cost of uni

[Sammyshoelady]

Is anyone able to give me any idea of the cost of living for uni please? (Not tuition fees), but how much is rented accom/ halls likely to cost? I have absolutely no idea as to what to expect and what is reasonable? TIA

[LineRunner]

My DD's halls cost £5,300 a year. (2014-15 prices.) That's self-catering.

I get the impression they try to peg the price close to the £5,000 loan.

[DidgeDoolittle]

I have had three go to different universities. My youngest has just graduated.
Their rent was about £500 ish a month. However, non of mine went to a London uni. The most expensive of the three was Bristol.
We paid all their rent and they used their loan for living expenses. One of them got a term time job, the other two didn't bother.
On top of the rent we paid for any large expense, such as lap top, deposits, expensive books etc. I also treated them to various items of clothing(such as winter shoes) occasionally.

[sunbathe]

Mine will be paying £8000 this year. London Uni halls.

[sunbathe]

Oh and that's self catering, so food, books etc on top. Gulp!

[Sammyshoelady]

Thank you, this is interesting. I'm a bit confused now. It won't be a London uni as we live in London and so he wants to go away. Possibly Cambridge, or St Andrews (yikes - long way!).
Does their loan cover accomm and fees? Is the availability of a loan means tested? We are divorced and ex is a high earner but won't pay, and I can't afford to. Thanks for all this input.

[TranquilityofSolitude]

I've just been to an open evening at school about this. There's a sliding scale of loan/grant for non-tuition expenses. If your household income is below £25,000 the student gets a grant for £3,387 and is entitled to a loan of £4,047. At a household income of £42,875 the grant amount becomes £0 and the loan amount is £5,740. For incomes over £62,143 the loan amount is £3,731. Those are the figures for students starting this year, though, so they may be different next year.

[Sammyshoelady]

Thank you - that's really useful. Helpful for me to think about budgeting now.

[AliceAnneB]

Have a look on moneysavingexpert.com. I found they had a ton of good info on cost of living and which loans to take. I think the average cost of living they quoted was £9250.

[StoryNory]

My DC (x3) pay less than £70 a week rent in the North of England. Why don't you google some student letting agents in the cities that you are interested in. It would be more accurate that a general reply on Mumsnet.
I'm always at how little they spend. Train fares home are a biggish cost although could be reduced by booking with red hanky or trainline - the saving is not huge though.
Food, clubbing, gyms etc for them are all much, much cheaper than where I live in the South.

[antimatter]

As Tranquility mentioned you have to look at student finances in detail.
Student loans are tied to income of your household.

When you go to open days you can pick up leaflets and look around accommodation.
Prices vary in each location and what you learn is really only about their first year at uni. Most unis guarantee first year at student halls and then for second year most move out to privately rented accommodation.

It is a mindfield bust if you read existing threads on MN you can get hang of it.

[Sammyshoelady]

is it just the non-tuition expenses that are related to income of household or tuition fees loan too?
Will google student letting agents, that's a really good idea - I didn't even think about that. Also moneysaving expert - I use it for so much other stuff. Thank you

[DidgeDoolittle]

A friends daughter is at St. Andrews. Accommodation is a minefield. It's very expensive and virtually impossible to find. I would avoid it, personally.

[SecretSquirrels]

I remember this thread about the high cost and accommodation problems at St Andrews.

Cambridge on the other hand is probably at the cheaper end of the scale believe it or not.

Pretty much all unis have very detailed info on their web sites about rents.

[Iwasbornin1993]

Tuition fee loans aren't means tested and as PP said, students usually only stay in halls in their first year. Second year onwards in private rented shared houses is usually much cheaper than halls are. Many (if not all) Universities offer bursaries and scholarships to students which are in addition to student loans so you might want to look into whether your DS would be entitled to any of these too to top up his income. Good luck with it all

[Decorhate]

If your ds lives with you, only your income will be taken into account, not his fathers. Also, some universities offer generous (non-repayable) bursaries for those who qualify for grants (rather than loans). Oxford definitely does so I would guess Cambridge is similar?

[Sammyshoelady]

Thank you for all these comments and suggestions. He lives with both of us, so if it is means tested, he probably won't be eligible as his father is a high earner. All really interesting comments and a lot for me to think about and research. Thank you

[Decorhate]

But presumably he can only put down one address as his home address? I'd be making sure that was your address, not your ex's, especially if he is saying he won't support your ds at uni

[potteringpenguin]

I have one at Cambridge and one (soon to be 2 if she gets grades) at St Andrews. Cambridge is much cheaper and they can live in college for three years. St Andrews is horrifically expensive and accomodation is in very short supply. Having said that I have been very impressed with the quality of the course and pastoral care in both places.

[Kez100]

dd got tuition fee loan, 3300 maintenance loan and 2500 scholarship.

We paid 4800 for halls and she had to live off the money she received. She saved about half of it!!! So she can go.into year two with savings (she won't get scholarship in the following years)

[boys3]

£4500 for DS1's Cambridge college accommodation for the year just ended. Large en-suite room. Food to pay on top of that but is very heavily subsidised.