New students

Applications for new students are made via the My Essex Applicant Portal. Applications 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 two conditions:

• You return your application by 11.59pm on Friday 21 August 2020
• You have not, in the previous academic year, had an allocation of University owned or administered accommodation that commenced before the end of the autumn term and ended after the start of the summer term

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. 

If you want to secure your accommodation for longer, then as you are a new student for 2020-21, 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. 

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 2020-21 (.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 new undergraduate students for 2020-21 are now open.

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 application form under Accommodation

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 11.59pm on Friday 21 August 2020, 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 11.59pm on Friday 21 August 2020, 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 new postgraduate students for 2020-21 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.

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 and accept your offer of academic study
3. Go to the Living section of the portal, where you will find the link to the online accommodation application form under Accommodation

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.

You're guaranteed a room if you apply for accommodation before 11.59pm on Friday 31 July 2020.

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 11.59pm on Friday 31 July 2020.

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

We currently provide a small number of rooms at the University Square, Southend for new undergraduate students studying at South Essex College.

• SEC students wishing to apply for accommodation should contact Student Services on:
  Telephone 0845 5212345, Email us for an application form.

Private accommodation is available at Loughton, please visit the the East 15 website for more information.

East 15 students studying at Southend Campus can apply for accommodation as a new or returning undergraduate student via our normal channels.

Erasmus/Study Abroad students should contact the Essex Abroad office regarding applying for accommodation.

If you have a sports bursary and want to apply for accommodation, please contact the Sports Centre directly.

Applications for April 2020 are now closed.

Colchester

Undergraduate

For all other undergraduate January 2020 starters wanting to apply for accommodation, please complete the January undergraduate Colchester Campus application form (.pdf) and return by email accadmin@essex.ac.uk

Postgraduate

For all other postgraduate January 2020 starters wanting to apply for accommodation, please complete the January postgraduate Colchester Campus application form (.pdf) and return by email to accadmin@essex.ac.uk

Southend

For all other Southend postgraduate and undergraduate January 2020 starters wanting to apply for accommodation, please complete the Southend January application form (.pdf) and return to accadmin@essex.ac.uk