Accommodation

If you do want to live in Exeter for the full academic year, please visit the University accommodation website to view the accommodation options. The letting period is approximately 42 weeks (depending on residence) and trainees will be responsible for payment for the full period of the accommodation contract. Applications open in April each year.

There are also a number of purpose-built private halls of residence within the city. These tend to be similar to University accommodation with cluster flats or en-suite and studio rooms available for all-inclusive rents. The Accommodation Office also has information and advice on securing private accommodation within the city.

[Please bear in mind that choosing to live in Exeter for the whole year does not mean you will get allocated placements within the city of Exeter. If you are applying for one of our primary courses based at the St Luke's Initial Teacher Education Hub, your placements will be at a commutable distance (we consider commutable to be up to 1 hour of travelling time each way). If you are applying for one of our secondary courses and you have indicated a preference for placements in our Exeter, East and South Devon partnership area, your placements could be anywhere within the Exeter, East and South Devon area (again, at a commutable distance of up to 1 hour each way). Please see our Placements page for more details on how our Partnership Office allocate placements.]

For those who want to move to the Exeter area just for the autumn term and are looking for short-term private sector accommodation, the University's Accommodation Office canvases local residents and landlords for information about suitable vacancies to help students secure short-term accommodation in the Exeter area and advertises these details through Studentpad our free, accommodation search engine. This includes private short term rentals and lodgings with host families. These adverts are only accessed upon entering a password. The password is sent to you in your course offer letter email from Admissions but if you can't locate this you can request this password by contacting ExeterAO@exeter.ac.uk and including your nine digit student ID number.

As the Accommodation Office receives new information about available rooms, the adverts will be updated. In their experience, landlords tend to advertise after Easter and adverts will continue to be placed throughout the summer. If you are considering living with a Resident Landlord/Host Family or in a self-contained flat, you will find that this type of accommodation is only advertised 6-8 weeks before the start of the academic year so you may need to delay looking for this type of accommodation until early part of the summer before you want to move in.

You may find that landlords will only consider letting to groups of students and we would recommend using the message board on studentpad to form groups. Please contact us on ExeterAO@exeter.ac.uk on to be emailed the password to gain access.

There are also a number of purpose-built private halls of residence within the city which offer individual tenancies who may offer short term contracts. These tend to be similar to University accommodation with cluster flats or en-suite and studio rooms available for all-inclusive rents. Please check the contract length they are offering you is suitable for your requirements.

PGCE students based at the St Lukes Campus may want to consider housing in this area. Please see St Luke's Map for location details and below for local residential areas:

Close to both the Streatham and St Lukes Campus

• Central
• St James
• Mount Pleasant

Close to the St Lukes Campus

• Heavitree
• Newtown
• St Leonards
• St Thomas

There is a regular bus service between the two campuses and Exeter is a cycle-friendly city.

We would also recommend that PGCE students consider living in areas which are on a bus or train route such as: Dawlish, Exmouth or Teignmouth, especially if your placements are located nearer these places. Bus route information can be found on the Stagecoach Bus website. Train information can be found on the South West Trains website.

Further advice and information to help you source your accommodation in and around Exeter can be found on our private housing webpage

Trainees opting to move closer to their placements after the initial campus/hub based weeks often wait until they are on the course and have met others going to the same school or area before arranging accommodation. Our Partnership Office publish a full list of placements on our virtual learning environment in October so that you can contact other trainees about accommodation or car sharing. Schools in more rural areas are used to advising their trainees on transport – and there may be a member of school staff who will be able to offer a lift or suggest local accommodation options. At the same time we also publish a guide to accommodation options. These include letting agency details, short term holiday lets and B&B accommodation. 

The Initial Teacher Education Partnership Office usually notifies trainees of their provisional placements in late July (see Placements sections for more details). It is recommended that you do not commit yourself to a long term accommodation contract before receiving your placement details from the ITE Partnership Office unless you are flexible with your transport options. Please also be aware that even after you have received information about your placements, they are only provisional as circumstances can change causing schools to pull out of agreed placements well into the PGCE year.