Quality is calculated from four weighted factors:

Amenities (e.g. gym, study space, cinema and number of amenities overall)

Age of the building

Student satisfaction (from verified StudentCrowd reviews)

ANUK National Code membership

Each factor contributes points to an overall score. Properties are then ranked and divided into five groups, with A = highest quality and E = lowest quality.

Location tags are assigned in this order:

On-Campus – Properties located within a university’s main campus boundary, using the university’s own definition. For city universities without a clear boundary, we consulted students and alumni to capture the “on-campus feel” of being close to main academic buildings.

Near-Campus – Properties within a 15-minute walk from a main campus entrance.

City – Properties inside recognised city centre boundaries (as defined on Google Maps or in local authority plans).

Commute – Properties outside all of the above boundaries.

Properties that are both On-Campus or Near-Campus and City will have both tags.

PropSets will be updated annually on 1st January, using the most recent full academic year’s data. This ensures they stay up-to-date while remaining stable enough to be useful for comparisons and investment decisions.

The PropSet Classifier gives a quick, reliable snapshot of how a property compares to its local market and the wider UK PBSA sector

Investors can benchmark assets objectively.

Operators can position their properties with clarity.

Universities can understand where nominated stock sits in relation to others.

It simplifies complex data into a standard that supports fairer, faster decision-making.

Yes. Each property’s PropSet will be available through StudentCrowd’s raw data feeds and in the Insights Tool, and a simple look-up tool will be available with open access, so anyone can look up and reference the PropSet of any property.

Where a property does not yet have verified reviews, we remove this component from the calculations and assign it a quality rating in brackets, e.g. [B]. When the property generates the required number of reviews, it will be reclassified. If a property has another missing data point e.g. opening date, we the apply the average score from properties in the same location. This ensures every property can be classified consistently. At the same time, we are actively gathering more data so that the PropSet Classifier become increasingly precise over time.

No – PropSet Classifier is only available in the Insights Tool, for the sector. It is not visible to parents and students. Ultimately, its aim is to help the sector make like-for-like comparisons.

The PropSet Classifier is available as a feature of the StudentCrowd Insights Tool.