International study search platform, StudyPortals, will now offer students the option to find and book accommodation alongside their searches for academic programmes through a new partnership with accommodation website Uniplaces.
StudyPortals has invested an undisclosed amount into the accommodation platform with the aim of removing the obstacle of finding accommodation when pursuing international education.
“Can you imagine how difficult it is for international students?”
The partnership consists of the financial investment into Uniplaces by StudyPortals as well as co-promotion from both sides.
“We can promote Uniplaces when students are using our site, and we have a discount code for our community,” explained CEO of StudyPortals, Edwin van Rest.
“We have millions of visitors and over 200,000 registered students in the community. They will be getting the option to book through Uniplaces with a discount,” he told The PIE News.
Uniplaces, which shows student accommodation in 39 cities across Europe, visits and verifies the accommodation beforehand, in order to provide students with a safe and secure residency.
It also works as an escrow service, only passing on the student’s money to the landlord when the student arrives and all is well with the property.
Many of the reviews on StudyPortals’ student experience platform detail how hard it is find and secure accommodation when studying abroad.
Van Rest said that this feedback proves accommodation is a very important element in the student’s choice to study abroad.
“In many student cities, accommodation is already difficult for local students to find. Can you imagine how difficult it is for international students?”
StudyPortals displays course search results from over 1,800 universities globally, and has been expanding into Australia and the US in the last year.
It also recently acquired study search platform StudentOrient.org, extending its reach into the Asian market.
