Accommodation

There are different accommodation options available depending on whether you are a Study Abroad or International Exchange student and if you are studying at Kingston University for a complete academic year (study option 1) or one semester only (study options 2 or 3).

All halls accommodation is offered on a self-catering basis as there are no meal plans at Kingston University. However, there are student cafes across our campuses.

Find out more from our Accommodation website.

You will be provided with information about accommodation options when we have offered you a place on the programme and you have formally accepted the offer. 

• Students studying for a complete academic year
• Students studying for a semester only
• Accommodation costs

Students studying for a complete academic year

 If you are studying at Kingston for a complete academic year, you can apply for a room in our halls of residence.

You will share a flat with between two and nine other students, dependent upon which hall you choose. Flats are normally composed of both male and female students from a range of different backgrounds and courses.

All our halls:

• have a range of rooms, most with en-suite facilities and others with shared bathrooms;
• are self-catering;
• have WiFi internet access; and
• do not include bed linen, crockery, cutlery or cooking equipment. However, you can purchase these quite cheaply in the local shopping centres in Kingston and Surbiton.

When you take a hall room, you sign a legal contract for the 40-week academic year, so benefit from keeping your room during the Christmas and Easter vacations. However, if you decide to move out, you will be liable for rent until a new tenant moves into your room.

How to apply

Once you have been made an offer of a place to study at Kingston, and have accepted it, our accommodation team will contact you directly with details about how to apply, which is done online through our student portal (OSIS).

Find out about accommodation costs.

Students studying for a semester only

International Exchange Programme

If you are applying to Kingston via the International Exchange Programme, and studying at Kingston for a semester only, you are not eligible to apply for hall rooms.

However, there is a wealth of private accommodation within Kingston and the local area, which is very well connected by bus and train. As such, it's also worth looking in nearby Chessington, Teddington, New Malden, Ham, Richmond, Hampton Wick and Hounslow, which are all within a single bus ride. There is more information on the KU accommodation website.

Popular sites to look at include:

• SpareRoom
• Airbnb 
• Accommodation for Students

Study Abroad Programme

If you are applying to Kingston via the Study Abroad Programme (ie your institution is paying our tuition fees) for a single semester, then there is provision for hall rooms for specific Study Abroad partner institutions in addition to the lodgings option. The staff in your study abroad office will know which option(s) is/are open to you or please contact us for clarification.

Accommodation costs

This is a guide to housing and basic board costs. All board figures are estimates based on feedback from students so it is only an average.

We have used an exchange rate of £1.00 = US$1.57 in the figures below.

You should budget at least £50 (US$78) per week to cover basic board costs (and more if you eat out often).

Academic year hall students: you pay the fees in three instalments, plus an advanced payment of £200 upon acceptance of the room, which is later deducted from the total amount due. Meals are not included.

Single-semester hall students: you pay the fees in one instalment plus an advance payment of £200, which is later deducted from the total amount due. Meals are not included.