For many people, coming to university means living away from home for the first time. So you want to be sure you’ll find a place to live that is clean, comfortable and safe, not too expensive, and within easy reach of all your activities. And you’ll want to be with other students who share the same lifestyle as your own.
At Warwick, you’ll find all this on campus, for our campus accommodation is second to none. Purpose-built residences provide around 6000 rooms for undergraduates and postgraduates. The type of accommodation varies according to the residences themselves. Some offer ensuite rooms; others provide study bedrooms with washbasins; there are student flats (for groups of between five and twelve) with shared kitchens and bathrooms. All our accommodation is well furnished and maintained to a high standard. All rooms have network ports and high speed network/internet access. Bed linen and blankets or duvets are also provided. All campus accommodation has resident staff who make sure that everything runs smoothly and look after the welfare of their students.
Undergraduate Guarantees
Students joining the University for the first year of a full-time, first degree course (please note that this does not include students on the Medical School degree course) are guaranteed a room on campus provided that you accept an offer of a place at the University before 31 July 2009 and your accommodation application form has been received by Warwick Accommodation before 31 July 2009.
Please note that students who: join the University of Warwick through clearing, change their course offer after 31 July 2009, do not meet the conditions of their offer by 31 August 2009, or who do not apply for accommodation before 31 July 2009, are not guaranteed campus accommodation.
We will endeavour to offer students in these categories a room on campus or, if this is not possible, assist them in arranging alternative accommodation. All undergraduates can also apply for campus accommodation for their final year, and certain categories of students are guaranteed.
Eating
Campus accommodation is self catering. All residences have kitchens and common rooms and it is easy to stock up with essentials at the campus supermarket. However, if you don’t want to cook for yourself, there are plenty of cafés, restaurants and bars on campus offering a varied choice. To make budgeting easier we recommend you sign up for an ‘eating at Warwick’ card, a cashless scheme that allows you to purchase food and drink at discounts at 10% or more across campus.
Cars and Bikes
The halls of residence form an outer ring round central campus, so all the academic and social buildings are within easy reach. For this reason – and because we don’t want campus to end up simply as one huge car park – we ask students who are allocated University accommodation not to bring their cars with them. (However, we have a limited number of parking spaces for resident students who need to have a car with them for medical, academic or compassionate reasons.)
Cycling is popular amongst students as well as staff and is a cheaper, easier and more environmentally friendly way of getting around campus. Each residence has secure facilities to lock up bikes and there are bike stands outside many of the larger academic departments. There are cycle paths in the surrounding area between the University, Kenilworth and Coventry many of which are currently being upgraded and improved. If you haven't already got a bike, you can take advantage of the bike auction that takes place at the start of each academic year when the security staff auction off any abandoned bikes and the money is donated to charity.
Living off campus
Second year and most third year undergraduates live off campus – usually in Coventry, Kenilworth or Leamington Spa, all connected to campus by good local bus services.
The Earlsdon area of Coventry, where many Warwick students live, feels very much like a ‘student village’ and Leamington also has the atmosphere of a university town.
Warwick Accommodation will help you find off-campus accommodation. The University manages around 450 houses (about 1600 rooms) in Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington. This safeguards student interests by ensuring that all properties meet local authority standards of health and safety, furnishing and maintenance, and that the rents are suitable for student budgets. You can rent property from Warwick Accommodation with a group of friends, or you can ask to be placed in a group of Warwick students. Warwick Accommodation does not charge any fees for administration or for helping you find a place to live, and they do not charge retainer fees when you have accepted a property.
Local transport
All University properties are within easy reach of bus stops and there are frequent buses to campus to and from Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington Spa. You can buy a term’s bus pass on campus at the beginning of term. The Students’ Union runs night buses from campus after late running events.
