HELP PLEASEEEE durham st aidan's college accommodation?

hi so i was reallocated to st aidans college TODAY and ik how st aidan's college accomodation looks and whatnot however i saw something about some form on the jcr site and how it basically matched u based on ur taste but tbh that website also did say they have a ps4 and a wiiu in the homeroom so i highly doubt that it's up to date. so what i'm asking is how can i make sure that i can get an ensuite single bedroom as apparently some rooms are SHARED WTF and i've also heard that durham doesnt rlly gaf about religious concerns and i am muslim which kind of means i can't rlly share a bedroom or a toilet and on a less serious note i take seriously long showers but honestly if i had to choose i would prefer to keep my own room. i really really need help bc i'm worried ill end up not enjoying it bc of the accomodation issue i think the college is pretty cute and all so i really need help

Hiya

Please don't worry about getting reallocated, St Aidans is a great college. For starters, I've found this very detailed college tour for you that shows you around the college and the types of rooms available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHijjN51Nzo

You will get a room preference form sent to you really soon. In that, you can mention that you prefer a single room and also cite your faith as a reason to back up your case. Ensuites are available but I believe they're only allocated to freshers if you have a medical reason. The bathroom situation is really not that bad. According to the video above, all bathrooms are single-gendered and are shared between 8 people. Each bathroom has two sinks, two showers and two toilets. This is a pretty good ratio because not everyone will be using the facilities at the same time so I don't think you'd ever have to queue to use the bathroom.

I'm not sure if the Wii and PS4 are up to date but you can ask the college via Instagram DM: https://www.instagram.com/staidansjcr/?hl=en

Hope that helps, please feel free to ask more questions either here or the college directly via email ([email protected]) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/therainbowcollege/?hl=en)

-Himieka

update:

i just got an email from the college offering me a shared bedroom with shared toilets. i had contacted the college multiple times to ask them when the form would be sent out. they confirmed that the form did in fact exist and would be sent out within the following days. i did not receive a form at all most likely because i was allocated to the college last minute. i am beyond angry and frustrated with durham and i have not even set foot in durham yet. the accomodation offer email said that if i disapproved of the offer i would have to fill out a withdrawal form which i am scared will mean i will have to be forced to live off campus if i do not accept. i don't know what to do bc the uni has closed for the day. i can manage a shared bathroom but i will under no circumstances, share a bedroom. they did not even give me a say like they promised they would. i srsly need help.

update:

i just got an email from the college offering me a shared bedroom with shared toilets. i had contacted the college multiple times to ask them when the form would be sent out. they confirmed that the form did in fact exist and would be sent out within the following days. i did not receive a form at all most likely because i was allocated to the college last minute. i am beyond angry and frustrated with durham and i have not even set foot in durham yet. the accomodation offer email said that if i disapproved of the offer i would have to fill out a withdrawal form which i am scared will mean i will have to be forced to live off campus if i do not accept. i don't know what to do bc the uni has closed for the day. i can manage a shared bathroom but i will under no circumstances, share a bedroom. they did not even give me a say like they promised they would. i srsly need help.

update:

i just got an email from the college offering me a shared bedroom with shared toilets. i had contacted the college multiple times to ask them when the form would be sent out. they confirmed that the form did in fact exist and would be sent out within the following days. i did not receive a form at all most likely because i was allocated to the college last minute. i am beyond angry and frustrated with durham and i have not even set foot in durham yet. the accomodation offer email said that if i disapproved of the offer i would have to fill out a withdrawal form which i am scared will mean i will have to be forced to live off campus if i do not accept. i don't know what to do bc the uni has closed for the day. i can manage a shared bathroom but i will under no circumstances, share a bedroom. they did not even give me a say like they promised they would. i srsly need help.

Hi,

Just out of interest what concerns you religiously about sharing a bedroom?

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's weird that they never sent out a room preference form. It doesn't really matter if you were allocated late, everyone has to be sent this form. I would definitely recommend calling them up tomorrow and complaining that the form was not sent- ofc check your spam emails also and make sure that that's in fact the case. Then mention your reasons for not wanting a shared room- hopefully they will understand.

Let me know how that works out. If they are still adamant about not changing your room, ring admissions and tell them how you never received a room preference form. I'm not sure how much they'd be of help but it's worth a shot. If nothing works out, your only choice would be to live out. I know it sounds frightening, but I did that in my first year too and I was totally fine. Come back here once you've tried the options I've mentioned above and then if you decide to go for private accommodation, I can direct you to some resources I used to find accommodation.

-Himieka

hi! thank you for asking. so i am a muslim and that means i have to pray five times a day. some of the prayers include praying in the middle of the night which from a roommate's perspective would be annoying as i would randomly turn on the light and start making a lot of noise which would disturb them. furthermore the prayers are never at a fixed time as islam follows a lunar calendar, so the same prayer in england can alternate between 2am and 7am. as of rn the pre-sunrise prayer is at 4am. having a single bedroom would easily solve this problem.

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's weird that they never sent out a room preference form. It doesn't really matter if you were allocated late, everyone has to be sent this form. I would definitely recommend calling them up tomorrow and complaining that the form was not sent- ofc check your spam emails also and make sure that that's in fact the case. Then mention your reasons for not wanting a shared room- hopefully they will understand.

Let me know how that works out. If they are still adamant about not changing your room, ring admissions and tell them how you never received a room preference form. I'm not sure how much they'd be of help but it's worth a shot. If nothing works out, your only choice would be to live out. I know it sounds frightening, but I did that in my first year too and I was totally fine. Come back here once you've tried the options I've mentioned above and then if you decide to go for private accommodation, I can direct you to some resources I used to find accommodation.

-Himieka