The University of Essex has been awarded second place in the Best University Halls 2011 category of the National Student Housing Survey.

This is the third year in succession that the University has been highly ranked in the survey, coming second last year and winning in 2009. This year 120 universities entered and a total of 15,490 students took part.

Darren Baker, Business Development Manager for University of Essex's Commercial Services said: "Every year the number of institutions that take part grows so the continued high ranking is a great achievement."

Students who took part in the survey were asked about various aspects of their accommodation. In all categories, Essex exceeded the national average, with 92 per cent overall satisfaction, and high rankings for location, overall value for money, condition and quality of bedrooms, and neighbourhood safety.

The University has a strong track record of winning accolades for the quality of its accommodation. It won a Silver Award in 2006 in the International Student Barometer survey for its accommodation service and first night experience.

Linda McCanna, General Manager of Accommodation Essex, said: ”We are delighted to be recognised and rewarded for our work for the third year in a row. The rankings are based purely on the satisfaction scores received from students, so to continually achieve these high scores is a testament to the hard work and quality of service offered by the Accommodation Essex team. Staff working for Accommodation Essex can be rightly proud of the service we offer to students, and we continuously strive to maintain and improve our provision for students both in Colchester and Southend."