New Undergraduate and Postgraduates
For all NEW UG and PGs, please apply for your accommodation by following the instructions below. Please note that accommodation applications for 23/24 are now open.
Moving away from home for the first time should be exciting but it can be daunting too. We are committed to helping you make that transition as easy as possible. This guide should tell you everything you need to know.
Applications for accommodation should be made separately from your application to study at the University of Edinburgh.
As soon as you have accepted your offer to study (whether the offer is Unconditional OR Conditional) you can apply for accommodation.
Unconditional Firm - As soon as you have accepted your offer to study you can apply for accommodation via your MyEd portal (www.myed.ed.ac.uk). Enter your username and password to login, click on the 'Student Life' tab and select 'Accommodation'. Then 'Launch Services', and click ‘Term Time 2023 – 24’ to begin your application.
Conditional Firm, Conditional Insurance, Unconditional Insurance - As soon as you have accepted your offer to study you can apply for accommodation via your MyEd portal (www.myed.ed.ac.uk). Enter your username and password to login, click on ‘Manage My Accommodation Application’, then ‘Launch Services’ and click ‘Term Time 2023 – 24’ to begin your application.
As soon as you have accepted an offer to study at The University of Edinburgh, you should apply for accommodation; this is regardless of whether your offer is Unconditional OR Conditional. Waiting until you have an Unconditional Offer may mean you miss our guarantee deadline.
Please note that it can take up to 72hrs from when you have accepted your offer until you are able to access the accommodation applications.
(Please note that applications for accommodation should be made separately from any application to study at the University of Edinburgh).
It is important that before you start your application you look at all the accommodation options and consider what is important to you – price; location; facilities etc. You should also note that we treat all 5 preferences equally and therefore you should be happy to stay in any room you list as a preference.
All our accommodation can be seen through the Accommodation Search and include information such as photos, location, distance from campuses, facilities, and prices.
Applications for accommodation are open from around March for September arrivals, and from October for January (semester 2) arrivals.
Once you receive your Unconditional Offer we will make you an offer of accommodation. You do not need to inform us when you become Unconditional Firm – we’ll be updated automatically.
We understand that some students are Unconditional before their exams, and that others will be waiting to receive their exam results through the summer, therefore we allocate rooms proportionally and NOT first come, first served. For example, if we receive information from the University that 20% of applicants are Unconditional at a certain time, we will allocate 20% of the rooms across all our residences. This means that all applicants will have an equal chance of getting one of their preferences.
Accommodation offers are emailed out to students – so please ensure you apply using a valid email address and one which you check regularly. If you plan on going away for the summer, please ensure you still have access to either your emails or the University’s MyED portal – or leave details with someone who can access either of these accounts on your behalf. You will only have 3 days to accept or reject your offer – so it’s important you don’t miss any communications from us.
To accept the offer, you simply log on to the MyED portal where you will be prompted to provide us with one of the following approved payment methods, and accept the terms and conditions. You will only have a maximum of 3 days to accept your offer – so it’s important you have your payment method ready to go.
You may choose to either set up a payment plan; pay your rent in full; or select one of our UoE approved sponsors (If your sponsor is not one of our approved sponsors, you will need to accept your contract choosing to pay by instalments or payment in full, then ask your sponsor to compensate you direct).
If you choose to pay in instalments you may pay:
- by Recurring Card Payments (you will need to register a credit card or UK debit card with us at the point of acceptance)
- by Direct Debit (only if you hold a UK bank account)
Payments are automatically collected on the 1st of the month, which means no manual payments are required from you (unless notified by our Rent Payment Team).
If you choose to pay in instalments UG Students may pay over 8 or 3 instalments, and PG Students may pay over 10 or 4 instalments.
You can opt to make a one-off advance payment of £500, £1000 or £2000 when accepting your offer. This advance payment is designed to make your repayments easier to manage.
If you choose to pay in full, you may pay:
- by credit or UK debit card
- by international bank transfer, through our partner Western Union Business Solutions. (You will be able to accept your offer once this payment has been confirmed to us by Western Union. This process usually takes 2 working days, depending on where you are sending the money from).
We do not add any charges for paying in instalments; nor do we offer any reduction for paying in full.
Find more information on your payment options here
Before applying, please take time to read the information on this page, including the FAQs on online applications.
You will only be able to apply for accommodation once you have accepted an offer to study at the University of Edinburgh.
When allocating we look at a student’s age, nationality, course; and try to find the best possible mix for potential flatmates. We aim to create a diverse mix of cultures and backgrounds yet also ensure we don’t have students who are studying the same course all living in the same flat – sometimes when you’ve worked with someone all day, you want to see a new face when you come home!
If you are starting as a mature student (whether Undergraduate or Postgraduate), we want to make sure that your accommodation is best suited to your needs, and we often reserve a few flats across our residences specifically for mature students.
We also never mix our Undergraduate students with our Postgraduate students (you each have different lease length requirements for a start!) so you’ll never find yourself in the same flat as a Postgrad if you are an Undergrad, and vice versa.
We usually begin allocating from May onwards, and we start with students who already hold Unconditional Firm offers. We’re one of a few universities who DON’T allocate on a first come, first served basis. We allocate proportionately; so for example, if we’ve been informed that 10% of students are Unconditional Firm, we’ll only allocate 10% of our accommodation.
That being said, once you ARE Unconditional Firm (UF), we do look at applications in date order; so for example, someone who applied in March but became UF in August, will be allocated before someone who applied in July and became UF in August. We are aware that students become Unconditional at various points throughout the year – so we try to make our allocation process as fair as possible for all students.
Understand how you fit the guarantee criteria
The University of Edinburgh guarantees an offer of accommodation to all new single undergraduate students who meet the criteria below. However, we cannot guarantee to provide everyone with precisely the type of accommodation they would prefer; we do our best and find almost all students enjoy living in the accommodation they are offered but, whatever preferences you select, you should note these are preferences and not choices.
For students who do not fall under our guarantee criteria, you are still encouraged to apply as early as you can for accommodation and go on to our waiting list; we will do everything we reasonably can to provide an offer of accommodation but this will be subject to availability; any offers will typically be made in the date order we receive applications.
Have your 5 preferences ready
Our accommodation is based across a number of sites, typically located within a short walk or bus ride from the buzz of Edinburgh’s centre; while many are close to key University locations, some are in increasingly popular and equally convenient areas of the city. University accommodation offers…
- convenient locations
- comprehensive social, community and welfare networks from our Residence Life team
- mixed gender residences, though some individual flats are single sex
- laundry facilities
- secure cycle storage
- internet in each study bedroom
- personal contents insurance
Before you start your application you should look at all our accommodation options and consider what is important to you – price; location; or bathroom facilities. You should also note that we treat all 5 preferences equally and therefore you should be happy to stay in ANY room you list as a preference.
Know that we won’t ask for money upfront
When you apply for accommodation, we won’t ask you to pay and deposit or pre-payment; and we won’t ask for any guarantors.
Current Students
For CURRENT students who wish to apply for university accommodation, please complete the application form in the link below.