Selection process

We select future residents based on their ability to add to the diversity of our residences, engage with like-minded residents and make positive contributions to the residential community.

Key dates for Accommodation

Key dates 2024  
1 April 2024 Applications open for Semester 2, 2024 and July 2024 - July 2025 Accommodation
Second Week May 2024 First offers sent for Semester 2, 2024 and July 2024 - July 2025 applications 
3 July 2024 First-year Halls - Semester Two Move-in
4 July 2024 Residences - Semester Two and July 2024 - July 2025 move-in
1 August 2024 2025 Accommodation applications open
15 September 2024 2025 Group Applications due
30 September 2024 Last date for completed applications to be received for consideration in the October 'first offer' selection
First week of October First offers sent for all Halls of Residence
Mid-October First offers sent for all Self-Catered Residences

General criteria

If you’re applying to stay at the University, we need to make sure:

  • You meet (or have met) University Entrance requirements.
  • You’ve applied, or will apply, for full-time study at the University of Auckland.
    • You must be enrolled full-time at The University of Auckland to move into/live-in residence.

First-year school-leaver applicants

Your application will be assessed on the basis of a set selection criteria with regard to:

  • Your academic achievement – whether you gained it in New Zealand or overseas. This is the most important consideration and is highly weighted when selections are made.
  • Your leadership, sporting, cultural and community achievements and involvements as indicated on your accommodation application form.
  • The recommendations on your CCRF (common confidential reference form). This only applies to domestic and international students who completed their last year of high school in New Zealand.*
  • Your potential to contribute positively to the residential community as you described on your application form.

Priority Accommodation Criteria

If you are a New Zealand high school student, your application will be prioritised for an accommodation offer when 'First Offers' are made in October, provided you have applied between 1 August-30 September, met all other requirements above, and you:

  • Have achieved your Year 12 NCEA with merit or excellence or similar high achievement in CIE/IB/Steiner; or
  • Are a University of Auckland entry-level and first year scholarship winner; or
  • Are a Māori or Pacific student; or
  • Are intending on studying a Bachelor of Education (Teaching**), or Social Work or Sport, Health and Physical Education; or
  • Are a female studying engineering or physical or computational sciences; or
  • Are a male studying nursing; or
  • Are an international student under the age of 18 years.

If you are not in one of the aforementioned priority groups, your application will still be considered for selection.

When there are more priority applicants than places available, offers will be made to those applicants on a randomised basis. We also reserve the right to offer more places than we have beds available in the expectation of some students withdrawing and cancelling their places in accommodation.

If we are not able to offer you accommodation in your preferred choice of residence, we may offer you a place in an alternative residence. You can choose to accept this guaranteed place (which we strongly advise) or remain on the waitlist for your preferred residence. You cannot accept an alternative offer and remain waitlisted.

First offers for the Halls of Residence are sent out in early October for the following year, or May for semester two applicants. Students who have been selected to receive a first offer will be notified via email, and will have until stipulated due date to accept the residential agreement online and pay the required deposit. Both must be completed in order for the accommodation offer to be confirmed. There will be no extensions given.

*In addition to the online application, school leaver applicants (who attended a NZ high school in your final year) are also required to provide a CCRF (Common Confidential Reference Form) from their school. These are usually completed by a teacher, careers advisor or principal, and forwarded to us directly by the school.

  • To have your application considered for a first offer, you must ensure your school has sent us your completed CCRF.
  • Click Here to request a CCRF to be completed by your school (if you haven't already done so). We do not require references from school-leaver applicants who completed their final year of high school overseas.

**This does not apply to those students studying at the Tai Tokerau campus in Whangarei.

Undergraduate and postgraduate applicants criteria and selection

As we receive far more applications for accommodation than we have spaces, offers are made to applicant types based on a selection process.

If you were a school leaver resident who is reapplying for your second year into a self-catered residence, we will be taking into consideration:

  • Your desire to achieve academic excellence as demonstrated by sitting all of your exams, and your desire to improve your academic standing by utilising tutorials and academic mentoring offered in the halls.
  • Your financial history and behavioural record from your previous residence. Students with a history of debt or high level of incidents may not be considered for a place.

Based on previous years experience it is likely that there will be more applications than beds available. You may receive an alternative offer or placed on the waitlist to be considered for any availability that comes up right up to the start of the Academic Year. 

If you were an undergraduate or postgraduate resident who is reapplying, we take into consideration:

  • Your financial history and behavioural record from your previous residence. Students with a history of debt or high level of incidents may not be considered for a place.

If you are a new student to the University of Auckland, your application will be assessed based on the answers you provide in the ‘About you’ section.

  • If we are not able to offer you accommodation in your preferred choice of residence, we may offer you a place in an alternative residence. You can choose to accept this guaranteed place (which we strongly advise) or remain on the waitlist for your preferred residence.
  • First offers for the self-catered residences are sent out during mid to late October. Applications made between the 1st August and 30 September are considered in the first-round offer pool. Semester two offers are sent out in mid-May. 
  • Students who have been selected to receive a first offer will be notified via email, and will have until the specified due date to accept the residential agreement online, and pay the required deposit. These steps must be completed in order for the accommodation offer to be confirmed. There will be no extensions given for first offers.

Waitlist and ongoing offers

  • Every year we receive twice as many hall applications as there are beds available, so it’s not possible to offer everyone accommodation.
  • After first offers are made in October or May, applicants who do not receive an offer of a place will be waitlisted for ongoing offers.  
  • As students decline their offers or withdraw between October and the beginning of Semester One, or May and the beginning or Semester Two - offers are then made to applicants on the waitlist to fill the vacancies.
  • If you are made an offer for a residence that you had not originally applied for, to ensure your place in accommodation, we strongly recommended that you accept that offer. While you may decline the offer and stay on the waitlist for your preferred residence it is unlikely that an offer will be made, as applicants who have had not received an offer will be offered first.
  • To ensure the waitlists operate as efficiently as possible, applicants will be emailed occasionally to confirm whether they would like to remain on the waitlist. If we do not hear from you within an appropriate timeframe your application will become inactive and will be withdrawn. Please let us know if you are no longer coming to the University of Auckland to study so that we can make offers to students still waitlisted.