Levels of student rents in university controlled accommodation
Dear School of Oriental and African Studies,
I would like to make a request for a comprehensive breakdown of student rent levels at all university-owned, or formally affiliated private accommodation, available this year for undergraduate students at SOAS.
The information, covering the bullet points below, should be provided for each building or house that is offered for rent to undergraduate students, whether owned and run by the university or by a private provider.
For the university as a whole, I would like to ask:
1. The total number of undergraduates studying with the university in the current academic year, broken down by year of study, and whether they are domestic or international students, or mature students.
2. The total number of places available in halls or university controlled accommodation in this academic year.
3. Details of any financial support provided in this academic year through the university that is intended to help with accommodation costs, including the number of such bursaries and the amounts.
For each hall of residence, building or house offered for rent to students through the university, I would like to ask:
1. The name of the accommodation, the owner or provider, and its address including postcode
2. The total number of rooms
3. The number of rooms available to undergraduates
4. Any rooms reserved for, or only marketed to, specific groups, such as international students, UK-based students, students on particular courses, from particular colleges within the university, or those receiving bursaries or financial help.
5. The rents for the rooms, broken down by the cost of rent per week per person and the number at each rent level – e.g. 12 single rooms at XX cost, 12 twin rooms at XX cost. If the rents in a hall vary in a complex way, an average rent, lowest rent and highest rent is sufficient information.
6. The Energy Efficiency Rating and Environmental Impact Rating for the (whole building’s) Energy Performance Certificate, if available.
Finally, if SOAS has recorded any information, e.g. via a survey, on the levels of rents paid by students renting privately outside the university’s own accommodation system, please provide a summary of this information too, or a link to where these results can be found online.
Note on data protection:
I am aware that the details of the owners of some halls may be commercially confidential, and so a trading name or a suitable category of owner would be a useful substitute in these cases. Also that the addresses of individual houses that are formally rented out to students through the university may be protected by data protection legislation and I am happy for this to be redacted and only the first part of the postcode given.
The data should not include private homes where students are renting independently from private landlords that are not linked to the university in a formal way – e.g. via an exclusive contract.
Yours faithfully,
Sian Berry
Dear Ms Berry
Thank you for your request for information which has been received by
SOAS.
We will provide you with the School’s response as soon as possible and
within 20 working days of the date of your request.
Yours sincerely
Sara Berndt
Directorate Assistant
Dear Ms Berry
Thank you for your Freedom of Information Act request of 10 December. I
have reproduced your questions below together with SOAS’s response.
I would like to make a request for a comprehensive breakdown of
student rent levels at all university-owned, or formally affiliated
private accommodation, available this year for undergraduate
students at SOAS.
The information, covering the bullet points below, should be
provided for each building or house that is offered for rent to
undergraduate students, whether owned and run by the university or
by a private provider.
For the university as a whole, I would like to ask:
1. The total number of undergraduates studying with the university
in the current academic year, broken down by year of study, and
whether they are domestic or international students, or mature
students.
Domestic Domestic International International Not known Not Grand
Programme Mature Young Total Mature Young Total Mature Young known Total
Year Total
1 170 625 795 160 365 525 5 0 5 1325
2 105 415 520 40 220 265 0 0 0 785
3 105 440 545 60 235 295 0 0 0 840
4 25 80 105 5 40 45 0 0 0 150
Grand 405 1560 1965 265 860 1130 5 0 5 3100
Total
Data source:
All data are taken from enrolment statistics compiled on 1st December 2015
as part of the annual student census used for the Higher Education
Students Early Statistics return.
Filters:
(i) Enrolment status
Only students who had completed the enrolment process (or part-completed
pending fee payment) as of 1st December 2014 were included. Students who
enrolled and withdrew before 1st December 2014 were excluded as the
request asked for students "currently" studying.
(ii) Level
Only students on programmes identified as undergraduate were included.
This includes bachelors degrees (including llb), undergraduate certificate
and diploma programmes as well as some graduate diplomas where the
programme content is undergraduate level.
(iii) Domestic/International
This field was calculated from student domicile which is the self-declared
country the student is permanently resident in at the time of joining the
programme. Domestic is defined as England, Northern Island, Scotland or
Wales. International is defined as any other value excluding Not known
which is shown separately.
(iv) Young/Mature
This field was calculated from an age on entry, itself calculated by
comparing student date of birth with the commencement date of the
programme. Students over 21 on entry were considered mature while all
others were considered young.
Rounding strategy
The data have been rounded using the same rounding methodology that is
used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Their strategy is
summarised below (sections on FTE and percentages not reproduced as not
relevant):
Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights
Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations
designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any
individual. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest
multiple of 5 and suppressing percentages and averages based on small
populations.
HESA Services Standard Rounding Methodology:
• 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
• All other numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5
2. The total number of places available in halls or university
controlled accommodation in this academic year.
SOAS does not own or manage any student accommodation and therefore holds
no relevant information.
3. Details of any financial support provided in this academic year
through the university that is intended to help with accommodation
costs, including the number of such bursaries and the amounts.
We provide hardship awards to home and international students, however
these are intended for general help with living costs, not specifically
accommodation.
For each hall of residence, building or house offered for rent to
students through the university, I would like to ask:
1. The name of the accommodation, the owner or provider, and its
address including postcode
2. The total number of rooms
3. The number of rooms available to undergraduates
4. Any rooms reserved for, or only marketed to, specific groups,
such as international students, UK-based students, students on
particular courses, from particular colleges within the university,
or those receiving bursaries or financial help.
5. The rents for the rooms, broken down by the cost of rent per
week per person and the number at each rent level – e.g. 12 single
rooms at XX cost, 12 twin rooms at XX cost. If the rents in a hall
vary in a complex way, an average rent, lowest rent and highest
rent is sufficient information.
6. The Energy Efficiency Rating and Environmental Impact Rating for
the (whole building’s) Energy Performance Certificate, if
available.
SOAS does not own or manage any student accommodation and therefore holds
no relevant information for questions 1 to 6 above.
Your right to appeal
I hope that you are satisfied with this response, but in the event that
you are not, you may request an internal review, by writing to me at the
following address:
Information Compliance Manager
SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom
Email: [1][SOAS request email]
If it does not prove possible to resolve your complaint informally, I will
arrange for a formal review of the handling of your request according to
the School's procedures. These can be found on SOAS's website at
[2]http://www.soas.ac.uk/infocomp/foi/appea....
If you are dissatisfied with SOAS's response following this internal
review, you can apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision on
whether your request has been dealt with in accordance with the
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental
Information Regulations. The Commissioner will normally require you to
have gone through our internal appeal process first before he considers
your appeal. If the Commissioner finds in your favour, the Commissioner
can require SOAS to release the information to you. The Commissioner can
be contacted at the following address:
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
United Kingdom
Further information about your right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner is available on the Commissioner's website
([3]http://www.ico.org.uk/).
Yours sincerely
Albert Chan
Information Compliance Manager
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