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1.3 Accommodation Arrangements

It is very important to ensure that you have made arrangements for your accommodation before you travel. The College's accommodation is normally full and so it is usually not possible to house unexpected arrivals, even temporarily.

Most international students from outside the EU who will be attending the College for at least one full academic year are eligible to apply to live in College Halls of Residence. Some students, especially those from the European Union who are attending for less than one year, may be expected to make their own accommodation arrangements in the local community. Information about eligibility for Residence Hall accommodation is available from the Student Housing Bureau. Married postgraduate students who intend to bring their spouses or children should refer to Section 5 for information about family housing.

Detailed information regarding services provided by the Student Housing Bureau can be found at www.rhul.ac.uk/for-students/accommodation.html.

Please note that the accommodation application process is done entirely online and all correspondence with the Student Housing Bureau is by email. If you accommodation application is successful you will receive an electronic offer letter and contract from the Student Housing Bureau when a room is allocated to you. The letter will detail the residence hall, the room number, the fee and will give other detail of the accommodation you have been assigned. The contract must be accepted online in order to secure the room. Instructions for this will be included in the email.

If you will be living in College Accommodation, you will be expected to move into your room the weekend before the start of your course. If you would want to arrive before or after this weekend, you must request permission in advance from the Student Housing Bureau. Unfortunately, it is not possible to guarantee that a room will be available before the scheduled Hall opening date, so you are strongly advised to obtain permission to move into your room early before you make your travel arrangements.

If you must find your own accommodation in the local community, you should plan on arriving at the College at least one week prior to the start of the academic term. The Student Housing Bureau has listings of local accommodation, which is suitable for students. These are normally houses rented to groups of students or lodgings, which are rooms in local family homes. The Student Housing Bureau is only able to provide listings of accommodation and general advice. You will be required to contact the landlords and make all other arrangements for yourself; so looking for a place to live is likely to take several days. Before the start of each term students may be able to stay temporarily in "vacation residence" within one of the Residence Halls. If you will be living in the local community, you can make arrangements to use this facility if you arrive before the start of a term. However, you must remember that vacation residence ends on the Thursday before the start of each term. Students cannot be housed beyond this time, and so you must plan to move into private accommodation by this date. Questions about finding local accommodation or about the vacation residence facility should be directed to the Student Housing Bureau.

Living in London

Some postgraduate students may wish to live in London, close to the central University of London facilities such as Senate House Library. A few of our taught Master's programmes are based in central London at our Bedford Square building, and you may wish to live in the city if you will be following one of these degree courses.

There are a very limited number of places in the University of London intercollegiate residence halls for postgraduate students. Information and application forms are available from the Student Housing Bureau at Royal Holloway upon request. For advice about private accommodation in London you should contact the University of London Accommodation Office - tel 0044 (0)207 8628880 or email housing@lon.ac.uk.

RCS Card

RCS stands for Residence and Catering Services. The RCS Card is a facility available on your student card. It works as a debit card and must be used by students living in catered "pay-as-you-go" Residence Halls in order to receive up to 50% discount on dining hall meals to which they are entitled. Students living in other halls and in the the local community may also wish to consider using this facility, although non-resident students receive a significantly smaller discount when purchasing meals. If you want to take advantage of the savings offered by an RCS card, you should ensure that you return the application form as soon as possible so that this facility is active on your College Card when you receive it at Registration.

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