Accommodation at Essex

Accommodation applications are open for new students for the 2021-22 academic year. The guarantee deadline for undergraduate students is midnight, Sunday 12 September 2021.

The deadline for postgraduate students was 31 July 2021, however, you are still able to apply but we can no longer guarantee you a room.

If you wish to come to campus during the summer break, you can make a vacation accommodation application.  The latest date you can move in for a vacation booking, is 13 September 2021. Vacation accommodation is also available for students who are not able to travel home as their country is on the UK Government red list. Check out the University travel information for more details regarding travel restrictions.

If you have applied as a new student for the 2021-22 academic year, we will begin sending out room offers from the beginning of July. You will only receive a room offer, once any conditions have been met, which include exams results. Therefore, some students will not receive offers until later in the summer.

If you have made a summer vacation booking, please allow 5 working days for an offer to be sent.

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 2021-22, we are expecting all our students to learn, in-person on our campuses at Colchester, Southend and Loughton.

We know that COVID-19 restrictions may still affect many of you. That’s why we will offer a level of flexibility for those who are unable to arrive at our campuses for the start of term.

Check out our frequently asked questions to learn more about requesting to study remotely. 

Students arriving into University owned or administered accommodation for the new academic year 2021-22 that need to self-isolate, will be offered a period of free accommodation before the start of term, so you can join us and be ready to begin your teaching at the start of term. We will contact you about this when you book your accommodation.

Further information relating to travel restrictions and Covid-19 testing, is available on the University travel pages.

You will need to apply for this accommodation in addition to your full year requirements, as well as a free quarantine pack. Details are available on our Colchester and Southend arrivals pages.

Please then make sure you read the guidance on self-isolating, so you are aware of what support services are available to you, including how to order food deliveries. However, if you do have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Student Information Team. 

If you are moving into private accommodation, please contact your landlord or student housing provider directly for information on how they can support you during your quarantine period.

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 know that some students may need flexibility on their arrival date prior to the beginning of term, either because of availability of flights or other transport requirements. We are therefore putting in a staggered arrival period, which means you will be able to move into your accommodation from 27 September.

This accommodation will be provided free of charge from day of arrival until the 3 October (when normal accommodation tenancy starts).

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 be organising a broad range of virtual and in-person activity; further information will be available nearer the beginning of the new academic year.

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 2021-22 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 21-22 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. 

The University takes the health and wellbeing of our students and staff very seriously and this has been one of the focuses to ensure students can study on campus – safely.

To protect our community on campus we have introduced the following measures:

• Enhanced cleaning and sterilising regimes
• Social distancing in line with UK Government guidance
• Signage and floor markings in key locations to help you move around our campuses safely

We’re asking you to wear face coverings in all public campus areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain or in specifically designated locations. 

We also have a comprehensive system of Covid-19 testing on campus to help keep everyone safe.

We’ll also be introducing training for all students, to make it easier for everyone to understand our expectations.