How Expensive

[nomdegrrr1]

Son would like to go to Cambridge to study computer science. Apparently he has a reasonable chance of getting there, but it's hard to know as he is still in Yr10.

There is not a huge amount of money in the household, but willing to do what we can to support if he makes it. How expensive is it to be a student at Cambridge? How much should we save? No grandparents or relatives that can help, so it's just what we can sort out.

He may never get anywhere near there, but I would like to be prepared.

In some ways it's cheaper than other places. The accommodation is all college-owned so we haven't had all the hassle I read about on here with finding people to share with in term one and then being asked to be guarantors for ridiculous amounts. Rents vary depending on whether you go for en-suite with a balcony (I think S1 said that was about twice his) but seem to be reasonable.

With certain exceptions the students aren't supposed to have jobs during term-time.

There is a means-tested bursary scheme - iirc the full amount is 2-3k which you get automatically if you're eligible for the full loan.

S1 reckons when he's cooking for himself (outside term-time) he spends about £20 a week on food. I can't actually remember what he said the college food was but I don't think it was significantly more expensive.

There may be bursaries and financial help available for very bright young people from ordinary schools and backgrounds. Many schools have a member of staff who liaises with Oxbridge colleges. In my area Churchill college runs outreach to local schools. You could ask who your school's contact is and discuss your son's wishes with them. Google to get the basic information on subjects and grades he needs to achieve at A level.

Cambridge terms are short, only eight weeks, and as a PP has pointed out, the accommodation is college-based. Students aren't allowed to work during term. They are expected to put the hours of study in. It's many years since I was a student at Cambridge, but I don't think it was any more expensive than anywhere else. The whole city is walkable or cyclable, unlike my current university city where students have to pay for transport. Food in college was heavily subsidised and there were lots of cheap and cheerful things to do at weekends. There were even free college punts!

@merryhouse That's reassuring. I don't think that we'll qualify for any sort of bursary - the household income is around £60k which is brilliant if you aren't worrying about how much it will cost to send someone to a fancy university.

I suppose it will cost wherever he goes. I mean, he's quite likely to make it to university, but I was worried about Oxbridge costing more. Thank you.

Definitely bursaries available for students with parents on much higher incomes than yours so don’t be shy about hunting them out and applying for them.

College accommodation fees are reasonable and in college meals are good value - candlelit three course formal meal for £8.50?

I suspect Oxbridge will cost less than most unis.

DS1 went to Cambridge - central college, very old, very wealthy - it may not be the absolute cheapest uni in the UK but it is not far off. Compared to the other unis he was considering the differential was into (low) four figures. At the time our rough calc suggested Cambridge about £2.5k less than Durham (his insurance) for yr1 costs at least.

We’re circa 65k and need to find £500 month first year (DS will earn some of this)

This is all really helpful. I'm really grateful to know this. Thank you.

@pattihews Some people from Cambridge came to our Yorkshire school to give a talk. The school expects at least half a dozen to go to Oxbridge - it's a state school and an academy but it's also a grammar school with an entry exam. It's reassuring to know that I could speak to them.

@PhoneyM It's really helpful to know that's the sort of money we could be looking at.

@Dreikanter if he does get there, it sounds like I'll have to raise my game when it comes to feeding him in the holidays!

@boys3 I suppose I'm at the start of the journey trying to work out what needs to be paid by us, what loads are likely and what we need to start saving. It sounds like it's not bad if he can get there.

I'm really grateful for the help. Thank you.

Money Saving Expert (Martin Lewis) gives you an overview. Basically parents should make up the difference between the full loan amount and what loan the student receives based your income. So you can see what you would contribute now based on your income.

Cambridge University is cheap. London is not. So start looking at the other 4 universities he might consider and look at cost of living. Newcastle is cheap! What might be his back up choices? Then you can plan and save.

Just to add: students get a bigger Loan for London but prices there make it overall more expensive.

@TizerorFizz Thanks, I appreciate that. I'll head over to Money Saving Expert now. DH had a grant when he went to uni, back in the 80s, so this is all new to us.

He may only be Yr10, but the school are already talking about this. He's had a few ideas himself, at 15! None of them so far are London, but if he ends up there, so be it.

I really appreciate the help. Thank you.

Table of maintenance loan info is here www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html

Based on 22/23 year the maximum maintenance loan is £9706 outside of London and away from your Yorkshire home. For £60k income your child can apply for £4845 meaning the government expects you to top up £4861 per year. Cambridge is cheaper than a lot of other unis accommodation wise but you need to look at other unis. Lots of people want to go to Cambridge but it is about a 1 in 5 chance considering the number of applicants to successful applicants. Even with top grades and competition wins, published essays etc people still don't get in due to the calibre. I would prepare him for that.

We top Ds up to the maximum loan amount and it is more than enough even though his accommodation is £6k a year for self catering.

@ChewOnAPickle That link is really useful, thank you.

We've been quite open with son. The discussion is always 'if' he gets in and what other places that he could choose. I've also discussed some of the ideas like computer science apprenticeships and encouraged him to understand that there are a lot of different paths.

The school is very academic, though, and they expect a few of the sixth form to go to Oxbridge every year. They will be pushing any student that they think will make it to apply.

I over think things and worry. I think that asking here is a way of getting hold of that worry. I really appreciate people's time and help.

@nomdegrrr1 Ds applied to Cambridge and was interviewed but didn't get in. He is at uni doing Computer Science. He got 4 A stars at A level which meant he wasn't restricted on where he could apply so the field was wide open. That was the main thing he realised early on, the better the grades the more choice.

Ds was always about 2-3 years ahead with planning for things as he knew he wanted to do computer science for definite from year 10. Like you he started asking us to help him look ahead. Ds will say that further maths A level is a must for computer science, it makes life much easier at uni.

Universities cost the same (ish) and living costs are no higher at Cambridge - the good news. At your income the bad news is that he will only get a basic living costs loan so you would need to find approximately £5k per year based on current figures.

I have 2 at university, dp has one currently

There are other great options for Computer Science. Mathematical DC always look at Warwick! UCL, Imperial and Manchester are also great for this subject. So he could start by looking at what they offer. You should be aware that pushing too hard for Cambridge might not suit him. You need to judge if this is the right course of action for him. It’s not all about kudos for the school.

I would also look at the course content of potential universities and also employment after the degrees. I'm not sure for computer science but Cambridge isn't always the best option for technical subjects - my DD's degree (which included computer science) wasn't available at Cambridge and the programme she's on has a 90% in field employment rate (2019 figures obviously).

@ChewOnAPickle Thanks, that's really helpful. It's so scary how much hangs on the next few years. I hope that your son is rocking it. Son has been looking at his possible A levels for the last two years. He is more of a worrier than me!

@motogirl Thanks. It's a worry, but planning now will help me out. You must find it a challenge!

We pay DS's rent (approx £1250 per term).
He receives the minimum maintenance loan which easily covers his remaining living expenses.

There is a thing called the cambridge bursary which gives sliding scale grants where parent residual income is up to around £62k.

The interesting thing if you qualify for that is that my old college, Trinity, then gives everyone of its students that receives the cambridge bursary a thing called the Trinity Maintenance Grant.

It is a flat grant of about £4k per year for any trinity student that gets any level of cambridge bursary.

Generally cambridge is about the cheapest place you can study due to the short terms and accommodation in college throughout.

Some colleges eg trinity are so wealthy as institutions that there are many bursaries and prizes and grants etc.

Good luck to your DS.

You can read about the trinity maintenance grant here

www.trin.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/tmg/

@TizerorFizz Representatives from Cambridge came to the school to give a talk. They did a great job of promoting Cambridge! I've talked around stuff. He has mentioned Leeds, which I'm not sure about, but I'll encourage a talk with him. I want to look at places that will be good for him to live and supportive of students as well as giving the kudos of a fancy place.

@motogirl to be honest, I wasn't sure about this, but the people who gave the talk at school really sold it.

I think that I'm going to have to do a lot of searching around and lurking on here, because I am completely clueless about all this, and the school is fierce

@Ironoaks I don't suppose that's much more money than we would spend on him in things like lifts, food, clothes etc I suppose if I think like that, it's helpful.

@Bumpsadaisie You have no idea how reassuring that is, although he may not make it, just knowing that if he does get to somewhere like there, it won't be too bad.

1. I would suggest managing his expectations regarding the chances of getting an offer. For every place, there are several applicants with 4 x A* grades (including Further Maths) and successes in UKMT challenges and national computing competitions.

1. Because so many of the applicants have A* predicted grades and high TMUA scores, the interview is an important part of the selection process. The focus of the interview is likely to be solving unfamiliar and increasingly difficult maths (and possibly computing) problems, live. Isaac Computer Science is a free online resource that any applicant can use to practise these skills.

@nomdegrrr1 As a family we are all planners and yes Ds is doing really well at uni. Previously lots of computer science courses asked for further maths A level as desirable as not all sixth forms offer it. That requirement has now dropped off but Ds says he feels it is essential.

Grades wise for uni entry Manchester was A star AA (wish MN would fix the stupid asterisk problem for bolding text) that has changed this year to 3 A stars! Warwick and Cambridge I believe are still 2 A stars and one A. The uni code for BSc in computer science is G400 (helps you find the courses)

Also looking ahead means you don't realise you have made an error choosing A levels when you look and see that certain subjects are wanted by some unis. Always good to plan.