Placement year accommodation
Considering a placement year during your studies? Find out what accommodation options are available.
Booking your placement year accommodation
Finding the right placement has been a life-changing experience for generations of students, and we know that there's lots to think about, including where to stay during it.
Year-long placements usually take place in the third year of a four-year sandwich course, but you can switch to this route at any point in your first or second year.
NTU can provide support and advice when it comes to making the right decision, to help you avoid being left with a room you don't need. We can also provide advice for students who plan to undertake shorter placements.
Get in touch with Student Accommodation Services
Whether you have already secured accommodation or are in the process of arranging it for your placement year, our Student Accommodation Services team can provide support. Please get in touch to discuss your needs.
Contact the Accommodation TeamStaying in NTU owned and managed accommodation
If you find a placement after you've secured accommodation, provided that the accommodation is NTU-owned and managed (e.g. Brackenhurst), Student Accommodation Services will work with you to cancel the room booking, meaning you will be released from your licence without anything to pay.
Students will be asked to show that their placement is University-approved, by providing us with some form of written confirmation. As long as you let us know no later than 21 days before the start of the contract, you will be released.
Please note, Brackenhurst accommodation can only be booked by students that study on this campus.
Staying in UPP halls at NTU and private accommodation
If you're considering booking accommodation in Nottingham before your placement has been confirmed, we'd encourage you to spend some time thinking about your options first.
Here are some answers to questions we regularly get asked by placement year students:
Student accommodation contracts, can't normally be cancelled once the agreement has been signed. We'd strongly recommend not signing one while you're actively trying to arrange a placement, as you're likely to find you will need to pay for that accommodation, even if you're not using it. Once you've signed for a room, you should work on the assumption that you will need to pay for it in full.
Nottingham has a surplus of accommodation, so it's extremely unlikely that you would be left with nowhere to live if you didn't book somewhere early in the year. The University tends to have rooms available for students at all levels of study right through until the beginning of the academic year and beyond. So, there's no need to rush into a contract that you might not need later on.
The one exception to this is if you are studying at Brackenhurst campus. As we release students from their contract that have a confirmed University approved placement, you can book a room at Brackenhurst even while still arranging your placement. Please note, Brackenhurst accommodation can only be booked by students that study on this campus.
In the first instance, you should refer to your contract terms and conditions, particularly the section on your rights to cancel your agreement.
If you have confirmed that there isn't a way to cancel, you should speak to your provider/lettings agency/landlord to let them know that you would like to be released from the agreement. They will tell you if they have a waiting list of students looking for accommodation, or they may be able to assist you in relisting your room to try and find a replacement.
Normally, the only way to be released from your licence is to find a replacement student to take over your booking.
In most cases, to be released from an accommodation contract, you will need to find a replacement. This should be a registered student who is willing to take over your licence agreement/tenancy and pay the rent on your behalf. However, it's worth checking with your provider/lettings agent/landlord to see if they have any restrictions on who can be a replacement. For instance, the University can only accept full time, registered NTU students without a booking elsewhere as replacements for our halls of residence.
We have a message board that you can use to list your room on, though we advise students to list their rooms in as many places as possible. There are a number of social media pages that are popular for listing a room, as well as services like Unipol's notice boards, and websites like Spareroom.
Yes, we can help you to find a room.
We nearly always have rooms available for returning students in most of our halls of residence right up until the start of term, so if you're left without a booking, you will be able to book a room with us.
You can view our availability via the accommodation portal.
We also have listings for a number of third-party private halls of residence, who may also have rooms available for returning students right up until the start of term and beyond.
If you are undertaking a 8-12 week work placement as part of your course, but you're not on a full year sandwich course, you should budget to cover your rent while you're away.
It's also good practice to let your accommodation provider know if you're going to be away for an extended period of time.
Yes, you can stay in halls of residence while undertaking your placement.