GSA’s Glasgow campus is a group of buildings on Garnethill, including the Reid Building on Renfrew Street and the Stow Building a few minutes’ walk away. GSA gives the campus opening hours as 8am to 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, so a short walk home helps on long studio days.
Private rooms for GSA students cost from £135 to £259 a week. The nearest are about five minutes on foot from the Reid Building, most of the city-centre buildings are within 20 minutes, and the West End buildings in Partick are far enough out that you would take the Subway or a bus. For comparison, the school’s own rooms cost £172 to £281 a week in its 2026 accommodation guide, with utilities included.
GSA has two residences in the city centre. Margaret Macdonald House on Buccleuch Street, in Garnethill itself, has space for over 100 students in flats of four, six or eight bedrooms, and the school’s guide puts it three minutes on foot from both the Reid and Stow buildings. Blythswood House on West Regent Street houses 208 students in en-suite rooms, five minutes from the Reid Building, and also takes postgraduates. Contracts are 39 weeks for undergraduates and 39 or 51 weeks for postgraduates.
Both residences are for new students. The guide says rooms are no longer allocated to returning students except in extenuating circumstances, and that priority goes to students who live beyond daily travel distance, who are new to living independently, or who declare a disability or need that affects their housing. Applications open in March each year, and offer holders are emailed instructions.
Private student accommodation near the school is the route for everyone else, and for new students who would rather have a studio, want a contract that runs through the summer, or do not get a place. You sign with the building’s provider, not with GSA, and that provider sets the contract length, deposit and payment terms.
Walking times are to the Reid Building on Renfrew Street.
If none of these fits, you can compare student accommodation in Glasgow across the whole city.
The campus is at the top of a steep hill. From most private buildings you walk up to the studios and down home, which matters if you carry a portfolio, a laptop and materials most days.
Cowcaddens is the nearest Subway station, under 10 minutes on foot from the campus. SPT’s Subway fares are £1.80 for a single and £3.40 for a day of unlimited travel by Smartcard or contactless, and its 10 week Smartcard ticket costs £132. From Partick, the Subway to Cowcaddens saves you the 40 minute walk.
If you are under 22 and live in Scotland, Transport Scotland’s Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme gives you free bus travel once you have a National Entitlement Card or Young Scot National Entitlement Card. You can apply online or through your local council.
Where a building advertises bills included, one weekly rent covers the main utilities. At iQ Elgin Place that means gas, electricity, water and internet, and Clifton & Stewart House adds contents insurance. The “from” price shown for a building is for one room type on one contract length, so check which before you compare.
GSA’s guide says a TV Licence is not included in its residences, and you should assume the same of a private room unless the provider says otherwise. If you need one, which you do to watch or record live television or to use BBC iPlayer, it costs £180 a year according to TV Licensing.
Rooms near GSA are either en-suites or studios. An en-suite room is a private bedroom and shower room in a shared flat, with a kitchen you share with flatmates. A studio adds your own kitchenette, so nothing is shared. A few buildings have larger options, such as the “twodio” for two residents at iQ Cullen House and the two-bedroom apartments at Gallery Apartments. If you plan to work at home as well as on campus, check the desk and floor space on the floor plan before you commit.
Student buildings in Scotland are not let on the Private Residential Tenancy used for ordinary flats. The Scottish Government says tenancies in purpose-built student accommodation have fixed start and end dates tied to the academic year, and that you have to pay rent for the whole period even if you move out early. It opened a consultation in 2026 on when students should be able to end these tenancies, and the rules have not changed. Until they do, your contract decides whether you can leave early, so read the cancellation terms before you sign.
Contract lengths vary by building. iQ Cullen House offers 39 and 46 weeks, Foundry Courtyard 44 and 51 weeks, and Vita Student West End Glasgow 51 weeks only.
If your provider takes a deposit, Shelter Scotland’s guidance for student accommodation says it cannot be more than two months’ rent and must be registered with a deposit scheme within 30 working days, where it stays until you move out. Scotland has three approved schemes, SafeDeposits Scotland, mydeposits Scotland and Letting Protection Service Scotland, and you apply to the scheme to get your money back at the end. Not every upfront payment is a deposit. An advance payment of rent, such as the £125 GSA takes for its own residences, comes off your rent instead of being returned, so check the provider’s payment terms to see which one you are paying.
Many providers ask for a UK-based guarantor. If you do not have one, which is common for international students, a provider may accept a guarantor service or rent paid in advance, subject to each provider’s eligibility rules. The Mystudenthalls.com guide on how to budget as a student helps you set the rent against the rest of your year.
GSA runs public exhibitions in the Reid Gallery and Window on Heritage, and The Art School, the student venue on Scott Street, is used for gigs and festivals. Sauchiehall Street runs along the foot of the hill, and the school’s accommodation guide puts its residences five minutes’ walk from the shops and food there.
The same guide points new students to the Glasgow Art Map for galleries and exhibitions across the city, and names The Stand, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and the Hydro among the venues nearby.
Private rooms cost from £135 to £259 a week. The school’s own residences cost £172 to £281 a week in its 2026 guide.
Bath Street, where iQ Cullen House and iQ Elgin Place are about five minutes on foot. St Vincent Street and the top of Renfield Street are within 10 minutes, and Charing Cross is about 15.
The school’s guide sets out priority groups for its rooms, not a guarantee, and applications open in March. Private buildings take first years too, so you can rent privately from the start.
Blythswood House takes new postgraduates on 39 or 51 week contracts. Private buildings with 51 week contracts, such as Foundry Courtyard and Vita Student West End Glasgow, cover a 12 month taught master’s.
Typically gas, electricity, water and internet, and contents insurance in some buildings. Check the property’s own list.
Full-time students can be exempt from council tax. A flat where everyone is a full-time student has no bill, while a mixed household may still get a bill with a discount available. Glasgow City Council deals with it, and says GSA can confirm your student status to the council electronically once you register with student services.
A deposit cannot be more than two months’ rent and has to be registered with one of Scotland’s three approved schemes within 30 working days, according to Shelter Scotland. You claim it back from the scheme when you move out. An advance payment of rent is different, because it comes off what you owe and is not returned.
Many providers ask for a UK-based guarantor. A guarantor service or rent paid in advance may be accepted, subject to each provider’s eligibility rules.
It depends on the building, with 39, 44, 46 and 51 weeks among the options near GSA. The school’s own contracts are 39 weeks for undergraduates.
Only if your contract allows it. The Scottish Government opened a consultation on this in 2026, and the rules have not changed. If you need to go, Shelter Scotland suggests negotiating with the provider or asking to pass the tenancy to another student.
Gibson Street is about 20 minutes on foot. From Partick, take the Subway to Cowcaddens, which costs £1.80 for a single, or a bus, which is free if you are under 22, live in Scotland and hold a National Entitlement Card.
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