How to apply for University accommodation

How to apply

You need a University of Bristol student number to apply for accommodation. This is emailed to you when we confirm your place of study at Bristol.

Before you can apply, you must register for our accommodation portal. You can register 24 hours after your place of study is confirmed.

Find out who is guaranteed an accommodation offer.

Clearing and insurance applicants

If we were your insurance choice University or you accepted a place of study through Clearing, we will send you an email inviting you to book a room. The email will arrive between 9 am and 3:30 pm, on a date from 20 August.

We send your invitation based on when your place of study was confirmed, to ensure fairness. 

After you receive your invitation, you will have 48 hours to book a room. You will be able to view available rooms in our accommodation portal, select a room and sign the tenancy agreement.

If you are aged under 18, have accommodation needs or need a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan, you will be asked to tell us your room preferences so we can try to offer you a suitable room.

Other applicants

When applications are open you can:

1. register for the Accommodation Portal
2. fill in the accommodation application form in the Accommodation Portal.

Your room preferences

When you apply, you must give your:

• preferred budget (accommodation cost)
• accommodation needs, if you have specific requirements.

You can choose to give your preferred:

• room type
• flat type 
• catering (catered or self-catered)
• location (what you want to live near)
• top three residences.

How we use your preferences

We use your preferences to try and offer you a suitable room.

We are unlikely to meet all your preferences. There are limited rooms and some options are more requested than others.

1 in 5 applicants got a room offer that was more expensive than their preferred budget in 2024/25. This was around £1000 higher in some cases.

Find out about room offers.