New students

Applications for 2022-23 are now open.

All full-time undergraduate students studying at our Colchester Campus are entitled to accommodation for the first year of study provided they fulfil 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.

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 more information please refer to our Allocations Policy.

Allocation Policy 

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 2021-22 (.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).

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.

When your UCAS status at Essex is showing as either conditional firm or unconditional firm, you can apply online.

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.

Timescale

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. 

You will not receive an offer of accommodation until your academic status is unconditional, when you have satisfied the conditions set by the University when you applied for your course.

If you're a new applicant and apply after midnight, Friday 26 August, we can no longer guarantee you accommodation for your first year, but you can still apply for accommodation and we will offer you a room if possible. If we can't offer you campus accommodation then we'll put you in touch with SU Homes, an agency run by our Students' Union.

If you're a new applicant and apply after midnight, Friday 26 August, we can no longer guarantee you University accommodation for your first year, but you can still apply for accommodation and we will offer you a room if possible.

You will not be able to apply if:

• you have not received an offer of academic study at Essex
• you have only just created an applicant portal (see timescale above)
• Essex is not your firm choice
• your status at Essex is neither conditional firm nor unconditional firm or
• you do not have a PRID (e.g. SMITH12345) in the Home section of the My Essex Applicant Portal
• you have not allowed 48 hours after becoming firm at Essex for our system to update, before applying for accommodation

Applications for 2022-23 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.

You're guaranteed a room if you apply for accommodation before 31 July 2022.

If you're a new applicant and apply after this date, we can no longer guarantee you University accommodation for your first year, but you can still apply for accommodation and we will offer you a room if possible. If we can't offer you campus accommodation then we'll put you in touch with SU Homes, an agency run by our Students' Union.

You're guaranteed a room if you apply for accommodation before 31 July 2022.

If you're a new applicant and apply after this date, we can no longer guarantee you University accommodation for your first year, but you can still apply for accommodation and we will offer you a room if possible.

Don't worry about the money at this stage. When you receive an accommodation offer you have one week to accept and pay your £250 advanced rent payment. You will be able to make this payment by credit/debit card as part of the online acceptance process.

If you are not able to pay your advanced rent payment at the point of acceptance, please contact the Student Information Team in the Student Services Hub. Please do not try and pay your advanced rent payment via the student online payment system. We have experienced difficulty tracing such payments in the past and this option has therefore been discontinued.

Please also note that you will not be able to apply if:

• you have not received an offer of academic study at Essex
• you have only just created an applicant portal (see timescale above)
• you have not accepted your offer of academic study or
• you do not see a PRID (for example, SMITH12345) in the Home section of the My Essex Applicant Portal
• you haven't allowed 48 hours after accepting your offer at Essex, before applying for accommodation

There will be limited accommodation available at both Colchester and Southend campuses for all full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students, who are starting their course in January 2022.

Colchester

Undergraduate

Applications are now open.

Please complete the application form below and email it to vacaccom@essex.ac.uk.

2021-22 January UG Colchester accommodation application form (pdf.)

If you are required to complete a PDF form, please note that these are interactive PDF forms. You must save a copy of it to your device before completing your information. If you do not save this file to your device, you will lose any information you have filled in. The submit button will then attach the form to an email ready to send to us.

Postgraduate

Applications are now open.

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

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

You need to:

1. Create your MyEssex applicant portal (see timescales below)

2. Login to your 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. On the Accommodation website, you will need to select 2021-22 academic year drop down.

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.

Southend

Undergraduate

Applications are now open.

Please complete the application form below and email it to vacaccom@essex.ac.uk.

2021-22 January UG Southend accommodation application form (pdf.)

If you are required to complete a PDF form, please note that these are interactive PDF forms. You must save a copy of it to your device before completing your information. If you do not save this file to your device, you will lose any information you have filled in. The submit button will then attach the form to an email ready to send to us.

Postgraduate

Applications are now open.

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

You need to:

1. Create your MyEssex applicant portal (see timescales below)

2. Login to your 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. 

On the Accommodation website, you will need to select 2021-22 academic year drop down.

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