Thrills and spills of studying in London

[stoneysongs]

A thread for supporters of DC heading to London unis - was originally going to be UCL which seems very popular this year, but expanded at @Needmoresleep's excellent suggestion.

For chats about moving in, what to take, living in London, whether an Oyster card is worth bothering with, how to do a big shop, where to park at drop off, the dreaded search for 2nd year accommodation etc etc etc

Tagging people I've spotted from the ex Oxbridge thread but all welcome including those with DC currently in London who can share their wisdom and anyone thinking of it for 2025 or beyond

@catmomof3
@lifeturnsonadime
@PotentialUCLmum
@CoffeeMugShot
@space99
@FebruarySmith
@mynameisnotmichaelcaine
@Summertimer

By way of intro I have a DD going to UCL to study BASc Arts and Sciences.

I'm off to see DD next week, we are going to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in concert at Wembley.

She also told her tutor we are going Japan in January and that she'll miss two weeks of uni and she said he didn't care and he will help her fit in the two essays she'll miss and to not worry. So she's not as stressed anymore and she's got friends who will send her lecture and seminar notes.

I also got some good news and that my post treatment cancer scans have come back with no cancer detected so we will celebrating hard in Japan.

Happy for you @catmomof3 !

Fab news! Have a wonderful trip and enjoy the show!!

Hope you enjoy the show and your holiday catmomof3.

Last week for ds this week and he has quite a light timetable. He wants to stay until next Sunday so we'll drive in and pick up his bits. He seems to have double the amount he started with! Luckily he doesn't need to vacate. He has a particular set of subject exams after Xmas so will be doing some revision in amongst the festivities.

Hi everyone, I am trying to work out London living costs.

if you are able, please can you share how much you are giving your DC for general living costs in London (excluding accomodation) but includingLLP any maintenance loans.

I know that it will vary from student to student. Just trying to get a rough average/idea of London living costs. Thank you!

Please ignore LLP typo - no idea where that came from!

Mine didn’t end up going to London but is in another country in an equally expensive European city. We give her £800pcm excluding accommodation but she supplements with tutoring and working in hospitality in the holidays. Her sisters went to uni in the UK and got £700pcm the extra £100 is for the cost of travel home. She was only entitled to the lowest loan amounts. She knows she is very lucky but she also does graft.

That's really helpful @PotentialUCLmum. Thank you. We probably need to factor in more than we envisaged.

DS also has £800 a month excluding accommodation. Approx £50 a week of that goes on travel to and from uni from his halls. (Hoping that will go down to £35 if can get his act together to apply for oyster 18+ over holidays). In first term he has spent more like £1000 a month dipping into money he'd saved and his over draft. However this I think is because he's not budgeting well and overspending. Lots of drinking and socialising and music gigs/dj events. And maybe a few too many take aways. He's working all Xmas to balance the books. London is expensive but I reckon £150 a week for food and fun should be enough.

London is expensive but I reckon £150 a week for food and fun should be enough.

This is what we are budgeting for our DS to spend at the moment. It seems to be enough. We do pay for travel home on top of that.

I’d agree. I am biased though because I went to Uni without much financial parental support and our financial circumstances allow for me to make our DC’s lives easier - so I do. DH did not go to Uni. DD absolutely works her arse off in the holidays though which I take as a good sign. She is working Xmas day this year (as it is ‘double time’ so I know she understand the value of money and what a NMW job involves) She has also convinced her mates at Uni to walk rather than Uber and cook rather than order Deliveroo….

Thanks very much @Duchessofmuchness and @lifeturnsonadime - that's really helpful. It makes sense that it will take a while for DC to learn budgeting etc.

@PotentialUCLmum- Impressed by your DD's level headed attitude and @Duchessofmuchness DS working through the Xmas - will definitely emphasise the importance of getting a job in the hols!

My DS is in his first year in London and lives on £650 a month. Says that is plenty enough and he goes out regularly and also travels to visit friends at other universities within that budget. Does his food shopping at Lidl.

Can I join? UCAS literally in the point of being submitted, but Kings CL, UCL and Royal Holloway are at the top 3. Hoping to be joining the panicked DSA application process in Jan, and the scramble for accommodation!!

Welcome @CautiousLurker01. London is a great place to study and live.

We give ds a £100 every week but pay for his monthly travelcard. We also gave him a couple of hundred at the beginning of term for club/society joining fees. He has savings also if he get ms desperate but so far has managed well on that. We still pay for his phone contract though.

Thank you @Lightsabre I promised to pay for both my kids phones while they were in FT education (really hoping they don’t go down the PhD/post doctoral route as not sure my pension will cover it…)

Am dreading the student hall fees!!

Our ds hall fees have mostly been covered by the maintenance loan although we have to top up by about £400 a term for that too. If a student is entitled to the higher loan, it should cover cheaper accommodation with money to live off left over. If all else is equal, it's worth looking at London uni's which offer a wide range of accommodation prices. Some, like Imperial, offer a £5K bursary if a parents income is under £60K. The £5K can be used towards the cost of accommodation or help towards living costs.

I am hoping we might be able to get a DSA top up to cover the incremental increase from a plain single room to one with an ensuite as she is ASD/ADHD (other reasons to justify this too as she also gets PIP). Had hoped to break even with a student loan if she can get places in halls all three years.

UCL and Kings do seem to have a wide range of accommodation on offer - are people who have already applied/got offers already booking their accommodation? I think I am having a panic as she has stressed and chopped and changed her mind for months, delaying submission and I fear she is missing out on the more affordable options the longer she pisses about takes to make her mind up and submit the bloody thing.

I think @CautiousLurker01 that the DSA don't pay the top up. Instead they state the accommodation needs and then the university usually agree it at a reduced rate?
I could be wrong but I think it has changed.

Thanks - will have to ask this when we start to apply. Am just relieved she actually submitted today!!

@CautiousLurker01 This is what happened for my son who is current 1st year at UCL. We sent evidence to the accommodation team and they charge him the rate of a non- ensuite for an ensuite room.

We did it soon after he accepted his place.

This is really useful to know - I wasn’t quite sure how it works (no-one I know has applied for DSA, so I will have the fun and games in January, I hope) - will happily accept a reduced room rate!

UCL and Kings are the preferred choices, and apparently Classics/Ancient history has a high acceptance rate (also known as ‘low applicant’ rate 🤣) and with her grades I’m hoping that we’ll hear very soon after Christmas and can start the ball rolling with accommodation application and DSA then (I assume you have to have an offer/provisionally accepted in order to start the process, or am I being very naive…?)

Yes to apply for accommodation you have to have accepted the offer.

My DD is at LSE, first year. She's in a catered hall in central London - 6 evening meals and one brunch per week provided. Although the rent seemed extortionate, she feels that she's saving loads by only buying breakfast and stuff for lunch. She lives on £100 per week for food and entertainment in term time which she pays from savings, holiday jobs, work, cash gifts from friends/relatives. She's a 25 min walk from the campus so no travel costs. She says it's a lot less than many of her friends. We top up accommodation, fares home, and bigger expenses such as expensive one off social events. She uses Christmas and Birthday money for clothes.

I can see this thread hasn't been very active for a while - but DD has an offer for KCL and is considering it as an insurance option. Anyone have any idea of the likelihood of her getting university accommodation as an insurance student? We know they don't guarantee it.