St Thomas More College is a Catholic residential college, administered on behalf of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, and located directly opposite the Crawley campus of the University of Western Australia. We offer convenient and cost-effective accommodation to both Australian and international students studying at any of the given universities in Western Australia.

No, you can be studying at any of the five universities within Western Australia.

No. We have students from a number of different faiths and backgrounds residing here each year.

Yes! Don’t leave it until you have your UWA (or other university) offer before you contact us, as most of our places will have been filled by then.

Get in early, and we may make you a conditional offer, guaranteeing you a place if you accept an offer from your university of choice. Applications are generally accepted through the UWA Residential Colleges Application Portal 12 months in advance, and students who apply early, have a better chance of choosing one of our Limited Offer rooms.

Learn more about how to apply here.

Applying for Tommy is easy, and we will guide you through each step of the process. You can apply online right now by clicking here.

Or, if you’d like to learn more about how the application works, click here.

Not normally, as there is no strict order of priority with candidates on the waiting list – different applicants have different needs and circumstances, and the College reserves the right to take these into consideration when making offers. It is possible for prospective residents on the waiting list to be offered a place right up until the beginning of Orientation Week, but we do recommend that those who find themselves on the waiting list consider other alternatives.

In most cases, yes.

Yes. Our friendly staff will be happy to show you around the grounds, and let you see a selection of rooms (subject to availability). Prospective residents and their parents are asked to telephone ahead, where possible, to allow us to identify suitable rooms, etc. You can also arrange a tour here.

We are literally across the road from the main UWA campus. Our nearest shopping centre is a pleasant ten minute walk along Broadway. Kings Park, one of the largest city-centre parks in the world, is right on our back doorstep.

Bus stops located just outside the College cater for those wanting to head in to Perth (about a ten minute bus journey) or Fremantle (about a twenty minute trip) and it makes it very convenient for students studying at the University of Notre Dame, Murdoch and Curtin University.

We are situated on the banks of the Swan River, and we are within easy reach (by bus or bicycle) of Cottesloe Beach.

This will vary from year to year, but we aim to have a 50/50 balance of male and female students, and to offer approximately 60% of our places to students from rural West Australian and inter-State backgrounds.

We don’t think so. Please take a look at our Prospectus and look at the range of inclusions before deciding on the matter of “expense”. We think you will be pleasantly surprised.

No. Students are free to come and go as they please. The only condition is that residents are respectful of others on campus and in neighbouring colleges as they come and go.

Residents are welcome to have a guest stay overnight. There is a process to be followed that allows the College to keep track of numbers in case of an emergency and to ensure that overnight guest stays are within reasonable limits.

No, the College will arrange tutorial assistance for students who require it free of charge. Students who think they would benefit from assistance in any particular subject should contact the Deputy Head of College, who will make appropriate arrangements.

The College was founded by Archbishop Redmond Prendiville (1900-1968), who was born on 11 September 1900 at Wood, parish of Brosna, County Kerry, Ireland. Educated at the local National school and at St Brendan’s College, Killarney, Redmond began studies for the priesthood at the seminary of All Hallows College, Dublin, in September 1918, but was expelled for playing cards on the night before a retreat. He studied philosophy and history at University College, Dublin (B.A., 1922, National University of Ireland), and theology at St Peter’s College, Wexford (1921-25). Selected for the Kerry Gaelic football team in 1924, he played in the all-Ireland final and was named ‘man of the match’. He was ordained priest at St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, on 11 June 1925.

Arriving in Perth on 15 September 1925, Prendiville was appointed to the cathedral parish of St Mary’s, with particular responsibility for the church of St Francis Xavier, East Perth, and the working-class area around it. On 22 October 1933, after only eight years as a priest, Prendiville was consecrated titular archbishop of Cypsela and coadjutor archbishop of Perth, becoming, reputedly, the youngest archbishop in the Catholic world.

He held that Catholics should be able to walk to Sunday Mass in under half an hour: during his episcopacy sixty-one new churches and chapels were built in the Perth archdiocese. Furthermore, by overseeing the construction of 240 new buildings and 54 separate projects to extend existing ones, he earned his title of ‘the builder’.

Learn more about our rich history here.

St Thomas More College does not collect a bond, but does take a non-refundable deposit from students that is payable upon submission of a signed acceptance Residency Contract. This fee secures their room and is offset against the Total Residency Fee upon commencement of your contract (i.e. similar to an advance rent payment). In the instance that the applicant does not gain entry into UWA or another approved tertiary institution, the Acceptance Deposit will be refunded.

Whilst Tommy is co-located to UWA and Perth's public transport network, we understand some residents may value bringing their car to Perth. Residents are invited to apply for parking when accepting their residency offer. However, as spaces are extremely limited, we strongly recommend exploring alternative options. 

First-year residents are unlikely to get a car bay.

Car Bay applications are only processed in January and are separate from College room applications. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide College accommodation on the provision of a car bay.