University of York students hit out over commute from digs - in Hull

Matthew Noyce is one of more than 100 students who are having to live in Hull because of a shortage of accommodation in York.

The 18-year-old computer science and maths student, from The Wirral, says the university stated in an email that that journey would take 45 minutes but it took an average of an hour and 15 minutes and it had been an hour and a half on occasions. There were also long waits in increasingly cold and wet weather at the bus stops.

He said he often made the long journey to attend just one lecture. “It’s not the way I expected to spend my first term at uni,” he said.

Another student, Jon Wilde, said he had to get a service bus to play sports matches at the weekend. He believed it was ‘stupid’ for so many students to be accepted on clearance when insufficient accommodation was ready.

Matthew’s uncle, Mike Maguire, contacted The Press to raise concerns about the impact on his and other students’ mental health. “It’s not only Matthew that this is happening to,” he said. “He has five other house mates and they all feel the same.”

A university spokesperson said it was ‘very sorry’ to hear about the issues raised and recognised the inconvenience of the commute to and from Hull.

“We have provided a free bus shuttle service for our students, which currently operates on weekdays, with 10 services throughout the day,” they said. "We continue to listen and respond to feedback from students on the service.

“We are fast-tracking our new purpose-built accommodation on campus for January, and affected students are being fully supported with tailored welfare and social activities through our college teams and student unions.”

He added that students had access to a dedicated wellbeing officer based in Hull and additional services were being provided, such as local gym and sports club membership, social activities and access to the university library in Hull.