University wins Student Accommodation Team of the Year award

The University’s Accommodation Office has won the award for Student Accommodation Team of the Year (Universities) at the Property Week Student Accommodation Conference which took place in Birmingham on 7 December.

Kent won for the award for the work the Accommodation Office put into the 2016 student application and induction period, including an increased digital investment in the student accommodation application process with videos, pictures and virtual tours aiding the room selection process.

Furthermore, a shorter clearing period meant that applicants had a seven day deadline to accept a room offer rather than the normal two weeks. As a result, the team – which each year provides employment to 10 current students – had to deal with a 27.5% increase in incoming calls.

The pre-arrival online induction provided information on services and offers available to new students, as well as providing a slot arrival time and parking permit. This work meant that the Accommodation Office 2016 Student Arrivals Survey indicated that 94% of students who responded reported a positive experience when moving into their accommodation.

The award is the latest success for the University in 2017 after it recently won the Outstanding Support for Students award at the 2017 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards and secured a gold rating in the Teaching Excellent Framework (TEF) earlier in the year.