UCL as insurance, chance of getting accommodation

[Combinatorix]

Hi

DD is considering UCL as her insurance choice but is worried about accommodation, specifically that she wouldn’t be able to get any or will have to pay a fortune.

Has anyone has experience with how likely she is to be able to get something in halls if she only applies for it after results?

Thank you!

Places do become available in UCL and University of London accommodation (intercollegiate halls) in late August/early September as a significant share of international students with Firm offers choose to not attend university in the UK. However, you do need to be very proactive.

Can I ask what the firm is? If it's another London one you can do intercollegiate for both?

Firm is cambridge, but concerned about the grades! She is veering towards insuring manchester instead - likes both but is very worried about not getting a room!

UCL is way nicer than Manchester. Accommodation in London really isn't a problem - there is loads of student accommodation. Intercollegiate halls are best.

Prepare to spend £900 a month on a mouldy room miles away from uni after first year though.

Omg!! I hope she gets Cambridge? Might I ask what she's hoping to study?

I agree. London is an amazing city to study in. But not everyone can afford it and not everyone is already from London and/or can commute

It's less nice when you're stuck out in Deptford or similar and taking an overland train into college for 40 mins every morning with all the commuters.

Thanks everyone, she is hoping to study history. I would love her to have the experience of living in london and UCL is great - she has heard horror stories though and is very concerned about being stuck miles away, not getting to meet people in halls and paying a fortune!

We had the same dilemma last year, offer from Cambridge but with LSE as insurance (much of the Lse accomodation is up near UCL). At the time I made quite a few enquiries and was told that rooms did normally become available after A level results day, when others didn’t make their firmed offer. It would have been stressful I’m sure but we weren’t worried enough to consider declining what would have been a very good insurance option.

London is definitely expensive for accommodation. However, judging from my own children's experience, it is MUCH cheaper to pay more rent and be able to get around on foot than to pay less rent, travel in and incur the extra costs involved in hanging around in London and buying food out in order to participate in the full range of very inexpensive student activities on offer. The best paying student jobs are also in hyper-central London. So even if the rent looks scary, it is super important to fully budget life. There really is nothing worse than living far out, commuting and doing some low paid job and it doesn't make financial sense.