Bath University Accommodation

[hanka]

Hello, I’m not sure if it’s already being discussed somewhere, sorry if it is. DC has been accepted to Bath Uni (as a first choice) and we’re waiting for an accommodation email. Anyone has already received theirs? It’s our first experience with university application/life. Not sure how long the wait is and we’re getting a bit nervous. Should DC contact them? Or just wait patiently? Thanks for help.

TJsAunt

Thats really ironic, we selected the most expensive on campus accommodation but was allocated the cheapest off campus accommodation.

Wanna swap :)

Surely a girl sharing a flat with 6 (unknown) boys is a safeguarding issue? When you think of all the rape chat stuff that went on at Warwick a few years ago. I would not be happy if that was my DD that’s for sure.

Thanks for the comments.

You'd think so wouldn't you, but the Bath Accom team don't!

Xeno10 I appreciate that you and your DD are disappointed with her allocation but please don't encourage her to think that sharing with boys is something to be concerned about. These boys may be absolutely lovely. They may be clean and tidy, some girls are slobs. It’s not healthy for you to be peddling idea that it is something for her to be concerned about. I have a boy heading to Bath, he is untidy but he is clean and pulls his weight around the house and is a real gent and has lots of female friends. also
there will be lots of girls in other flats nearby for her to make friends with, so I really can’t see why this is an issue. She will have her own room it’s not like she is being asked to share a bedroom.

in addition , being off campus should not stop her playing sport, she will just need to be organised. In later years she will be off campus anyways and guessing she will still want to play sport? My other DC is at a city uni where the sports facilities are far away and it really hasn’t caused any issues.

i am sure there will be loads of movement in the first few weeks so if she doesn’t like the flat there will most likely be an option to move then.

i am sure the accommodation allocation process isn’t perfect but it’s impossible to please everyone and there will always be lucky ones and disappointed ones in amongst the thousands .

I've said several times on the thread that I used to work in accommodation several years ago (although not in allocations). My current job has nothing to do with accommodation or accommodation allocations so although I'm happy to offer advice on how it used to work when I worked there, whatever I say may not be relevant now.

Also even if I did still work in accommodation there is no need to be so rude to me!

I apologies if you think I was rude, I was just airing my opinion and concerns given my experience to date.

please don't encourage her to think that sharing with boys is something to be concerned about.

But it may well be. My DS is lovely and a gent too but I know some boys aren’t especially after a few drinks. A lone girl in a house full of boys is far from ideal. If she knew the boys that would obviously be a different story but she doesn’t.

I don't think this is anything new. Obviously the 2 COVID years were oversubscribed but 2019 certainly was too.

All universities have been expanding their intakes and many others don't have enough accommodation to satisfy the first year intake.

Personally, I think if a uni is a campus university that requires public transport to get there, they should have to be able to house everyone on campus in first year. But as we know, they're businesses and they can do what they want. It might mean, in time, that some students stop putting down these universities as their insurance option. DD chose Loughborough as her insurance as she'd still have got guaranteed accommodation. Although with Bath, on campus flats aren't guaranteed even if it's your firm.

Its a rubbish time to be a student going to uni and a rubbish time to be a parent of a student in terms of uncertainty, stress and money.

Your concerns are valid and I think that they do try to gender balance most flats (or used to) and in preferences you can choose single sex preferred. What is the allocated accommodation out of interest? I'm just wondering it it's Sulis or Twerton Mill if they have just put your daughter wherever they have a spare spot in the non-uni owned accommodation meaning that they can't control who she shares with? Not that it makes it right but that might explain it.

Although I just looked and Twerton Mill is now exclusively Bath Spa.

If my daughter was allocated a room in an off campus house with just boys she wouldn't go. The boys could be gents but she would feel extremely uncomfortable. It's nothing to do with cleanliness.
I friend's daughter was allocated a room (not Bath) with two males in an on campus flat and she came back one day to find a drugged out friend of one of them (the flatmate wasn't there) and she felt so threatened she barricaded her door. The accommodation people said they couldn't move her, despite other girls on her course saying they had empty rooms. She left that weekend never to return.

even as a fellow boy mum I have to disagree with this. A mixed flat is fine. But one girl in a boys flat is not - it'll be a whole different vibe.

Yes, although it sounds really inconvenient, I don't think the sport will be an issue. I'm sure she'll make friends with other rugby players who have to get in from town, and she can shower on campus. (My DD at another uni had similar issues, but it was all fine, and bonding!)

However, I wouldn't be happy with the all boys thing, when you don't know them. After all, it only takes one to be awful (and they may appear deceptively nice at first). I'd pursue this further, as some people are bound to decline their accommodation. If you don't put their backs up, the office may agree to slot you in, as they won't be losing a room overall.

we are desperately trying to find private Accom before the term stars
Some people won't turn up, so I'd only look for temp accommodation, if you go down this route. She could look at AirBnB and see if there're any family homes who would do a deal. We've got a student staying at the moment (in a different town), whom I spotted on our local Facebook page, so there are possibilities. Is there a waiting list she can go on for a campus room?

i apologise. I hadn’t appreciated that she’d be the ONLY girl in the flat , that is different and I can see why she wouldn’t be happy with that.

This happened to me at Bath 25 years ago, only female in my accommodation. To be fair they did offer to move me when they realised at Christmas, but a bit shy I said I'd stay with the people I now knew. Ended up living with lads all the way through and didn't manage to get to know any other girls in my whole time there!

Well it’s impossible to find any available accommodation that isn’t ££££ (even temporary), so God knows what DS (and lots of others) will be doing.

Anyone reading this in the future thinking of putting Bath as your/your DC’s insurance - don’t!!!!

@OscarMikeGolf I contacted the campus safeguarding team and they were surprised and shared my concerns and would contact the Accom team. Within 20 mins of hanging up I received a call offering an Apt, on suite, kitchenette etc in the same building. On the floor are 3 lads and 3 other girls and there is also a shared kitchen. So after much kicking and screaming we got 90% of what she wanted. Good luck to everyone still having Accommodation challenges!

Phew @Xeno10 result!

I really don't understand Bath Uni- we live round the corner- there are all these massively expensive blocks in town intended for foreign students paying £££££ - and yet Bath has tons and tons of land on campus, sticking up a couple of big new blocks wouldn't touch the sides of the land they have - and stop taking land in town that is needed for non student house building and shared ownerships and HA etc

Yes, I don't understand why they can't fit another block of accommodation on their campus.

Is think most of the new blocks in the city centre are built by private companies and even if bath has enough uni accommodation for all its first years, those private blocks would be popular with international students in their 2nd/final year.

DS has friends (insurance offer holders) who have were told last week there is no accommodation for them.

Really really poor from the uni. You could accept that you take your chances if you go through clearing, but for 'insurance' students it's not on, there are A LOT of students left high and dry

In fairness, Bath is transparent about accommodation only being guaranteed if you firm. I'm not sure how that compares with other universities though.

I wonder if they are moving towards guaranteed accommodation being split pretty much between city centre and campus, to make the city centre ones more attractive? When DD applied last year, there were only 2 city centre ones on the list when she applied (John Wood and another I think) and only having 2 already gives the impression they aren't going to be popular choices. Dunno.

@Xeno10 , glad you got your daughter's accommodation changed!

@SoIinvictus now I love bath Uni campus but to be honest if I was a first year I would actually prefer to be in the town. I guess it's more to do with 'where others are and not knowing other people ' - i guess though if it's not your first choice or through clearing it's the luck of the draw accommodation wise and you might have to get a share via spare room etc- we have masses of non first year houses here

True! DD was adamant she wanted campus but now acknowledges most of her nightlife was in town!
I think what you say is very true about why they want campus. And in some universities travel between campus and town is a lot more arduous than the U1!