How much should I expect to pay for DC at uni?

[AuntieEstablishment]

My DC has been working for a few years and is thinking about going to uni. I want to support them as much as I can. I am on a good wage- self-employed but usually around 70k a year- but have no other support at all. I am solely responsible for all my children's cost.

I know that DC will have to take out a loan of some sort, and is hoping to work part time. But how much does having a kid at uni cost you, generally speaking? Do you pay them a set amount each month? Or a set amount, plus a certain amount each year for the fees?

Thanks in advance.

Average contribution from parent is £227. That's average

Thanks everyone for your replies. As expected, there's a lot of variation! DC is considering many different unis but not London at the moment, nor any of the others that come up as being the most expensive. Thank God! They want to work part time, so I'm glad about that, and paying their rent seems to be a common way of doing it, and makes sense.

Maximum loan is what students with no parental income get. So you just deduct what level of maintenance loan your DC will get and top up to maximum loan. If you don't they will be disadvantaged compared to students who get no parental support. Be wary of students working so many hours it hugely impacts on their study time and puts the highest grade they could have got in jeopardy.

If you're in England, you should note that the maintenance loan has not risen for several years and is really behind the level that students could expect to live on, especially considering recent cost of living increases.

I'd suggest (if you can afford it) if your intention is to top up the full maintenance loan level, that using the Wales value would be a better guide.

Our income is similar.

As others have said tuition is totally separate so ignore that.

Our youngest graduated last year so I might be a bit out of date.

As a very rough guide their maintenance loan just covered their accommodation, this was the cheapest halls at northern unis followed by cheapest rentals.

Then we gave them £300 a month to live on and they worked all holidays to build up some extra.

Keep in mind that accommodation cost vary massively without much apparent logic. For example for some reason Liverpool halls are so expensive but Sheffield and Manchester aren't.

So we had to rule out some unis so if finance is an issue this is a good idea rather then them setting their sights on somewhere too expensive.

Also even if you apply for cheap halls you might not get them and insurance offer/ clearing can mean back of the queue which might mean ££££ even if absolutely lovely!

A bizarre condition of Ensuite Bathroom Delusion affects many 18 year olds, brace yourself for inconsolable 3 day sobbing when you disabuse them of that notion.

It's an absolute minefield.

Where money is going to be exceptionally tight it would be good to check out universities in cheaper areas. Accommodation in Coventry (which covers both Coventry and Warwick universities so wide choice of courses and grade expectations, prospects etc) can be about £115pw inc bills (might have to share a bathroom between about 4 people). If want to upgrade to ensuite can be about £135pw

@AuntieEstablishment do you live in England? Most of the advice here is for SFE, but each of the home countries have their own student finance system, so you will need to check what is relevant for your student.

I think your Bristol figures may be a bit out of date! DS has just finished 4 years at UWE, so not even living in central Bristol, and his rent rose significantly in the 4 years he was there. His friends staying for this year were looking at around £800/month, so I hate to think what central Bristol is costing. Yes, there are probably some cheaper properties, but they are few and far between, and usually in an appalling state.

We have one at Cambridge (v cheap relatively) and one at Nottingham - which is more expensive, particularly first year in halls which are catered.

However, the one at Cambridge is not allowed/able to work during term time, but he lives very frugally. We only get the minimum maintenance loan so we pay their rent/college accommodation bills and then they have to budget and live on the remnant of the loan/any part time earnings (DS works in the summer and does a tiny bit of online tutoring, DD has a job in retail in the holidays). So far that's worked out - DS has managed to go skiing and pay for May Balls (£300+) without asking us for extra money. We do pay their travel to and fro, and are still paying for their phone contracts - I guess it works out at c. £1000-£1500 a month for the two of them over the year.

This is a helpful thread for future planning too, thanks everyone!

When I was at uni, most parents would pay the difference between the maximum loan/grant and what the student actually got. So most people in 2001 had enough to pay their rent, tuition fees and about £50 a week to live on. There were a few people whose parents were loaded and gave them the whole lot so they didn't have to use their loan and then bought them a flat afterwards.

Sadly, no! rent is £850 a month plus £100 for bills. Thats a shared room in an 8 bed house, very standard. Friends of DC are paying £1000 in rent alone. He lives off £100 a week which is hardly excessive after paying for phone, gym, travel, social and food.

Dd is about to go to Bristol - we've got to give her £600ish pm to cover the shortfall on rent/living costs. This will be incredibly difficult for us but while I don't think everyone should go to uni, I don't want financial worries to be the reason that dd doesn't go!

She's had a part time job since she was 16, so hopefully has enough experience to get a little job quickly and take some of the burden off us!

Ds halls costs in London will be about 8K. He'll get £6.5 K maintenance loan (as it's London) so will need to top up £1.5K from his savings (govt trust fund thingy). We'll then give him £100 a week to live off. We'll also continue to pay for his phone contract and music lessons, possibly the gym too although he might change to the uni one. We need to work out the travel costs to see if it's realistic to expect him to pay these out of his &100 weekly allowance. I'm sure we'll get tapped for other stuff like socials fees etc. I think he'll live at home for the second and third years to save taking out further loans.

I know you're not considering London OP but this might be helpful for those that are.

@Lightsabre How? My DDs could not have lived at home to save money! One did undergrad in London snd one did 2 years post grad there. How can you live at home if you are far away? Plus they could not do what they studied near us. No chance. So we don’t all have chance to save money.