As term starts, a UK bed bug ranking is out — and it doesn’t rank universities by total reports, but by reports per 1,000 beds, which is the fair comparison. Mattress company MattressNextDay sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 165 UK universities; 105 responded, covering bed bug reports in university-owned or managed halls across the 2022/23 to 2024/25 academic years.
The top spot isn’t London — it’s Leicester
The highest rate is De Montfort University in Leicester: 86 reports per 1,000 beds. 38 reports over three years doesn’t sound like much, but it has only 442 beds — roughly one report for every 11 beds.
Top 10 ranking (reports per 1,000 beds)
- 10. University of the Arts London (UAL) — 13.7
- 9. Anglia Ruskin University — 14.3
- 8. University of Westminster — 14.9
- 7. London School of Economics (LSE) — 32.2
- 6. King’s College London (KCL) — 38.7
- 5. London South Bank University — 45.6
- 4. University of London — 47.9
- 3. Queen Mary University of London — 49.8
- 2. University of East London — 59.0
- 1. De Montfort University — 86.0
Eight of the ten are in London. Also worth noting: Queen Mary logged 130 reports over three years — the highest total — but with far more beds, it ranks third on a per-bed basis.
How to read the numbers
The research itself cautions that universities record pests differently, so a high report count doesn’t necessarily mean more bugs — it may just mean that university has a better reporting system and students willing to report. So this ranking reflects “report rates”, not “infestation density”. Either way, high-density halls remain a high-risk setting for bed bugs.
What Hong Kong students should know
Every year large numbers of Hong Kong students head to the UK, and September–October is move-in season for halls. Small rooms, fast turnover and constant second-hand furniture traffic are exactly the conditions bed bugs love. Do these in your first few days:
- Inspect before you unpack: bed frame gaps, behind the headboard, mattress seams — look for black specks (faeces), blood stains or live insects;
- Don’t put luggage straight on the bed — use a hard-surface table or luggage rack first;
- If you spot anything suspicious, report it to halls management immediately — don’t quietly move to another room yourself, which only carries the bed bugs with you.
For detailed inspection steps, see the Travel & Hotel Bed Bug Checklist — the hotel routine in it works just as well for halls.
Sources
- The Tab (republishing the MattressNextDay research) — https://thetab.com/2026/09/09/revealed-the-10-uk-universities-with-the-most-bed-bugs-crawling-around-student-halls
(Written 2026-10-07; figures from 2022/23–2024/25 FOI responses; recording methods vary by university.)