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Apply for undergraduate and exchange student accommodation

We can guarantee a place in accommodation with other first year undergraduates, providing certain deadlines are met.

You can apply for accommodation after you have accepted your offer to study here. You can do this via the Cardiff University online system (SIMS). You will need your username and password which was emailed to you shortly after we received your application.

How to apply

We offer a variety of student halls and houses for you to choose, depending on your lifestyle and budget. You may find it useful to consider the following factors when deciding on your living space:

You can apply for a place in accommodation after you have a firm offer to study.

You can do this via the Cardiff University online system (SIMS). You will need your username and password which was emailed to you shortly after we received your application.

Apply online

To ensure you are guaranteed a single occupancy place in accommodation, you must:

  • submit your online application by:
    • firm students - Monday 29 July 2024
    • insurance students - Wednesday 21 August 2024
    • full session exchange students - Monday 29 July 2024
  • receive/accept an unconditional offer to study by Friday 30 August 2024

When applying online, you will be able to detail your order of preference for the accommodation available. We will make every effort to ensure that you get into one of your preferred choices. If this isn’t possible, we will offer you an alternative room based on availability.

  • Please note: If your online application is received after the deadline or you receive/accept an unconditional offer to study after Friday 30 August 2024, we will do our best to accommodate you and your application will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Due to the embargo periods for both Scottish and A Level results, UCAS applicants will not be able to apply online during the following times:

  • 18:00 Tuesday 30 July to 09:00 Tuesday 6 August
  • 17:00 Thursday 8 August to 08:00 Thursday 15 August

Application order

Your application is processed in date order, according to two dates:

  • the first is the date we receive confirmation from Admissions of your unconditional offer to study
  • the second is the date of receipt of your application

We will try to offer you one of your higher preferences when allocating you a place in accommodation.

If there is not a vacancy in your first choice of accommodation, we will consider all your other choices in priority order until we can locate a vacancy for you.

Because the residences vary in the numbers of students they accommodate and some are more popular than others, obtaining your higher preferences can't be guaranteed. If your preferred accommodation is no longer available, we will make you what we consider a suitable alternative offer.

It is our policy to house students in mixed flats in terms of gender and nationality/race wherever possible, including bedrooms on the ground floor. If you would prefer to live in a single gender flat, please let us know in your online application.

If you will be living in Unite accommodation the following does not apply and you will receive further information directly from Unite.

In late July/August/September, you will receive an email telling you that your application has been processed and asking you to view and accept your room offer online.

You must accept your online room offer within five days or your offer will expire and the room will be allocated to another student. Therefore, it is important for you to check your email account during this period.

Please note some email providers may treat the email as spam, so please check your spam/junk mail folder as well as your inbox.

Your online room offer consists of the following information:

  • contract
  • written statement/terms and conditions
  • arrival Information
  • paying for residences guidelines

When accepting your room offer / accommodation contract, you will be asked to confirm you do not have a relevant unspent criminal conviction where there are restrictions in place which may preclude you from living in University accommodation. Please contact us if you have a precluding criminal conviction. For further information on how we process your data, please read the student privacy notice.

Once you have accepted your room offer, your room will be reserved for you and you will receive an email confirming this.

You will be offered a place for a set period and once you accept your room offer, you become liable for the rent for the contract period stated on your contract.

To finally guarantee your place in accommodation, you must arrive and collect your room key within the dates/times specified in the arrival information.

If you are unable to arrive within the specified dates, your room offer will be withdrawn and your room allocated to another student. We will no longer be able to guarantee you a place in accommodation and you will need to contact the Residences Office when your travel date is confirmed to check room availability.

Key dates

TaskDeadline
Firm applicants must submit their online applicationMonday 29 July 2024
Full session Exchange students must submit their online applicationMonday 29 July 2024
Insurance applicants must submit their online applicationWednesday 21 August 2024
Receive/accept your unconditional offer to studyFriday 30 August 2024
Accept your room offer (online)Within five days of your room being allocated
Collect your room keyWithin the dates/times specified in the arrival information

Clearing, RPA and late applicants

We accommodate Clearing, Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA) and late applicant students (i.e. apply after the above mentioned deadlines) in student accommodation on a first-come, first-served basis.

We will keep you up-to-date about the availability of rooms and do our very best to offer you suitable accommodation. We will let you know as soon as we can if we do not have any availability and you need to secure private sector accommodation.

Key datesTask
Sunday 30 June 2024This is the deadline for applications to study made through the normal UCAS admissions cycle. If you have applied after this date, accommodation will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis
Monday 2 September 2024We will have started processing late applications for accommodation. Once you have accepted your offer to study on a firm basis, we will email you with instructions on how you can apply for accommodation online.

Part session exchange students

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee exchange students a place in accommodation if you are coming for autumn or spring semester only.

There are a fixed number of rooms available in accommodation each semester and you will receive specific information about accommodation from the Global Opportunities team when you hold a formal offer to study with us.

European students can also find out more on the European Exchange web page.

Global Opportunities