If you commute to London, where do you live?

[MonstranceClock]

There’s a course I want to do in London when I I finish my degree, but I don’t think I will be affording to live there. If you live in a cheaper are outside of London, where is it and what is your commute like?
The other option is to move to the north of England where they also run the course, but I really can’t hear the accent (i’m Not English native and my brain just can’t process the accent! I feel this may be too much of a challenge.)
Aibu to consider commuting to London from an hour or so away or to try and basically (what feel like) learn a new language!

@MonstranceClock it’s a good base and not far from Ely which is lovely. It has a great weekly market for fresh food, farmers market every other week, new cinema, riverside and lots of friendly people. Does get windy, and cold in the winter but glorious in the summer. Good luck with your course

Littleport is cheap for a reason- take a closer look

Thankyou

Well that’s none of your concern so don’t worry

But I'm a potential customer. With a northern accent. So it would be my concern if I made an appointment, rocked up, and you turned me away because you couldn't understand what I was saying to you

?

If you are upping sticks and moving to places you don't know at all with after school club age kids, I'd think that would be of interest?

Posters here can help re school options, where is over subscribed, where you might get in, which ones have decent before and after school clubs etc. There's a massive variation in that stuff eg my kids primary has no after school at all so you'd be stuffed. And breakfast club starts at 8 so depending on lectures might be tight etc.

I just feel like the accents/ London Cambridge or North thing is the start of your journey. Posters here can help.

I will book a careers day with my university and see if they can help. There may be something closer to home. From what I’ve reserched, this is the only accredited course.

Littleport is cheap for a reason- take a closer look

I think that's a bit harsh but I know what you mean. However by the sound of it the OP is just using it as a base whilst she does her course.

OP the train from Littleport to Cambridge is quite good. As someone has already said, it's close to Ely which is really nice. Another option might be Northstowe where you can get the guided bus into Cambridge. However it is more expensive than Littleport.

In terms of cost of living Preston is your best bet by miles. Do you watch Coronation Street? If you can understand the accents in that you shouldn’t have a problem in Preston. You’re on the motorway network and the main west coast rail line so it’s quite handy. Manchester, Liverpool, the Peaks and the Lakes all within easy reach. The north west is fairly diverse culturally speaking.

London is crazy expensive but it’s easy to get about by public transport and if you have an NUS card there are lots of cultural things that you’ll get at a discount. If your college is in Russell Square you’re within walking distance of Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross stations. Look at a rail map and pick stops going up the lines from those stations, look at rents, and work out what you’ll be spending on trains. There’s a season ticket calculator on www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Another potential benefit of London - It is extremely likely that there is also a community of people from your home country already there.

Edinburgh is a lovely city but rents in the centre are very high. West Lothian is cheaper and easily commutable- Livingston and Bathgate might have good options. Most properties are unfurnished. However it’s not a very ethnically diverse part of the world and you are far more likely to struggle with the accent. I’m Scottish but I did my degree in London - lots of the overseas students couldn’t understand a word I was saying and my accent isn’t strong

What about your children? The quality of schools varies massively. Reliability of trains to get back to them?

Horsham - 50 min train direct to Victoria and London Bridge!

Hersham is expensive and London Bridge isnt where the OP needs to be.

Check train prices before you decide - trains are obscenely expensive and I doubt you’d end up saving much! If you did the savings might be very small and it might be better just to live in London, spend a little more and save yourself a couple of hours or more each day in travel.

I think you need to really work out your finances op. Nowhere in the se are you going to get a home for you and two children at anywhere near a similar rent that you pay now and train fares are high. Say somewhere like Kent or Hertfordshire - you’re probably looking at rent of around £1000 (more the closer to London), plus fares at around £80 - £100 a week.

As for accents - this is London - one of the most diverse cities in the world.

We live in se london/kent borders (zone 8) Rent for a 2 bed place starts at £1200!
It's not even a particularly great area either

@Pinkflipflop85 exactly - I’m in zone 3/4 and rent for a two bed house starts at around £1600. Train fares aren’t cheap either - I don’t commute any longer but from memory a couple of years ago was on the region of £1700 a year and that’s just zones 1-4.

£3,300 for an annual travel card here

Russell Square is walking distance from Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross, so I’d look north of London at places on those train lines.

I’m not expecting to pay what I’m paying now. I just don’t want to pay over a grand for a one bed flat over a shop. I have all the answers I need now Thankyou everyone.

You would almost certainly save my living in a cheaper part of London, than living out and commuting in. Trains are very expensive, and driving virtually impossible due to lack of parking in central London.

Lol you know you couldn’t get a flat over a shop in central London for a grand... a shed maybe. However good luck with your studies wherever you choose.

Lost or people commute from Grantham and York.

With two young children you're not going to want to move around much due to schools and actually working as a relationship therapist is going to be most likely in London.

I'm a therapist and earned much less outside London than I do in London.

So I would move to London if I were you so you didn't have to move with the children and pay for a two bed as close to uni as possible - you will get a 2 bed slightly north of Bloomsbury for under £2k a month.

The cost of the train will be astronomical. Also if the accent of the teachers could affect your ability to understand, question if you are ready for the course - teachers/lecturers can be from anywhere in the world, and yes students do complain about understanding them from time to time. The course in "the north" could be taught by londoners and vice versa. Colleges and universities are mini United Nations these days!

Don't rule out Edinburgh. Many people there have a mild and well enunciated accent. And while pricey it's not at London levels. It's a beautiful place as well.

@MonstranceClock

If you can't understand someone from Nottingham, you are not fluent enough to study in English yet. Nottingham is hardly an accent.