An 80-minute bus ride to lectures: students flabbergasted after being placed in halls – 50 miles from uni

Some 150 first years at York offered rooms - in Hull

University of York (Google)

First year students who have missed out on halls at the University of York have been left flabbergasted after being offered rooms in Hull – almost 50 miles away.

Some 150 undergraduates will face an 80-mile, three-hour round trip to attend lectures.

The youngsters were placed in the unexpected accommodation after the university was overwhelmed by demand for accommodation following a rise in applications this summer.

Alison Bishop's son Rhys, who is due to start an electronic engineering course later this month – but she slammed the idea he would have to live in an entirely different county.

"It just feels greedy that the university are happy to give Rhys a place and take £9,000 fees but don't really care where he lives,” she told the BBC.

She added: “We were told we'd hear by 10 August and first years were guaranteed accommodation if they applied by 27 July.

"The dedicated phone line was turned off and no-one was answering emails for a time, so everyone had six weeks to find accommodation.”

University bosses acknowledged the situation was “not ideal”. They have now promised to lay on free shuttle buses, offered a 10 per cent rent reduction for those affected, and said more campus accommodation would be available by January.

In an initial email sent to students, it explained: “Unfortunately there are no available rooms across the city of York, either on or off campus to offer you.”

“We have been able to negotiate additional student accommodation in Hull, located within or adjacent to the University of Hull campus, and we are now in a position to offer you a room within this accommodation.

“We recognise that this isn’t what you were anticipating in terms of where you’d be living when you join the University of York.”

A spokesperson said they were "very sorry for the inconvenience"

The journey from Hull Paragon interchange to York’s main campus in Heslington is about 47 miles and takes about one hour and 20 minutes by road.