Accommodation cost impacting university choice - very troubling for institutions like mine

[Tulipgardens]

Name changing for this and wondering whether any one has stats. My sixth form students used to put down unis like Bristol, Bath and Exeter but, over recent years, no longer. Newcastle, Sheffield and Leeds now top choices. London unis nowadays a complete no-no. It has been a marked shift...

The title of this thread should have said institutions like my Alma Mater! I went to Bristol

If the course was unique than that trumped location but otherwise finance does come into it.
London is partly price, partly the disconnected social life.
We've consciously steered the kids way from Bath, Exeter, Bristol and Brighton because accommodation is twice the price of elsewhere. The student markets are being fleeced.
And I'm also afraid unis with a high % of public school kids get avoided.

UCAS publish detailed stats.

www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2021

Yes, London is out for my DS. For him it would be either a £7,500 annual season ticket and no social life, or we couldn't afford his living costs. I'm a single mum and even the full loan wouldn't touch the sides.

I'm not expecting!ting him to live in luxury. I lived in a truly grim bedsit while attending Southbank in the 80s so I understand basic.

He's on track for AAA and deserves his chance but I just can't afford to finance him in a separate home. So we have to look for the least expensive cities and hope the tuition is good.

We chose Exeter because our son grew up in the city and he has family around (the rest of the family moved to scotland that year)

London was a no go. 3 children. It would be way too costly.

I always imagined my dcs would go to uni in London (I lived there for many years and love it), but it's just too expensive.

This is definitely something students seriously consider when making uni choices. They’re getting into so much debt and what to make sure their money stretches as far as possible. London is now seen as off limits because of the high cost of living.
Some universities are ripping students off when it comes to accommodation charging £200 to £225 per week for halls (self catering). Many students don’t even get a choice as many universities ask students to pick 3-4 places they’d like to live and if you end with the expensive halls then that’s tough

https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2023

If you select "Provider: Applications and acceptance" on the left, you can then use the "Provider" drop-down (top-right) to look at stats for individual regions. Anecdotes aside, London has seen a massive growth in applications. Interesting data!

As a parent it’s scary. Dd is insistent on wanting to go to UCL. Accommodation costs are frightening.

My DS is applying at the moment. Some of his unis have a huge price-range from cheapest to most expensive and there is no guarantee that you'll get what you asked for. DD is at a uni where accommodation was first-come, first-served, which is bad in some ways but meant that she got the cheapest room in the whole place! (at least for first year, she's now paying an arm and a leg in the private sector...)

My reading of that is that is first that institutions like Imperial, UCL and LSE are increasingly recognised as being as good as, or”the best of the rest” for those with Oxbridge potential. Then second, as great options for those living within commuting distance who want to save money.

There has also been a shift in the attitudes of young people. Increasing numbers don’t drink and a sizeable number with prioritise course over “social life”. The robotics society at Imperial sounds more fun than a nightclub in Bristol.

This will apply elsewhere. If that nightclub in Bristol does not really appeal, why not Glasgow, Belfast, Sheffield or Loughborough. Each have some great courses and will be much cheaper.

I have one in Bristol and one in Bath. To be fair halls are expensive in most places and DD accommodation in Bath for first year was fairly cheap (4.5k as she qualified for a discount). I was pushing DS to steer away from Bristol for this exact reason but he had his heart set on it. Luckily as I am a single income household their loans cover their rent (just about) and both have PT jobs for living costs. I was very clear to them both I would help out where I can (I pay DD bills and DS monthly bus pass) but I just cannot fund it in the same way many other parents can.

On the UCAS data site you can break it down by where the applications come from. People do overwhelmingly stick in their home region. In the Mumsnet world, DC travel to the best uni for their course, but the data is clear that's not the general rule.

I agree about the shift in social habits. There's lots of evidence that pubs and clubs are less popular with young adults in general than a few years ago. Which makes somewhat remote campus unis appealing!

This has been true for us. First child already in Northern uni , second likely to follow. Bristol would've been perfect as closer to home (2 hours) and big city with lots going on. However, cost of accommodation makes this a no go, particularly as they will have a cross over of 2 years where they are both at uni.

What’s your issue with them applying to Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield? All really great cities for students and all pretty good universities?

just sounds like some weird class thing that you don’t want them going up north

I don't got those menus on that link.

I didn’t get that from the OP at all. More that it’s a shame if kids are feeling like they’re having to base their choices around costs. The student loans aren’t sufficient even for living in cheaper cities never mind more expensive ones.

Agree, my DC1 is commuting to a northern uni that ranks seventh for their subject, vibrant city, great un.

I based my choice partly on accommodation costs 30 years ago.

I don't think this is what the op meant at all!

Odd! The link takes me to a page that looks like this...?

The lack of choice (somewhat) within universities themselves scares me - eg Dd has put Durham down as a choice - if she gets an offer, that’s fabulous but we can only really afford the cheapest halls (we have another Dd who is only a year younger so need to save for the following year when both of them are at uni 😳) - what happens if she only gets offered the expensive ones? We can’t afford it but there is no guarantee you will get the ones you want / can afford.

Everybody cuts their cloth to suit on everything. Mine knew London was beyond our means long ago. Personally I favour the campus university experience anyway so would always push for as close to that as they could get anyway.

Mine has applied to Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham

Maybe this is how levelling up will finally happen? I stayed in the town I went to uni in so maybe all these bright kids will too.

We went up from London to visit Sheffield open day. Bit of a wild card for us. We were so impressed. We bumped into other families we knew from our state primary and our private secondary. Everyone felt they had found a gem.

There is a lot of population in the south of England. Traditionally they seem to want to stay within 2-2.5 hours of home. This is being reconsidered as housing costs explode. Our DD would be a candidate for Imperial or UCL, but it is unappealing to stay in London and not try something else. Also, we are well aware of London prices after the first year in halls.

London is home to many immigrants, many of whom find it completely normal to live at home through university.