Panicking about sending twins to uni next year

I have one going back to uni for his third year and another heading off for her first. Books, clubs and sports fees, transportation, the odd take away, etc. do add up.

It could be worse. You could be sending them to uni in the US like I am, where the costs are much higher.

Not so much for economics but certainly for fashion I would be asking how much additional cost is to be expected - things like fabrics or trips to fashion week etc

I agree about setting expectations now. Lots of students live at home to save costs, as accommodation is a huge chunk. And en-suite accommodation is a lot more expensive. I used to work applicant days showing students around university and the ones who chose shared bathroom/facilities made the tightest groups of friends.

Depending what they study will dictate how many lecture contact hours they might have, or placements to complete etc, which will affect their potential part-time jobs/earnings. I don't know about corona-future, but students can study abroad for a year without paying fees for that year (reciprocal university partnerships) so that's a massive saving- plus there are bursaries and grants available to help with living costs. I recommend speaking to the potential uni's about what they offer. The study abroad option is available for most courses, but trickier for others such as law and nursing etc, though not impossible. Also, my parents couldn't afford to contribute to my study and I've never thought twice about it. It was my choice and I've never regretted it as my degree has always helped me secure employment.

Steer clear of London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Exeter (not exhaustive).

Bristol does have some very expensive halls but there is cheaper accommodation outside of halls and cheaper halls too. If they are both going to the same university then they could share accommodation, my DS at Bristol paid £300 a month for a shared room in a house and didn't stay in halls at all.

I was in a similar position. Look carefully at the costs of halls/renting at different universities as they vary hugely and this came as a big shock to us. Steer clear of London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Exeter (not exhaustive). Cardiff and Swansea are really good value as well as northern and midland cities like Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield. Then even within the same uni there's a massive variation in accommodation. Cheapest are traditional halls, self catered with shared kitchens and bathrooms.

Consider also distance away as petrol and train costs really add up with all the toing and froing.

Also, be aware that cost vary hugely, depending on where they go to University.
The amounts that dc have to live on, vary wildly.
We've never given any of our dc anywhere near £5K and they've been fine.
One option for them is to take a year off and work first, to save up. As you say, there is no guarantee they will be able to get work, but, if they can, it would be easy to save a considerable sum to back them up.
My dc didn't o that, but they all worked during the holidays, so had 10 weeks + worth of wages under their belts before starting.

Make it clear to them the extent you are able to support and ask them to factor that in when they make plans.

Stillabitmemo has good options to put to them.

Alternatively, they take a greater amount out in Student Loans and repay it themselves once they are earning enough.

If you can’t afford to help them you can’t afford to help them. No shame in that.

But please be honest with them NOW about this.

There’s two options:

1. they live at home and commute to a local uni. They may be able to move out in second or third year depending on a PT job.
2. they take a gap year and work as close to full time as they can manage to make up the shortfall in loan themselves.

It’s also worth looking at bursaries and scholarships offered by universities - these can range from a few hundred to thousands so could make a huge difference.

Do they know what they plan to study?