Dear Royal College of Music,

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 the Royal College of Music.

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 college or by a private provider.

For the college as a whole, I would like to ask:

1. The total number of undergraduates studying with the college 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 college controlled accommodation in this academic year.

3. Details of any financial support provided in this academic year through the college 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 college, 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 the college 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 Nicholas,

Thanks for your query. Most universities have some kind of difference in fee structure and how accommodation is allocated for students from the UK, students from other countries and mature students and the names of these classifications may vary, but if there is no difference in the way they are dealt with in the Royal College please do simply give a total and no breakdown. I hope that's ok and very best wishes,

Sian Berry