What is studying in London really like?

[Tamar86]

DD is very keen on applying to university in London - UCL is her top choice (modern languages), and she also likes the look of Kings (European studies).

I’m concerned about:

The cost, especially in second and final year. Worried we might really struggle to afford accommodation. I know you get a slightly bigger loan in London, but worried it won’t be enough. We live several hours away, so commuting not an option.

The student experience - I’ve heard stories about most students commuting/living really spread out etc etc so it is hard to get to know people.

I actually did a 1 year masters at UCL myself. But I was older, already living with friends and able to commute in from a cheaper location, so slightly different. I didn’t need the social side of the uni, and I didn’t really get to know what it was like. Anyway, I expect things have changed in 20 years.

Not sure whether I should be fully supportive and enthusiastic, or the wet-blanket voice of reality.
It’s an expensive mistake if the experience turns out not to be so great in reality.

Dd also likes the look of Cardiff and Nottingham, which are much more affordable, and maybe offer a more standard tight-knit student experience. But of course UCL has more international prestige than either of them.

Planning a road trip in the summer to look at them all. London as a city is more exciting than Cardiff or Nottingham, let’s face it.
So it would be useful to have some up-to-date facts and personal experiences to discuss and weigh up.

Been following this thread with interest as DD is considering LSE vs Edinburgh. They would be her insurance and so LSE presents more of a worry accommodation wise because it's first come first served. Don't want to derail a London thread but what does confuse me is that pretty much everything I read about Edinburgh on here is overwhelmingly positive, and yet if you drill down into the student satisfaction ratings (I looked for DD's course for both unis) there is a consistent issue with feedback, support and marking at Edinburgh that raises alarm bells (much lower scores than LSE). I have never understood why Edinburgh's overall scores are so low when everyone seems to love it so much. Is it a case of loving the city but not necessarily the university?

On the issue of taking a year abroad at a London uni vs Edinburgh (if NOT doing a language). At LSE for example you can take yr 3 abroad and come back to an additional year 4 without it affecting how your degree is assessed. At Edinburgh we were told that if you go abroad for yr 3 then your degree classification will only be based on Yr 4 (otherwise it would be yr3+4) which I think is not a decision to take lightly?

Yes @Sleepy432 we noticed that too - though one has to take satisfaction ratings with the knowledge the sample size is usually very small. But the same was said about my DD's course too (not the subject she is currently applying for). Perhaps many love the city of Edinburgh more than the uni.
My DD is still waiting for a response from LSE (and Bath), so if she gets one it will most likely be between LSE and Durham as she's not keen on Bath for some reason. Talk about opposites!
We live in London, and she currently is doing an Art Foundation course centrally. The students are well spread out - some up to an hour away. But she has still made firm friends and they tend to do stuff in London after their day, though last week (on break) all met for an exhibition and pizza after. None are partiers and they just accept that it's a commute.
Should she decide on LSE she will join societies and I know some are more social than others. But her personality is that she's not that social and is already quite independent so doesn't mind so much about the stereotypical 'uni experience'. If we were outside London it would be tight and the cost of accommodation and the higher loan would put her off, for the same reason the fact she wouldn't need a maintenance loan at all makes it attractive.

@mondaytosunday sorry to hear your DD is still waiting. I guess at least you don't have to worry about missing accommodation if she gets an LSE offer. I remember you posting about the offer holder day. My DD can't go so I've just booked the guided visit in May - the dates have recently appeared so it might be worth grabbing one of them as a backup. Good to hear your DD has found her foundation year in London to be good socially.

re Edinburgh yes small sample sizes but pretty consistent so I am assuming there must be something in it.

Many on MN are anti Bristol. For MFL that’s a bonkers position to take. Edinburgh is expensive too. I assume BCC is based on school attended? Mostly it’s ABB.

@Tamar86 my DS is in year 2 at UCL. They guarantee a hall place in year 1. He was in Connaught Hall (one of the inter-collegiate halls) and loved it. Very central, on Tavistock Square, a stone's throw from the students' union.

Second year private accommodation doesn't have to be more expensive than halls, but is likely to be further away. My DS got lucky with a flat in NW1, but many of his ex-hall friends are further out. It's fine though, as travel is easy via tube.

There are plenty of part-time jobs in London. My DS works in a sport centre, and several of his friends have bar jobs.

This is recent. First year halls were disgustingly expensive, dated and horrible - dozens of kids sharing showers and toilets. Lots of kids live at home after year 1. Ucl not great with pastoral or social side - partly due to Covid but other unis do much more it seems. Not been great overall IMO - lots of kids barely even get to see their tutor.

Like many unis: newer accommodation will cost a lot. Cheaper accommodation means sharing. So money gets dc something better.

The top London unis have many international students (upwards of 45% at UCL) who are mostly wealthy. There are many modern, private halls which cater for that market, but they're shockingly expensive.

The general HMO market is cheaper, though London students are competing with many young professionals who also house-share. Some of the more shark-like letting agents (e.g. Dexters) push up prices by telling competing groups they need to offer more than the asking-price. Others work on a first-come first served basis, using a holding deposit (which counts towards the first month's rent but which they lose if they don't proceed with the rental, unless its the landlord that pulls out rather than the tenants).

We live within an hour commute so living at home was our fallback plan. However, my son was in a house-hunting group with friends who didn't have a fallback plan, and we were therefore under pressure to proceed, even when there were issues with the tenancy agreement.

There will be issues in many cases. Whatever you do, don't leave them to sort it out for themselves ... make sure you read and understand the letting agreement too ... renting is a lot more financially risky these days than it was when we were that age and in most cases parents will be guarantors.

@Tamar86 no point in budgeting on term time basis unless that is how the uni in question operates. Any only offer 9 month accom (ish). Including UCL.

@PotentialUCLmum Yes, everyone gets the minimum maintenance load (if applied for) of circa £6k in London. If money constraint is possibly influencing her away from the best course for her, it would be worth considering her using her CTF for living costs and taking a fees loan. For most degrees at UCL it is very possible to work in term time. There are handy agencies whcih allow students to take ad hoc hospitality shifts if they want flexibility rather than a committed part time job, just to add into the mix. As accom is whole academic year there is scope to ramp these shifts up heavily in say the Christmas hols and rack up quite a lot of spending money.

Definitely look at the intercollegiate halls as well as the UCL ones, and they have the advantage of being able to name a particular building, not just a type and price range. Have lost track of if your child is an offer holder or thinking about applying next year, but if the former, note that this year UCL has switched to first come first served accom, which opened last month. Any one who applied by early June is still guaranteed a room though.

@Revengeofthepangolins thanks, that’s an important point that first year accommodation is shorter term, but we had factored that in with the monthly budget- plan is to have around 1.7-2k spare by not having to pay all year, so that Dd will have a deposit to put down for following year.

To be honest, I think our biggest oversight is not thinking about possible travel costs - that means having to do our sums a bit again for London.

I know bus travel is much cheaper than tube, especially for students, but if everyone else is travelling by tube then dd might want to too. Shame to travel separately from your housemates!

I didn’t realise that for the intercollegiate halls you can specify, rather than just specifying a price range, that’s good to know. Does anyone know what the chances are of getting 1st yr accommodation in your preferred area and price range? I think that’s key really - you can budget carefully, but it all comes unstuck if you can’t afford the actual accommodation offered.

@TizerorFizz yes, the lower Bristol offer is contextual because of school. I was really surprised, but it looks like she would be entitled (unless they change the list for next year).

Anyway, I think we now have an amended shortlist to visit this summer, partly thanks to this thread, so thank you.

Really encouraging to hear of students having a great time in London, but feel a bit nervous that lots have living at home and commuting as a fallback, unlike us.
But Dd really wants to keep London on the table at this stage.
So we have decided to keep both UCL and Queen Mary under consideration, but dismiss Kings as accommodation further out.
Then we will visit Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, and Nottingham.
Edinburgh and Durham both ruled out as entry requirements too high. Glasgow, and other Scottish unis ruled out as 5 years.
Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield on the provisional backup list if any of the original choices turn out to be no good after we have visited.

@Tamar86

"that’s an important point that first year accommodation is shorter term"

Most of the halls (certainly the inter-collegiate halls) are let out over the summer, so they can extend their stay, although they can't guarantee having the same room, and the catering may be different.

"I didn’t realise that for the intercollegiate halls you can specify, rather than just specifying a price range, that’s good to know. Does anyone know what the chances are of getting 1st yr accommodation in your preferred area and price range?"

The process is designed to maximise the number of preferences met, and stay within budget, but some options are going to be more popular than others. We thought about the preference order carefully (to reduce chances of getting a hall further away) and my son got first choice. He was happy to have "shared bathroom", knowing that his room would have a sink.

Worth mentioning that my son enjoys his food and was very happy with the catering at his inter-collegiate hall. They all use the same caterer.

Also, worth mentioning that UCL "block books" rooms in the inter-collegiate halls, as do some other UoL colleges, so there will be a lot of UCL students there, plus maybe some from LSE, SOAS, Kings, etc. A nice mix.

@Revengeofthepangolins I need to have a look. I think there is a minimum amount everyone is entitled to, but I thought that was supposed to cover both fees and maintenance?

@PotentialUCLmum Kings has intercollegiate available too. I’d still look at Kings in preference to QMUL. However she really has done well for Bristol as it’s possibly a grade lower all round. M
Id slightly query whether a job is best. Is one language ab initio? If so, then studying hard is required. If not, it’s a bit easier.

universities are short of linguists so no offer would be above AAA. I think if she can look at what she wants to do post degree, it helps narrow down choices but it’s certainly an issue that many students live at home and get scattered around London according to budget. Loans don’t cover everything unfortunately and the minimum loan is way short. Maximum is obviously better. What do you qualify for?

@TizerorFizz I think they base the means-testing on the financial year 2 years prior. So because I was working part time then, we should get a very slightly larger loan in the first year.
But it will be minimum loan from year 2 onwards.

And German is from GCSE level, French from A Level, so mid-level intensity, maybe!

I think a job in the holidays only would certainly be more suitable for Dd, who is a little bit scatty, than term time too, but I’m sure that’s what everyone would like!

Everyone is entitled to a £9.25k tuition fee loan (paid directly to uni) and a minimum maintenance loan regardless of income. About £6k in London, 4.5k outside. Hth.

The King's European Studies degree was hugely undersubscribed in 2023/24 and not a fund experience for students. Only about 7 or 8 students total, across the French and German pathways, and all their courses were picked from other subjects. Probably best avoided.

Thanks @Ceramiq that is good to know, but what a shame!

It’s just an issue finding linguists. The offer from Bristol reflects that. However I think Bristol does give DC skills for decent jobs if they want one. @PotentialUCLmum I think it’s wise to look at no job in y1. It’s a big gap between GCSE and degree. Some can find it a struggle to make up the gap until after y3 unless they are brilliant.

Yes, it's a real shame because the original course was ambitious and gave students a lot of skills. TBH I think it's a huge mistake to do a single or joint honours MFL degree - far, far better to combine the study of one MFL with another subject. Learning MFL in the English university context is an uphill struggle and students don't attain a very useful standard of language or anything else IMO.