Cost for living in Cambridge (and maybe in London)

[UniversityLost]

DS is thinking to apply for universities in London and Cambridge. However, we have no clue about how much we should prepare for supporting his living cost. We live in London so he can stay with us, though DH thinks DS should leave for the experience wherever he goes...

Any advice would be grateful.

If you mean the University of Cambridge (rather than Anglia Ruskin), it's cheaper than many unis, definitely should be way less than London. It does depend on the college - the big old rich ones tend to be cheaper as they don't need the money.

Cambridge University is unusual in that most colleges provide accommodation for the entire course. Some colleges require students to clear their rooms every holiday, which is annoying (so the rooms can be used for conference delegates).

ARU offers a range of rooms in the first year, from around £120 a week (bills included) upwards, to nearly double that in the luxury places. Later years have to be in private rentals, and there's a big range depending on distance from the centre.

The "general rule" is that parents should top-up their DC's maintenance loan, so that they receive the same as someone who gets the full loan. My DD gets the minimum loan, as we earn over £60k, so that "top-up" comes to roughly £5k p.a. (That's for Cambridge; there's a higher rate for London.) Some parents pay a lot more, others a lot less, depending on circumstances. The drawback for the DC in paying more is that they don't learn to budget!

Cambridge University has an old rule that requires students to live in the city or within a mile of the city centre or something. It's to prevent students from having to spend time travelling when they should be studying.

www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/new-students/manage-your-student-information/personal-information/residence

There are lots of fairly recent threads about Londoners studying in London. Common solution is first year in halls (guaranteed by UCL, LSE, Imperial and probably others) then next two years at home. London students are scattered so much of the social life is campused based.

One other factor affecting finances for Cambridge versus other unis worth mentioning is that undergrads aren't allowed to take paid employment in term time. DD wouldn't have had time, her course was definitely a 'full time job' and she needed the Xmas and Easter vacs for consolidation/revision and a bit of relaxation. She was able to get paid internships in the summer though.
The colleges have good bursaries for students who need financial support.

When we recently looked at firmest year halls for ucl it was c £250 pw.
That's around £100 pw more than others we have seen and £135 pw more th

Than DS pays in Leicester
Sorry posted too soon

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/fees-and-finance/living-costs

You might pay around £150 a week for a room in a Cambridge college, but this is just for ten weeks at a time. Definitely cheaper than London for accommodation - unless you're living at home, of course.

Errol, are you sure that the work load in London is that much lighter? There is a bit more breathing space as terms are longer (often arranged in a 12:12:6 pattern with the final term being exams) but our experience of LSE and Imperial is that students work need to hard and consistently, and assuming a reasonable social life, there is not a lot of time for paid employment outside the summer holidays.

Errol, are you sure that the work load in London is that much lighter?
I didn't say it was. For some types of course at many unis the workload will be heavy and it's probably a bad idea for those students to do much if any paid work apart from in summer. Just that at Cambridge it's specifically prohibited. If any family (not the OP) is looking at their finances and thinking the kid can supplement their loan then it's as well to know, that's all.