Apply for undergraduate and exchange student accommodation

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:

• self-catered/meals provided
• availability of ensuite shower/toilet facilities
• rent
• how close it is to your academic building, the city centre, or your choice of social or sports facilities
• and for some students, especially those from overseas, the availability of residences during the summer vacation (all of the university accommodation allow you to stay during Christmas and Easter vacations)

You can apply for a place in university 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 University accommodation, you must:

• submit your online application by:
  • firm students - Monday 31 July 2023
  • insurance students - Thursday 31 August 2023
  • full session exchange students - Monday 31 July 2023
• receive/accept an unconditional offer to study by Thursday 31 August 2023

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 Thursday 31 August 2023, we will do our best to accommodate you and your application will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

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 university 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 male-only or female-only 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

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 university 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 university accommodation and you will need to contact the Residences Office when your travel date is confirmed to check room availability.