Living expenses at Bristol uni -- advice please!

[Amma123]

My daughter is going into catered halls at Bristol. We will pay for books, mobile phone and travel home etc. There's a free bus pass. I'm thinking £70 a week should be plenty adequate, my husband is saying £100 a week (which he says will reflect that of other students.)

That's loads. Many students live on that in self catered.

I agree with you. £70 if catered, £100 if self catered.

Might need a bit more, if she develops a taste for 'vintage' clothing (very in just now, and Michaela Coel says you should, according to the front page of today's Guardiian), having visited a couple of the shops near the university.

My DS was in catered halls last year at Bristol (until March!!!). We gave him £100, but he had to pay for his phone and gym out of that. He spent every penny, but he is partial to Bristol vintage clothing and usual student beer and junk food!
You could compromise on £80 and see how she goes, could always increase it if she is struggling.

I believe Bristol has excellent advice on their website regarding what students might spend. You would need to factor in clothes and toiletries, sports fees, printing and socialising. This might be less than normal this year but restaurants and pubs are open! Taxis home might also need to be factored in to a Stoke Bishop hall for late nights elsewhere.

Buying lunches and coffees out adds up. Lunch food isn’t included in catered halls and there are facilities for making snacks so food costs do need to be considered.

Therefore I recommend looking at their list of expenses and deciding which might apply to him. Sport involvement can be expensive and more expensive than eating out once a week! Bristol isn’t the cheapest city but it’s a great place to be a student.

£70 was plenty for my DD, she was in self catered accommodation.

£70 is plenty, even for self catering. However there is a very monied group who will have much more, and cars etc. If your daughter aspires to hang out in Clifton coffee bars with the boarding school girlies, go clubbing two or three times a week and likes shopping, then the sky is the limit.

My son had £100 and wasn’t catered AND had bus pass to pay for. He saved £700 over the year!!

My twins were in catered halls in Bristol in year 1 (they just finished their 3rd year) and had a very generous £150 a week in my view which I paid. Some people had much much less and some had more. I am sure £80 or £100 is fine. People need to learn to manage on whatever money they do have. Things like ubers, deliveroo and nightclubs can make it expensive but there is no need to use any of those things and the nightclubs presumably are now all closed.

That’s really helpful, thanks everyone!

My DD is heading to Leeds. Staying in self catered flat, with gym paid. We are working on a £100 a week budget.

I think the boys like a coffee too. Coffee isn’t just a girl thing and neither is it confined to boarding school girls. (Are they girlies?) Lots of students from a variety of backgrounds like to have a chat after lectures and tutorials and there are coffee shops near the university which make them a convivial space. I think it depends on where you like to socialise with friends from your course and your new “bubble”. It would be nice for new students to be able to do this if they wish and it’s certainly not just a Bristol thing. Nor just a girl thing. With entertainment somewhat limited this autumn I’m sure many students will want to socialise where they can outside their flats and halls. It doesn’t cost a huge amount to have a coffee out and there won’t be clubs or much else to go to, so factor in a few coffees!

My eldest was in self catering and probably spent £100 a week with approximately £25.00 on food. Lectures are online this year so will the halls lay on a lunch? The facilities for cooking in the catered halls is very variable . There’s no nightclubs at the moment but the restaurants are very busy . I think we ate at 3 on Whiteladies road a couple of weeks ago😁 . The pubs are busy too. Bristol’s such a young place that there appeared to be very little social distancing going on and virtually none in the restaurants.
I don’t think there will be as much to spend your money on apart from food and drink this year. There’s normally so many clubbing nights in freshers week and the first term that means lots of expenditure which aren’t happening this year.

Are you paying accommodation too? We are paying accommodation £150 per week, phone, travel and DS loan maintenence loan works out about a hundred a week.

Again, thanks everyone, that’s all so helpful — and gives me a good sense of what will work for us.