Accommodation
Whether you’re looking for a city centre experience or a quiet part of town, we’ll help you find a place to call home.
University accommodation
Living in a University residence offers you the chance to join a student community. Residences organise their own sporting and social activities, and a team of staff and students is on site to offer you support and practical help. You’ll live with undergraduate students from other countries and cultures, including the UK.
Take a look at the residences available to Erasmus+ and Study Abroad students.
Spring semester students
The autumn and spring semesters at Bristol run back to back and do not have a gap between them. This means that autumn semester students will be living in university accommodation right up until the start of the spring semester.
If you are starting at Bristol in January, you may not be able to move into your allocated room immediately, to allow for autumn students to move out and cleaning to take place. Therefore, you may to be temporarily housed elsewhere. This is nothing to worry about, and we will be in touch prior to the start of the semester if this will affect you.
If this affects your room, you will be provided with information to help you move, and you will usually be able to move into your allocated room after one or two weeks of term. Students are sometimes housed temporarily in university accommodation and will still have access to meal plans where appropriate. Some students may need to be housed in the private sector for 1 to 2 weeks. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Global Opportunities team.
STABEL students
Students studying the STABEL programme will need to apply for university accommodation twice: once for the pre-sessional English course and once for the Study Abroad course. It may not be possible to stay in the same room for both courses. The Global Opportunities team will be in touch with STABEL students with more information.
Health needs or disabilities
Your choice of accommodation may be influenced by ill health or disability. If this is the case, it is important that you apply as soon as the accommodation applications open so that we can make you a suitable offer.
Find out more about what accommodation is available for students who have a disability and/or health need.
Mature students
If you are 21 or over and wish to share with other mature students, you should indicate this on the accommodation application form.
Please note that while we will do our best to ensure that your flat is made up of mature students, most of the students living around you will be 18 or 19 years old.
Living in private rented accommodation
If you want to be more independent, you may prefer to find private rented accommodation. Most rental contracts are for a minimum of nine months, so this is most appropriate if you are coming for a full year.
There is a lot of competition to find private rented accommodation in Bristol in September. To give yourself the best chance of finding somewhere suitable to live, start looking as early as you can. If possible, we advise that you visit the UK when looking for accommodation. During September we run an Accommodation Help Desk to help you look for housing.
Our Accommodation Office offers information and guidance on where to look for accommodation and how to make sure you find a safe place to live. We also recommend Bristol SU lettings, a lettings agency run by the Students' Union.
Please note that if you are living in privately rented accommodation, you will be liable for paying council tax for any dates outside your official university registration. You will be exempt from council tax during university term dates, but you will need to apply for this exemption. More information can be found here.
Accommodation contents insurance
If you are renting in the private sector, we recommend you take out contents insurance. Information about insurance companies can be found in our contents insurance factsheet.
Everyone was so kind and welcoming here. The accommodation had everything you need to make you feel at home.
Accommodation guarantee
Autumn semester Study Abroad students who apply for accommodation before the application closing date are guaranteed an offer of accommodation.
Erasmus+ students for the autumn semester are not guaranteed an offer of accommodation, but can still apply for University-allocated accommodation.