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Original poster

University living costs

280 replies

Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 20:52

Hi posting here for traffic but do any of you have dc going off to university this year and will be subsidising them or leaving them to it.
Have found that my ds will have £179 a month left for first 3 months after he has paid his rent. This is supposed to cover food, travel clothes. Whats your experience of any dc you already have at uni.

OP posts:
AhNowTed · 15/08/2021 21:00

We gave ours between £80 and £100 a week. So I think you need to add 40-50 a week on top of what they already have.

54321nought · 15/08/2021 21:01

@Tevion28

Hi posting here for traffic but do any of you have dc going off to university this year and will be subsidising them or leaving them to it. Have found that my ds will have £179 a month left for first 3 months after he has paid his rent. This is supposed to cover food, travel clothes. Whats your experience of any dc you already have at uni.
Its not supposed to cover those things- you are supposed to top it up
lannistunut · 15/08/2021 21:02

That sounds low, will they be working and can you afford to top up?

Nothingoriginalhere · 15/08/2021 21:06

We have to supplement quite a bit as dc maintenance loan doesn’t even cover the rent!
Same amongst all our friends and their dc.

Whyo · 15/08/2021 21:06

Most students have a part time job to top up the loan and if they don’t have full loan that’s on expectation your income tops it up.

BarbaraofSeville · 15/08/2021 21:11

Yes, most students work and parents are expected to top up, unless he's entitled to the maximum loan. There are often also bursaries and grants available so that's something that he should research.

3teens2cats · 15/08/2021 21:13

We worked on a budget of £70 a week after rent had been paid. Some weeks he spent more, sometimes much less. First year it broke down along the lines of £30 food, £5 laundrette, £30 socialising, £5 towards monthly direct debits (gadget insurance, amazon prime student etc). We bought a bus pass so he didn't have to worry about that and we also paid for his phone contract. Gym membership was paid upfront at the beginning of the year but he did a few sports clubs too which was a few pounds each per week.

Original poster
Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 21:15

We plan to give him £75 per week but ds says he will probably get a job

OP posts:
AhNowTed · 15/08/2021 21:17

I don't think most students work. Both mine were at uni recently and this certainly wasn't the norm.

The ability to hold a part time job really depends on the nature of the course.

If it's a STEM subject for example you're at lectures all day, whereas an English degree there's far more self study time.

Whatever, a student will need £80-£100 a week for food, travel, essentials, entertainment.

katienana · 15/08/2021 21:19

I used to budget £100 a week but this was in 2003/4! That paid for food, travel, utilities, an outrageous amount of nights out, clothes, books etc. I did work in the holidays and managed to save enough to contribute £40 of the £100 per week.

BarbaraofSeville · 15/08/2021 21:20

Well I did a chemistry degree on day release so while I only had 60% of the contact time that the full time students did, I worked 30 hours a week for my employer and I ran my own household as I was a mature student with a mortgage.

So on that basis, of course a full time student on a STEM course can work around 10-15 hours a week and most do.

Original poster
Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 21:20

Without working we expect him to have almost 500 a month with our contribution and whats left from his maintenance loan.

OP posts:
gah2teenagers · 15/08/2021 21:21

He needs a job.

Original poster
Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 21:22

I don't think that will be enough for 3 nights out a week, food and clothes, travel and course materials Shock

OP posts:
AhNowTed · 15/08/2021 21:22

@Tevion28

Without working we expect him to have almost 500 a month with our contribution and whats left from his maintenance loan.

That's fine then.

Original poster
Tevion28 · 15/08/2021 21:23

Ds reckons he wants at least 3 nights out a week and with that comes taxis

OP posts:
titchy · 15/08/2021 21:27

Well if he's happy to get a PT job that's ok isn't it? You're giving him a decent amount. He's said he'll get a job. No problem.

(NB - unless he goes out by himself he'll be sharing taxi costs!)

54321nought · 15/08/2021 21:30

@AhNowTed

I don't think most students work. Both mine were at uni recently and this certainly wasn't the norm.

The ability to hold a part time job really depends on the nature of the course.

If it's a STEM subject for example you're at lectures all day, whereas an English degree there's far more self study time.

Whatever, a student will need £80-£100 a week for food, travel, essentials, entertainment.

There are no lectures at weekends, even in STEM . I think most students work, and also most students also get parental support on top of that
MrsTulipTattsyrup · 15/08/2021 22:09

@AhNowTed

I don't think most students work. Both mine were at uni recently and this certainly wasn't the norm.

The ability to hold a part time job really depends on the nature of the course.

If it's a STEM subject for example you're at lectures all day, whereas an English degree there's far more self study time.

Whatever, a student will need £80-£100 a week for food, travel, essentials, entertainment.

Self study time is still time which needs to be spent studying! You can’t gain a degree by only studying during contact time…
AhNowTed · 15/08/2021 22:28

@MrsTulipTattsyrup

Yes I agree.

I'm surprised at the posters saying "most" students work. I don't believe that. Where are 20,000 students supposed to find work in the average uni town? Nor do I believe that they should have to.

Another saying well there's no STEM lectures at the weekend. As if it's a walk in the park to do lectures all week and then work all weekend.

Scottishshopaholic · 15/08/2021 23:15

If it’s his first year then it’s the best year for him to be working. He can find out if he can handle a job alongside his studies.

I couldn’t, so just worked full time during holidays.

It sounds like he’ll have a lot more disposable income than a lot of students did when I was at uni (3 years ago). £75 a week plus £179 left over from his loan per month isn’t too shabby.

It might be more useful for you to cover memberships, big costs at start of year, sports equipment, phone contract and train tickets etc. I seem to remember stressing out about these things more than paying for pints at the union.

HippeePrincess · 15/08/2021 23:22

Sounds like quite a bit of disposable income to me, if he wants nights out he gets a job. 500 after bills and childcare is about what I have left per month and that’s for a family of 4 to live off.

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 15/08/2021 23:40

I worked 25 hrs a week at uni in a call centre in the evenings, all of my friends also worked, I don't remember anyone who didn't work at least 10 hrs a week.

CoRhona · 16/08/2021 00:27

Last year we didn't give DS any extra as he didn't go out as students usually do in their first year - I imagine (and very much hope) that next year will be back to some sort of normality for them all.

Maray1967 · 16/08/2021 00:40

Univ lecturer here , humanities subject. Our students are surveyed on paid work. The vast majority actually do very little eg only in the vac, or none at all.
Parents are expected to make up the difference between what their student can borrow and what the student who can borrow the maximum gets. Our DS can borrow about £4300. We give him £5000 so he gets roughly what the student from a low income family can borrow. He works at Tesco during the holidays.
There is a lot of confusion around this because the government does not make this expectation clear at all. I have had students whose parents cannot/will not contribute and who expect them to manage on £4300 and whatever they can earn. The parents had no idea they were expected by the government to contribute. Some find out at school advice sessions or not until the student is applying for finance.