Insurance accommodation at various universities

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Confidence about getting accommodation with other students in a not shared room is really important for my dd. She's applying this autumn to university. It seems as though some places guarantee accommodation for insurance offers, but many don't.

So what is getting a place to stay as an insurance offer like in the following places please?

Warwick
Southampton
Bristol
Bath
Surrey

Thanks :)

You might have more luck contacting the individual universities or looking on the student room as this is a very specific question.

Agree , try Student Room. Most unis will only talk about those who firm rather than insure the offer. Some guarantee a place in halls for all freshers and shared rooms are less common. At ds uni those who came through clearing tend to get the more distant hall, but others were in the more expensive ones. She may be lucky and get an unconditional offer which allows her first pick. If you are prepared to pay for higher fees you should be fine.

I don't think talking to universities will give a real picture tbh, only their ideal version of what would happen.

I will send dd in the way of student room and but I've seen a lot of accommodation talk on here about various unis and specific halls, so I know there's a fair bit of experience amongst mners. Reading the Bristol thread worried me a little. Thanks both :)

If getting particular accommodation is important to your daughter could she defer a year?

it's maths, so they prefer them not to usually, but thank you for the idea, it's worth bearing in mind if it comes to it.

I don't have personal experience of any of those universities but had a friend who was at Bristol as her insurance choice. She ended up in a shared house with 5 others, all with their own double bedrooms. 3 bathrooms between them. It was actually quite a lot nicer than most of halls (and a shed load cheaper).

It is really very uncommon these days to share dorms at uni and the only examples I heard of were at a couple of the older colleges at Durham/Oxford.

I graduated 3 years ago, so should be relatively up to date information.

that sounds really nice Spanaroo, not as scary as it sounded!
I've read in the news sometimes about places not having enough accommodation to start with and making people share rooms. There may not be so much pressure on places next year though.

I've not known anyone IRL or even friends of friends who've been in that position - even people who went through clearing. I think it must be a very tiny minority.

Dn is going to a uni where you can't apply for accommodation until after the a level results come out

DS1 went to Warwick to do maths. It was his insurance option and he got his first choice of accommodation.
However things are different from one year to another so this means nothing and I don't think many places have enough halls to guarantee it.
York does. DS2 is at York and they have an abundance of accommodation. He has a couple of friends who had it as insurance and got halls. They can also stay in halls in 2nd and 3rd years.

She probably won't end up in her insurance choice. Also university can be a time when you are pushed out of your comfort zone and learn to tolerate things you don't like - that is not necessarily bad for young people and part of life learning so perhaps just reassure her fears and say she will probably get her first choice anyway. I was determined not to share a room at university so ended up in self catering halls and that wokred fine for me as when and where I went most of the catered halls had a big risk of shared rooms and even all those years ago I was not prepared to share.

At Bristol there is no shared accommodation offered apart from a few rooms in Clifton Hill House, which is one of the more popular halls so it's unlikely she'd get a room there if she's only putting it as an insurance.

Only 1 Uni of several DS &DD looked at had any shared rooms. And we've looked at a lot of halls.
No Uni can definitely say which halls you'll end up in, but apply for the ones you want at earliest opportunity, and she'll stand every chance of getting 1st or 2nd choice.

Students rarely share rooms. I told you my DD was allocated a "shared" room at Bristol but in fact it was not. I think you really should choose a university based on the course, status and location, not on what room you may get for an insurance choice. It may never happen. Wills at Bristol has a few "shared " rooms but in fact they are two rooms with an access through the outer room. Way better than a random house miles away from the university with a few random students. A recipe for distaster for many.

Also, the position changes every year. Sharing a room is hardly "scary". Plenty of young people have to do in over-crowded homes. Few students stay on campus for 3 years these days either. That's a billy no mates situation really.

DD's friend has just finished her first year at Bristol. It was her insurance choice (changed her mind on results day about going to her first choice). She had to share a room for about the first 8 weeks and then was offered a room in a different halls.

So it's all quite mixed. She looked at Durham where lots of the rooms are shared with real choice whether you can go for shared or not.

OK, she may just have to be brave and cross her fingers.

The fact is that since the cap came off student numbers, the unis simply do not have enough accommodation. None of them will guarantee accommodation for an Insurance place. Some students are lucky and others less so. The fact is, it can be a grim start to the uni experience if they struggle to find accommodation. I think it is a genuine concern.

a few do. but not many.

My ds went to Bath as his insurance offer to do maths. They don't guarantee accommodation unless it's your first choice and he was invited to a 'flat finding day' with other students who had no place in halls. Then at the last minute he was offered a place in the halls in the city centre, not on campus. It was all quite stressful.
I think most universities don't guarantee accommodation if it's your insurance choice.

Manchester do, so worth considering as an insurance choice.

Does she has any particular (documented) health issues which mean that having her own room is necessary for her?

My DS wanted/needed an en-suite room but didn't get allocated one. He has ASD and has difficulty with organisational skills - sharing 1 bathroom with 5 others was never going to work for him. He contacted the accomodation office who said that if he went through the Uni's Disability office and provided evidence of his disability they would see what they could do. Lo and behold an en suite room became available within 24 hours!

no she doesn't have anything documented bigbluebus. I'm glad they were able to resolve your ds' issue.

My DS got his insurance place at Bath but had to share a room for the first term. He was on a foldaway bed. He then managed to get his own room in a block with lots of postgrads which wasn't ideal but at least his own (tiny) space. there is a severe problem at Bath with student accommodation. He is really happy there tho' so worth it in the end.

thanks! that's a slight concern!

With fewer students applying this year there may be mire accommodation available and it may well be the case in the future too.