Colchester Campus accommodation 

Be part of something special

We have created a new Athletes' Village in our South Courts accommodation on the Colchester campus, which will be ready for the 2023-24 academic year.

The Athlete Village is a dedicated section of campus accommodation within a few seconds walk of our sports facilities, reserved exclusively for undergraduate students who represent University sports teams. As a member of a community of athletes and sports performers, you’ll benefit from a supportive, encouraging, and exclusive environment designed to help you maximise the benefits of being part of our sporting community and achieve your peak performance.

Both returning students who have previously been an active member of one of our sports clubs and new students who can evidence their level of performance in school, county or national level competition are welcome to apply to live in the Athlete Village.

The Athlete Village is located within our South Courts accommodation in Frinton and Walton Court, located next door to our Sports Centre.

By selecting to live in our Athlete's village, you will not only be living with like-minded people but will also receive the following benefits, totalling more than *£700:

• Free upgrade to Essex Sport Gold Membership £50.00
• Free Essex Blades BUCS participation fee £30.00
• Contribution towards one Sports Club Membership fee up to £50.00
• Free Kit Pack £125.40
• Laundry card and credit £102.00
• 2 weeks free BUCS pre-season training accommodation, worth up to £347.20
• Please note the dates for BUCS pre-season are Thursday 14 - Wednesday 27 September.

That's an amazing £704.60 of benefits!

This offer cannot be taken up in conjunction with any other offer (including the £200 cashback).

If you would like to apply to live in the Athletes' Village, then you will need to select South Courts as your area preference in your accommodation application. Please also add 'I want to live in the Athletes' Village' in the additional notes field of your application.

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS)

If you are a Sports Scholar or are planning on joining one of our BUCS teams and living in our campus accommodation but do not wish to live in the Athletes' Village, then you can still apply for the 2 weeks pre-season training accommodation. However, although this is not free, there is a 50% reduction in the cost of pre-season accommodation, which will be located in South Towers, meaning that you are charged just £116.76. This is for the period 14-27 September 2023 only. You will be contacted directly about your eligibility to apply for this.

Allocations to the Athletes' Village and pre-season training, will be subject to eligibility confirmation by Essex Sport and the Students' Union and will be subject to availability.

Returning undergraduate and postgraduate students Colchester

Applications are open.

On the application form, you will be asked to select your preferred locations. Please select these in order of preference and don't select any location which you wouldn't be prepared to accept. We cannot guarantee that you'll be offered your first choice of accommodation.

Returning undergraduate

You will need to access the online form via the following link and select the 2023-24 academic year from the drop-down, when applying.

• Colchester returning accommodation application 2023-24

(You will need your Essex username and password to apply)

Returning postgraduate

• Colchester returning postgraduate accommodation application 2023-24 (pdf.)

You are required to complete a PDF form and please note, that these are interactive PDF forms. Therefore, you must save a copy of it to your device before completing your information. If you do not save this file to your device, you will lose any information you have filled in. The submit button will then attach the form to an email ready to send to us. Alternatively, please send via email to accadmin@essex.ac.uk. 

Northwest Partnership

Accommodation is guaranteed to Northwest University students, as long as you accept your accommodation offer by the offer expiry date.

(You will need your Essex username and password to be able to apply)

You're welcome to request an allocation with your friends. You should list their PRIDs in the 'additional information' field on the online application form. Each of your friends must also submit their own separate application and have the same preferences as you. Please note that we cannot guarantee we will be able to allocate you and your friends as a group.

Rooms will then be offered, as and when they become available. Rooms will be prioritised in the following order:

• Welfare/medical need undergraduates and postgraduates
• Part-year, incoming study abroad and Erasmus students, who fall outside the guaranteed quota of rooms
• New overseas fees undergraduates and postgraduates
• New home fees undergraduates and postgraduates
• Returning study abroad students (including Erasmus +) students and work placement abroad students
• All other work placement students
• All other full-time undergraduates and postgraduates
• All part-time undergraduates and postgraduates
• Returning part year students
• Continuation and completion students

We hope to begin making accommodation offers in March 2023, so please make sure you check your email account regularly from that date for your offer (including your junk folder).

Accepting your offer

You will need to accept your offer of accommodation before its expiry date in order to confirm your allocation for the next academic year. The offer expiry date will be clearly specified in the offer letter.

Once you have accepted the offer you have formed a contract which is binding and you will not be able to give notice on the room unless you withdraw from the University.

If you have withdrawn temporarily from Essex (intermitted) during the first term of the first year of study and decide to return the following academic year, you may re-apply for accommodation.

How to apply

Contact us in January of the year in which you intend to return to your studies.

£150 cashback offer  

Offer not available to new students. Applications must be completed between 16 January 2023 and midnight on 23 April 2023 to be eligible to the cashback offer. The payment will be made in December 2023, following the applicant successfully moving in and completing the first rent payment. The £150 payment will be sent to the applicants Student Finance account. If you have previously held a tenancy or licence agreement with the University, our obligation to grant you the tenancy described in your Offer will be conditional on you having paid all sums due to the University under your previous tenancy or licence agreements. You will not be able to take up a new tenancy if you have unpaid debt from an earlier contract. This offer is only available to students who will be studying at the University full time in 2023-2024, and applied to accommodation, owned, or managed by the University. Offer subject to change and availability.

£200 cashback offer

Offer not available to new students. Applications must be completed between 1st October 2022 and midnight on 15 January 2023 to be eligible to the cashback offer. The payment will be made in December 2023, following the applicant successfully moving in and completing the first rent payment. The £150 payment will be sent to the applicants Student Finance account. If you have previously held a tenancy or licence agreement with the University, our obligation to grant you the tenancy described in your Offer will be conditional on you having paid all sums due to the University under your previous tenancy or licence agreements. You will not be able to take up a new tenancy if you have unpaid debt from an earlier contract. This offer is only available to students who will be studying at the University full time in 2023-2024, and applied to accommodation, owned, or managed by the University. Offer subject to change and availability.

North Towers Breakfast

Students who will be living in single occupied rooms in North Towers from the 2023-24 academic year, will receive a free breakfast every weekday (Monday to Friday). This will be a 5-item cooked breakfast (no drink) served between 7.30am and 11am in Canteen on Square 3. There is no takeaway option, so you must eat it on site. The items include: Sausage or veggie sausage, Mini omelette or fried egg, Grilled tomato, Hash brown, and Toast. Essex Food will provide you with a pre-loaded meal card (when you collect your accommodation keys). The cost of the breakfast will be cleared from the card at 11am each day, if it has not been used. If you lose the card, Essex Food will provide a replacement, although there will be a £10 replacement fee.