Book a teaching room for a meeting

Bookable teaching rooms

Below are lists of teaching rooms and other centrally managed spaces that can be booked using the online room booking form. 

Room capacities 2023-24

• Colchester Campus capacities (.pdf)
• Southend Campus capacities (.pdf)

Room availability

You can use the room availability checker to see when a specific room is available or if there are available rooms on the date and time of your event.  This is for guidance only, we cannot guarantee that the room will be available when you make a booking.

Check availability for a specific room

• Colchester - check availability for a specific room
• Southend - check availability for a specific room

1. Go to ‘Parameters’ panel on right of screen
2. Set start and end dates (either range or specific date if required)
3. Select room to view availability
4. Select time range to search (working hours only or 24 hours)
5. Click ‘Apply’ button at bottom of panel

Search for an average room by date and capacity

• Colchester - search for an average room by date and capacity
• Southend - search for an average room by date and capacity

1. Go to ‘Parameters’ panel on right of screen
2. Set start and end dates (either range or specific date if required)
3. Enter required capacity
4. Select time range to search (working hours only or 24 hours)
5. Click ‘Apply’ at bottom of panel

Amend or cancel a meeting room booking

To amend or cancel an existing booking, the named booking contact should either reply to their booking confirmation or email rooms@essex.ac.uk with their booking ID and requirements.

Risk assessments

You will need to complete a risk assessment for any event where it will be necessary to change the standard teaching room layout. If have any queries or concerns about completing a risk assessment, please contact safety@essex.ac.uk.

Zoom Rooms

Zoom Rooms have video conferencing equipment to enable online meetings and teaching to take place. For further information about rooms with Zoom and for tips on how to use Zoom most effectively, please see the Zoom webpage.

Meeting room bookings for students

Students who are part of a registered Students’ Union society can book a room with the support of the Societies Guild, using the clubs and societies room booking form.

Students who wish to book a room for group study or other academic activity should liaise with their department. A member of staff would act as sponsor and make a booking on their behalf.

Foyers bookings

The Timetable and Room Booking Team is responsible for the management of the EBS, Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, Lecture Theatre Building and Tony Rich Teaching Centre foyer spaces.

For further information regarding the management of these spaces, please see the Room bookings policy (link below).

External speakers

It’s important that you notify the University if you are planning to invite an external speaker to a University event.

Please refer to Inviting an external speaker on to campus for more information and guidance.

Room bookings policy

The policy ensures that the process for the booking and use of University teaching space for activities outside the teaching timetable supports the University’s mission relating to excellence in education and excellence in research.

• Room bookings policy (.pdf)

Find a room on campus

To locate a room on the Colchester or Southend campus, use the Find Your Way campus map, the University’s interactive map service. The site includes a function that will generate directions between locations, including routes that avoid steps.

Commercial events

Charges are applied to room hire for external and internal clients when a proposed event is deemed to be commercial. An event is deemed to be commercial when it is not directly linked to the academic activities of the University. These may include requests from members of the University for bookings for external clubs and societies, professional organisations, or events where delegates are asked to pay to attend.

Members of the University may benefit from discounted rates with the same standard of service as external clients, and where it is considered that there are tangible benefits (such as increased admissions) to the University in staging an event  then consideration may be given to the waiving of these charges altogether.

Booking conditions

Any booking, whether term time or vacation, which contains a commercial element (however small) must be booked via Event EssexEvent EssexEvent Essex not the Timetabling and Room Booking Team. These conditions apply to all University rooms, including departmental rooms and private offices, and protect the individual in the event of an accident or emergency.
The Event Essex team are able to assist with organising meeting rooms, catering, parking permits, signage, AV equipment and technical assistance, and more. For full details please see their dedicated pages.