For many students coming to university in Manchester, living in halls in city is part and parcel of the first-year experience.
But some of Manchester's newest students could be forced to commute from Liverpool, Preston and Huddersfield, as the city's two biggest universities have announced accommodation shortages.
In August, the University of Manchester (UoM) offered students £2,500, along with £100 per week travel expenses, in an attempt to free up 'just over' 350 rooms, suggesting that students who lived within commuting distance of campus might be particularly interested in the offer. UoM now say they have housed all students guaranteed accommodation in Manchester - but students and parents said the stress of the experience had left them nervous about their student life in Manchester.
Both universities cite high demand on university housing and increased offers due to high post-pandemic A level grading as reasons for the shortage.
Lynne Davies' daughter has a place to study Biology at UoM, but was told initially that she would have to live in Liverpool. She has since been offered a place in UoM's postgraduate halls, despite being an undergraduate, but Lynne said the experience had 'left a sour taste' in their mouths.
"Despite all the talk about welfare, the bottom line is, this is a problem of their own making," she told the M.E.N. "My daughter found the accommodation guarantee very reassuring, it's one of the reasons she chose Manchester. It feels like you should be able to make the assumption that that accommodation would be in Manchester."
Elspeth McIntyre, 18, is from Liverpool but has a place at UoM to study History. She was sent an email by the university suggesting that students already living in Liverpool may wish to give up their room in Manchester in exchange for cash - and said she found it 'disrespectful'.
"It's disrespecting the fact that I'm going to university to do more than just study," she said. "I'm going to get great life experience and live with like-minded people. If I didn't have an offer for accommodation right now I'd be very, very anxious."
Within the last two weeks she has been offered accommodation on UoM's Fallowfield campus - but she said she felt 'lucky' to have got it.
A UoM spokesperson said they are doing 'everything in our control' to find students rooms, but conceded that many are likely to not receive their first choice.
On 9 September, UoM told M.E.N that just shy of 200 students had taken up their £2,500 offer, giving up their reserved accommodation in exchange for cash.
By Tuesday the website was saying the shortage was down to 130 rooms, with remaining students intially being offered accommodation in Liverpool. But as of September 16, UoM say all students eligible for their accommodation guarantee had been found somewhere to live in Manchester.
Students at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) have been offered £100 a week to live in Huddersfield and Liverpool.
The M.E.N understands that 250 students at MMU were affected by the shortage. MMU has said the out of city accommodation was a 'temporary' option, and that they are 'working hard' to ensure all students can be allocated accommodation within the city region.
How did this happen?
Each year, universities try to predict how many offers they can make based on how many they think will accept and/or achieve their offered grades. Universities typically make more offers than they have places, knowing some will choose to go elsewhere, and that others won't get the marks.
Most university offers are based on A levels, the exams pupils in England sit before leaving secondary education. A level exams are usually sat in-person, but in 2020 and 2021, grades were based entirely on mock exams and teacher predictions due to the pandemic. These grades were significantly higher, as a whole, than grades achieved in 2019.
This summer saw the return of in-person exams, but 'grade inflation' due to Covid remains high, as exams were marked at a 'mid-point' between pre-pandemic and pandemic grading. Exam watchdog Ofqual has said this was the 'right thing to do in the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic'.
As a consequence, more students achieved the required grades for their first choice university, and universities were required to accept more students.
It is also understood that MMU has experienced greater demand in clearing than expected, which has added to pre-existing housing woes.
Why don't students want to commute ?
Halls are an important part of life for any first-year student, according to the National Union of Students (NUS) Vice President for Higher Education, Chloe Field. She told the M.E.N that student halls play a significant role in helping students make the most of their university's resources at the start of their time there.
"Academically and socially, students who aren't able to commute into university easily will experience a number of issues," she said. "Transport isn't always running as it should, and with the cost of living crisis, everything is getting more expensive. It will mean that these students won't be able to be on campus as much."
Not getting a place in your first choice student accommodation, or even in university-owned accommodation, isn't uncommon - but being placed in an entirely different town or city is.
Students who are based in alternative cities to Manchester will likely encounter issues accessing libraries, resources, and benefitting from societies at their Students' Union, according to Chloe.
"It won't be as easy for these students to socialise, and they are going to struggle more to be on campus," she said. "If a student in Manchester lives in Liverpool, then they are going to struggle to go for nights out in Manchester or say to a friend, hey, let's grab a coffee. It's not ideal."
The M.E.N understands that students at MMU who are allocated accommodation in Liverpool or Huddersfield will have access to the Students' Union and libraries at the universities in those cities.
Asked about the impact the influx would have on class sizes and placements, UoM said 'small group sessions' would not increase in size as more would be added, with more staff added in some areas. They said the 'vast majority' of classes would not be as big as they were in the two years prior, adding that they 'do not anticipate' issues with placements such as years abroad and years in industry.
MMU has also been asked about the impact of increased admission rates on class sizes and other schemes typically offered on many courses, such as placement and study abroad years, but declined to give any further information.
A statement on the UoM website now reads: "All students who applied for University accommodation under the Accommodation Guarantee have now been offered accommodation in Manchester.
"This is good news, following us writing to a number of students to outline alternative accommodation options, due to a national unprecedented demand for University-provided accommodation.
"We understand that this has been an incredibly anxious time for our students and their families and thank every one of them for their patience and understanding."
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