A recent study - carried out by Ally Collins from Accommodation For Students - collected the opinions of over 300 students covering 99 universities about their student experience, in particular, regarding accommodation.
Of the respondents, 31.2% lived in private halls, 30.6% private housing, 28.5% university halls, 8.9% living at home, with 0.9% living elsewhere. This showed private halls to be the most popular accommodation type for students in 2025 students. However, despite this, it also received the lowest student satisfaction rating regarding living condition.
Satisfaction with university experience
Overall, the survey showed that the satisfaction with university experience is high, with an average 7.6/10 overall score.
If you look into the pattern of where the most satisfied students live, the breakdown by accommodation type shows those living at home rated their satisfaction for uni at 8.0/10, those in private housing rated 7.7/10, university halls scored 7.5/10 and private halls got 7.4/10.
Satisfaction levels at different universities
University of Bristol ranks the highest for overall student satisfaction with an average score of 9.0/10 by survey participants. Their reasons for rating so highly were: due to good support services, strong community, and a positive experience of living in the city.
Lowest satisfaction of all accommodation types
Despite being the most popular option, private halls have the lowest satisfaction score of all accommodation types, scoring an average of 7.3/10.
The reasons given by students for lower satisfaction were: high rent but limited value, issues with maintenance, too much noise and a lack of community.
Perceived value for money
The perceived value for money is low, especially for private halls. Students voted for which accommodation type they believed to have the highest value for money – private halls came in last position.
The breakdown by accommodation type was as shown: living at home (8.0/10), private housing (6.9/10), university halls (6.4/10), private halls (5.7/10.)
In terms of value, the top three cities were: Liverpool (8.2/10), Chester (7.8/10) and Manchester (7.4/10.)
The bottom three cities (out of the 99) were Aberdeen (5.2/10), Leicester (5.0/10) and London (4.3/10.)
Private halls score lowest on the condition of accommodation
The average score of housing condition for each accommodation type was as follows:
- Lived at home (8.4/10)
A student at University of Leeds, living at home, said: “Everything’s clean and well looked after as it’s my family home.” - University halls (7.6/10)
A student living in university halls at University of Liverpool said: “Maintenance is quick and staff are friendly when something breaks.” - Private housing (7.1/10)
- Private halls (6.4/10)
