Accommodation in Clearing video transcript

Alice Oliver: Another benefit of coming to Derby, even if you've not applied yet, is that we can guarantee you a place in halls for your first year. To explain what's available and what you need to do, we're joined by Steve Ward, our Head of Accommodation Services. Hi, Steve. So, it's late June. Some people at home will have heard of their friends already arranging their accommodation and getting that lined up. Should students be worried about finding a room at this stage?

Steve Ward: It's not too late in June, so we do guarantee first year accommodation until the 31st of July. So no, it's not too late. We do advise that people, if they're coming to Derby, make that application as soon as possible because we can't guarantee availability across all of our sites. But no, we still have rooms available until the 31st July.

Alice: Great. And for those who might be joining us through Clearing later on in August, is the process different for applying for halls at that stage in the year?

Steve: So the process moves slightly differently after Clearing. So what happens after Clearing is that you will be given your academic offer very quickly. And equally, we will look to offer accommodation as soon as possible. So what usually happens there is that students get their academic offer. They have to wait probably two hours or so for our system to be able to pick them up. They make their application into halls at that point, and we will allocate people within a 48 hour period. That is subject to availability in Clearing because obviously, you know, some of our halls do fill up at that point. But you, you get very quick sort of responses at that point of year.

Alice: Yeah. And is the process any different for students who are coming for overseas? Who are international students?

Steve: They apply through the same portal that the UK students apply for. So no, it doesn't work any differently.

Alice: And are students able to choose their hall of residence as part of the application process?

Steve: Yes. So we do recommend that people, they have to put their top three choices. So we do recommend that people do their research before they come. If it's later on in the cycle, we have Clearing Open Days that we advise people to come to, and equally, if they're not able to come across to Derby, they can do their research on the university's website to see what is available at that point. So, yeah, we do recommend that they put down what their first, second and third choices are there.

Alice: And what can you advise if somebody's preferred room or hall type is unavailable, will it be obvious before they apply, or will it only be when they hear back from your team?

Steve: So no, it will be obvious when they apply. So as rooms start to get full, or Halls start to get full, we will start to remove those from the options so students will know at the point they apply what availability there is.

Alice: And so finally when we get to results day and all is revealed, is there anything that students need to do to secure their accommodation at that stage or will it all happen as a matter of course for them?

Steve: So they need to make the application to Halls. So, accepting an offer, an academic offer at the university is not making an application to Halls. And so, they do still need to go on to the university's website and make an application directly to halls, as they would at any point of the year. And then our team will deal with them from that point.

Alice: That's great, Steve, thank you very much. Loads of information there. Thank you.

Accommodation in Clearing video

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