To not have told my dd everything

I'm really shocked the uni haven't contacted your daughter about this and appeared to have just taken your word for it. She's an adult, it should be her choice, isn't going to university all about discovering independence??

Did your daughter fill in a form when she applied for uni about her sleeping etc habits? I went to a uni talk recently and was given the impression this happens and the uni chooses people with similar habits.
I would contact the sen office and ask what accommodation has she been given and particularly if its with overseas / religious students.
You might find if she filled in her questionnaire accurately she has been given the accomodaion based on her answers rather than your query.

I really do not think it was your place and I'm amazed the university have even acknowledged your email.

She's an adult. You cannot be emailing her university to handle things for her (or any employers btw).

You could have suggested she ask for quieter accommodation but you massively overstepped. You need to step back and let her deal with this herself.

Which uni is it?

In my uni experience (2016) the quiet halls tended to be people who were religious or international. The international students tended to speak their mother tounge at halls (as is fair enough, it's exhausting to speak another language) and the religious students tended to group together by religion.

It might be worth speaking to your daughter and going to the uni together to speak about it and the different options.

It's worth noting that with her epilepsy she will likely be entitled to stay in halls her whole uni journey, whereas often unis only allow first years to live in uni accommodation.

Just a note on the ability to change accommodation. My unis accommodation was always oversubscribed and switches were done by putting a preference on the system and waiting for someone else to want to switch with you. In many cases this never happened.

It would’ve been better to merely ask the uni if this was an option rather than arranging it for her without consulting with her. Then, when they confirmed it was viable, to have then discussed it with her as an independent adult and see if it was an option she wanted to request for herself. You’ve acted with her best interests in mind but if it’s not too late for her to change things, I’d tell her you’d been interested to know about the options and then ask her how she feels about having a quieter non-drinking place. If she doesn’t want it, tell the uni.

DS is autistic and I would not have thought of interfering as they fill
In a form when they apply - asking if they want all girls/mixed etc. as others have said your DD may end up with very religious or international students who (from my experience and DS's) don't mix with others.

It would have been better to let her be with a wide mix of students and give her the choice and be able to form relationships where they would care for her from friendship.

DS had 7 in his flat and they came from a range of backgrounds and religions. He is still living with 2 of them in Year 3.

You need to tell her as she may be able to undo your (well meant) meddling

I suspect the university complied with your wishes because of your daughters medical conditions and universities having a duty of care, although I am a little surprised as your daughter is over 18 they didn't say she had to confirm. I can see why you did it, but it was an over-reach. I believe in honesty (things have a way to come back and bite you), and if you tell her I'd explain why and apologise, but I'd also expect her to be (understandably) angry.

I think you did the right thing for your DD, OP. At least, your heart was in the right place. I don't think I'd mention it though. She's been allocated somewhere quiet, which is a great result that you may or may not have helped with.

Turns out the Times posted an article on this literally ten minutes ago! Unfortunately it's behind a paywall

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/international-students-cannot-speak-enough-english-to-follow-courses-vschfc9tn

Actually there was a lot of noise in the news a few months ago about this. And a thread on MN.

I would tell her OP. I think it might come out, also she needs to learn how to look after herself: what to avoid in uni environment and what kind of things to consider, epilepsy is a serious thing.

It's not purely a written test.

And I was commenting on the fact that their spoken English was classed as poor - choosing to speak your mother tongue is totally understandable when most of the people around you also speak it. But going to an English speaking uni if you struggle to speak the language is a massive issue.

I don't have kids of this age, but it's great that they provide such accommodation

There’s a big difference between passing a written test and speaking colloquially with peers. Are you saying if you moved to China at age 18 and shared a flat with six Brits and one native Chinese speaker would you really be lounging around the flat practicing your Mandarin skills?

My DD has finished first year in halls and at the start they were given questionnaires to help allocate slots.
I can see why you did it but it wasn't your place to do it.

I’m more concerned about the seizures and what will be put in place in case of an emergency. There is usually some warning of a seizure so a pull cord to summon help could be essential.

A friend’s daughter went to university with a diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures last October and passed away in her sleep in her university room early this year. Her death certificate said SUDEP although she had never received a diagnosis of epilepsy. She was living in quiet halls with mainly international students and didn’t drink.

The OP didn’t say whether her DD is medicated for seizures but this needs to be of paramount concern rather than her social life, sorry to say. Her parents want to raise awareness even if it means one family doesn’t have to go through what they are suffering.

I’m so confused by this. Assuming not everyone has a mum/dad/carer who makes requests about their accommodation (which I find a bit weird in itself) how is the uni responding to this? It’s not as if they’ll have had a load of people saying ‘I want to be in a halls where people get pissed/do sport/love theatre’ and make sure students only share with like minded people. Surely the whole point of uni accommodation is living with others. Sorry OP, I can understand your concerns but this is just bonkers

@Happyface246 if she wants to be social at uni there are a ton of clubs she can join and she will meet people on her course. There will still be activities in the quiet accommodation surely? She also might not want to be more social and be happy as she is. I can see you are tying yourself in knots I would focus on agreeing what's a helpful way to support her. She needs independent living skills. Is she going to be far from you?

Speak to your daughter and tell her what you’ve done and why you did it.
Ask her what she thinks about it and if she’s not happy then to contact the Uni and ask to move somewhere else.
Hopefully, she’ll understand that you had her best interests at heart.

@Dibbydoos it might have been the right outcome gone about the wrong way. DD could have sent the email with support or possibly independently. And she might have been quite happy for OP to send the email but now OP has stressed herself out unnecessarily. There's also the possibility that she needed time to decide what she wanted and the choice has been taken away and she will be anti the arrangement on principle

Loads of universities accept people with very poor english, because they bring money. I went to medical school and some of my cohort barely spoke English. It’s shocking.

I'm surprised the uni accommodated your wishes w/o consulting your DD. I would have thought they would only do this if she has agreed for you to be her advocate.

Is your DD an adult? Only you say she's under CAHMS.

and also, if 7/8 of the shared house speak Mandarin as their mother tongue then it's likely that's what they'll speak, regardless of their ability to speak English during classes.

@Happyface246 you should have discussed it with her and not taken it on yourself to do this, but @Pieandchips999 I disagree the outcome isn't the best one for her DD. Imagine being like DD surrounded by party people!!!

I would not mention it to your DD. Let her find her feet once she gets there. If she wants to.move, she can.