Accommodation in Exeter

Supported returning students

We endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to support individuals who, due to a disability, a long-term medical condition or sensory or physical impairment require adapted accommodation in line with the Equality Act 2010. Therefore, if you have a wellbeing requirement which means that you need to return to University accommodation after your first year of study then you must follow the Supported Returners process.

A note on Support: 

While Wellbeing Support will detail any adaptations which need to be considered by the Accommodation Office when allocating to a room, such as requiring an en-suite or requiring a room on ground level, it is not possible for the Support to be for a particular residence. 

We accept written support from:

Wellbeing Services

The University of Exeter Wellbeing Services team, made up of counsellors and mental health practitioners, are all highly skilled and experienced.  
 
Our Mental Health and Psychological Therapies teams are available to offer advice, therapeutic and practical support to help students cope personally and to manage their studies. 

Our AccessAbility team are disability specialists dedicated to supporting students with a disability or long-term health condition including Specific Learning Difficulties and Autism Spectrum Conditions. 

  • Telephone: 01392 723880 

As there are a number of teams within Wellbeing Services, if you are unsure which team to speak to please call 01392 724381, email wellbeing@exeter.ac.uk or speak to them on instant chat and the team will be happy to guide you. 

Student Health Centre

The Student Health Centre is available to all registered University of Exeter students and is located within Reed Mews on the Streatham Campus. 

Please note - written support from the Student Health Centre must be sent to Wellbeing Services. 

  • Applications for wellbeing-supported returning students will open from 9:00am on Tuesday 20 February 2024. We recommend that you submit your application by Tuesday 5 March 2024 (the "initial deadline").
  • All applications for returning students will be made via the online accommodation portal. If you already have an accommodation account active, you will need to use the same login details as you have previously. If you have not previously applied for accommodation you will need to use the First Visit section to validate your account in order to apply.
  • You will need to apply using the application type 'Wellbeing Supported Returner'.
  • Within the application, you will need to indicate that you have a medical requirement. 
  • Please be advised that without written confirmation of support from one of the University of Exeter support services, your application will be not be processed. 
  • Please note that we are unable to guarantee availability and will keep in touch with you during this process. 

We appreciate that wellbeing-supported students will have highly individual requirements.   

  • When applying for accommodation, you will not be given the options for specific residences and will only be able to choose the type of accommodation and the standard of room you require to meet your needs. 
     
  • Please then advise us in the notes section, on the second page of the application form, the residence and contract length you would prefer. We also recommend that you refer to our How We Allocate Rooms  webpage for details of the dedicated Quiet blocks for the next academic year, as these may differ from the current year. 
     
  • Our Accessible rooms webpage provides specific information about adapted accommodation. 

As we house mainly first year undergraduate students and new international postgraduates, any returning students will need to understand that they are highly likely to be allocated to accommodation amongst students who are not of a similar age or study level to themselves.

If you are a wellbeing supported returning student then you are most likely to be living with predominantly 18 year-old freshers. 

  • You can indicate certain lifestyle-related preferences in your application, which we will consider when allocating you accommodation. Whether we can meet these preferences depends on the number of students making similar requests and the availability of accommodation. If you indicate multiple additional preferences, we cannot prioritise one additional preference over another, so we may be able to meet one or some, but not all requests. 

  • We are only able to commit to offering designated quiet accommodation in the residences/blocks which are advertised on our How We Allocate Rooms webpage. If you indicate a preference for a quiet room in a residence/block which is not designated as quiet, then you may find that you are allocated amongst students who did not state a ‘quiet’ preference. 

  • Due to students moving rooms throughout the year, it may not be possible to maintain the initial dominant preference of a flat. We will, however, ensure that a flat remains single gender.  

  • Due to projected demand, it may also be necessary for us to change a residence from being undergraduate to postgraduate (or vice versa) from one academic year to another. We may also need to alter the contract length that a residence is available for. Therefore, please check the information on our website (available late January) to see if there have been any changes made to a residence which you are interested in. 

Once your application is received, and after the initial closing date, we will then review all the applications. 

This will include: 

  • Confirming the room type requested is available 
  • Confirming with Wellbeing Services that the allocation proposed is suitable 

This process can take some time, as we need to liaise with multiple parties and want to ensure we find a room which will meet your requirements. However, we do appreciate that this delay can cause worry and we do therefore try and keep you updated as much as possible throughout the process.  
 
Once we have assessed your application, we will write to you to confirm if we are able to offer you accommodation or if not, why this has not been possible. This will be no later than the end of term two. 
 
If your accommodation application is received before April, we will not send you a formal offer of accommodation but we will confirm by email that we are holding a room for you including the location and cost of this room. 
 
From April you will be sent a formal offer of accommodation, which you will need to accept to confirm that you require the room. Under the Terms and Conditions of Residence, if you owe money in connection with any previous accommodation that you occupied we may terminate the agreement up to 4 weeks before the start of the contract, therefore, we will make checks in July to confirm that all money outstanding relating to accommodation has been paid. 

We would encourage you to apply during the February period so that we can process your application and advise you if accommodation is available. 
 
However, we understand that circumstances do change and that you may only make the decision about requiring accommodation later in the academic year. If this is the case, we would ask that you submit an application and request your medical support as soon as you are aware that you require accommodation. 
 
We will need to carry out all the normal checks before we can allocate accommodation which include: 

  • Confirming the room type requested is available 
  • Confirming with Wellbeing Services that the allocation proposed is suitable 

We are unable to confirm a timescale as each application is treated separately and some are more complex than others. 
 
We do have a limited number of rooms available, and so will make decisions on a case-by-case basis as applications are received. 

If we are able to make you an offer then you will be sent a formal offer of accommodation via your Accommodation Account, which you will need to accept to confirm that you require the room. Under the Terms and Conditions of Residence, if you owe money in connection with any previous accommodation that you occupied we may terminate the agreement up to 4 weeks before the start of the contract, therefore, we will make checks in July to confirm that all money outstanding relating to accommodation has been paid. 

The Accommodation Subsidy (Health and Disability)

Students who might incur additional costs for en-suite or studio accommodation as a direct result of a disability may be eligible for a subsidy towards these costs on disability grounds. The subsidy is offered by the University of Exeter and is only applicable to students living in University accommodation (i.e. private residences nominated by the University are not covered by this subsidy).

The subsidy will not automatically be awarded to students with a disclosed disabilities who are in en-suite/studio rooms in University contracted accommodation; instead you will need to apply annually via Wellbeing Services if you meet the criteria.

PLEASE NOTE: The Accommodation Subsidy cannot be backdated. If your application for a subsidy is received and approved before the start of the contract period then the subsidy will be applied from the start of term. However, if your application form is received and approved after the start of the contract period then this amount will be reduced on a pro-rota basis, starting from the date that your application form was received. We do not backdate any subsidy if you submit your application after the start of your accommodation contract. 

You are eligible to apply if you meet one or more of the following criteria: 

  1. A requirement for en-suite/studio in University contracted accommodation as a result of a physical disability i.e. mobility difficulty/wheelchair user, where specific accessibility requirements prevent you from sharing bathroom facilities with others.

  2. A requirement for en-suite/studio in University contracted accommodation as a result of a sensory disability e.g. visual impairment, that prevents you from maintaining independence when sharing bathroom facilities because other students impact on the accessibility or usability of the shared space.

  3. A requirement for en-suite/studio in University contracted accommodation as a result of an unseen condition such as a mental health disability, autism spectrum condition or a medical condition that prevents you from using shared bathroom facilities without a substantial impact on your wellbeing and ability to carry out self-care activities.

  4. Exceptional cases where a requirement for en-suite/studio accommodation is considered appropriate by senior Wellbeing Services staff, based on evidence of ongoing difficulties that substantially impact on your ability to use shared bathroom facilities. 

Personal convenience or preference do not form part of the criteria and will not be considered. 

Undergraduate and postgraduate Home, EU and International students can apply for the Accommodation Subsidy if they require an en-suite room or studio in University-contracted accommodation due to their disability and/or health needs and meet one or more of the eligibility criteria described above. If you are supported by a registered resident carer for personal care assistance on a separate accommodation contract you will be able to apply for the subsidy for their accommodation as well as your own.

We have a specific process for you to follow should you wish to be considered for this subsidy by the University. If you meet the criteria and wish to apply, please complete the Accommodation Subsidy (Health and Disability) Application form and return it to the Wellbeing Services team with any appropriate supporting evidence of your disability (if this has not previously been supplied to Wellbeing Services). 
 
You can email your form to accessability@exeter.ac.uk or alternatively you can post a copy of the form to Reed Mews Wellbeing Centre, University of Exeter, Streatham Drive, Exeter, EX4 4QP.  
 
Wellbeing Services aim to respond to your application within 10 working days. Please see the Accommodation Subsidy Flowchart for an overview of the process, and who to contact with queries. 

If your application for a subsidy is supported, the Accommodation team will be notified by email of this outcome and will be in touch to confirm the rent subsidy agreement and will then apply credit to your University account. 

We are only able to a consider request for a rent discount for students who have followed this process. Any discount will be made once a formal assessment has taken place and will only apply from the date of the request for assessment. 

The subsidy will be available for accommodation where the contract is issued by the University only and is not available for any other accommodation offered by the University e.g. residences in the City that are nominated by the University but where the contract is with a private company. 

If you have been unsuccessful in your application, you will be notified of this outcome and you may supply additional supporting evidence and re-apply for the subsidy. 

The Subsidy isn’t automatically awarded; you need to apply annually. You should do this around the same time that you apply for accommodation.

If you are a prospective student applying for the subsidy and you have not already been in touch with Wellbeing Services to discuss your accommodation requirements, please fill out their Prospective Student Form as soon as possible.

After your first year, the reassessment will form part of the process to support your accommodation application as a returning student but you must still submit a Subsidy application on an annual basis if you are returning to university accommodation.   

The subsidy will be calculated annually and will be credited to your account on a termly basis. For 2024/25 the subsidy will be a maximum of £1,660 (in 2023/24 the subsidy was a maximum of £1,500). Your accommodation fees will be quoted in full on your accommodation offer and student statement but the credit will be applied by the start of each term.  

If, at any point, we agree to release you from your contract or you are not charged accommodation fees for any period within your contract, the subsidy will be reduced on a pro-rota basis so you only receive a subsidy for weeks that you are charged accommodation fees.