our experiences of the last year, and we will be ready to flex our approach to if the circumstances require.

Our housekeeping team will be busy undertaking enhanced cleaning, to ensure your accommodation is as hygienic as possible. All kitchens will be cleaned weekly, and shared bathrooms cleaned 3 times a week. We will be regularly cleaning all high level touchpoints in accommodation entrances and communal areas. We will also clean all lifts daily.

Hygiene is a key factor in controlling the virus, therefore it is important that all residents play their part in ensuring your accommodation remains safe. To help with this, we will also provide you with how-to guides and advice on hygiene.