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...

Also this @SageBlossomBunny .

Oh that sounds perfect! That's amazing to have the unis in commuting distance.

A very bright scientist has the choice between taking on extra debt for the potential kudos from attending a top-ranked university, or going somewhere cheaper but working just as hard. A very bright scientist would have the skills to make this balancing judgement.

Your victim mentality won’t do any favours in this situation.

She's on DLA at the moment and we'll have to do her PIP form early next year.

I'm actually terrified of doing it as she is high achieving I'm worried she won't get it or I won't do it right or she won't be entitled, so haven't bargained for it but yes you're right if she gets pip that will help :)

Indeed. It’s where my DS is hoping to apply next year. It’s the best in the field he wants to study in terms of research standard and quality of staff - which are the factors that are considered when ranking a university. Not local rental market.

So DS’ll either have to commute (£3.5- 4k pa railcard) and live at home or hope his dad, who works in London most of the week, is still considering buy a 2-3bed flat there on the basis that the £8-10k x2 children at uni (the older is applying to a London uni this year) for 4 years, would be better invested in paying off a second mortgage of our own, than paying some property company/landlord’s mortgage in stead. We’re lucky as we’re much older parents and have significant equity in our house that we can release to make this doable. I can’t imagine what single parents or parents who are long term renters, and thus unable to raise funds or even potentially act as guarantor to their children’s rental contracts, will do.

When I went to uni I was estranged from my parents and the uni had to help complete grant forms. But I had a full grant until my final year and access to pretty modern, clean student dorms for the whole three years. I didn’t have to worry about where to live and graduated in 1992 with a £500 overdraft.

It is frankly criminal the level of debt and stress students and their families have to suffer to just be able to exist in the post Blair job market where a degree, even if not even relevant, is now a minimum education standard.

"Victim mentality"? Is this your normal approach to polite considered debate?

If you read the posts above, Imperial are particular good at offering bursaries. For the students who will, genuinely benefit from their education but who cannot afford it, they will do their best via bursaries to make it affordable.

Working hard is not the be-all and end-all of a University education. DD has a degree from Imperial and from Bristol and found a huge difference in terms of the way they were stretched, the calibre of those teaching (at Imperial she was taught by world leaders in her field) and the engagement of her fellow students.

Students who choose to study in London despite the expense are often very motivated. You only have to read this board for a short time to see posters who argue that Bristol is preferable because of the social life. Imperial will be chosen by those who see (to repeat my analogy) Imperial's Robotic society as more fun than a Bristol nightclub.

Call that kudos if you will. For some the motivation will be a more challenging, interesting academic environment.

I echo this, there seems to be a huge amount of accommodation in Sheffield. My DS got his sorted out in Jan/Feb this year. Admittedly, he is starting to look again now for next year as some of the bigger and/or nicest houses do seem to go quicker, but there isn't the same rush as in a lot of University cities.

Then choose to pay more for the privilege of the choice. You have a choice so make an assessment of the risks and rewards that go along with it. Gladly incur the debt and get extra jobs to pay for what you want.

I think Southampton hall fees might have gone up, but there is plenty of reasonably priced private accommodation.

@yeaitsmeagain where is that? DS is in Midlands paying £120pw inc bills in a house much nicer than ours!

What galls me on Uni accommodation is that when I look at my alma mater
in the prospectus is a photo of what was my best friends room in the 80's

same basin, same window frames, same radiator, same fitted cupboard
but 20 times more than she paid for it.

Inflation is all well and good, but its a 1950s room that has NOT been modernised.

Out of curiosity FriedBucket, why would you avoid Universities with a high percentage of public school kids ? I’m asking genuinely as I’m not sure what the worry would be? And how would you know what the percentage would be ?

Dd wanted Cardiff - halls around £160 p/w

Insurance was Ulaw - halls £320 pw

She's at ULaw and her loan and grant don't even cover her rent. Same for most students so she's now struggling to find a job as so many in the same situation

My DD is paying £320 pw self catering 😔

I was not saying otherwise. My two DC studied in London and have absolutely no regrets. I think you have me confused with someone else.

£320pw is ridiculous! Those poor students and parents. We were paying £213pw for one of our dc so glad they’re in private accommodation now. My dc work and study and neither are big drinkers which I think helps with budgeting

I think for parents who had dc in private schools university works out less expensive ….school fees of approx £30k or more per year make going to uni with fees of £9250 plus living costs cheaper

One of DD's friends was in the cheapest halls at UCL for post grad. It cost her parents £300 per week.

Completely ridiculous - I agree. But there is no choice if she wants to study

Me, my dad and my sister are all trying to help out

How do the Universities justify charging that much for 40 year old often dilapidated rooms
AND
they are often now 48 week contracts - so kids are paying even during the weeks they are at home all summer

There’s such a massive difference in accommodation costs. We are paying £6000 for dd, her friend pays £9900. Often it’s a first come first served or take what you are given (her friend has chosen cheapest and was allocated this)
I’m surprised more GB students don’t look at Queens Belfast. It’s RG. Halls £110 a week and they knock £2500 yr 1off GB rent and give them a £500 travel allowance. Plus pay £100 to go to open day.
Leicester also very affordable uni halls shared room starting at £69 a week.
We are up north and most of dc’s friends on min loan. They were told northern unis only by parents.

Hope you don’t mind me saying that is peak Northerner ‘them rich folk in that there London’. I guess the North must rely on better off folks paying the accommodation and tuition costs?

Ulaw don't have any university owned accommodation and so can't subsidise it. Privatte are in short supply as in Bristol for example has so many institutions all needing accommodation

My DP works at a uni in S Wales and they have some international students living in Manchester and Birmingham as there's such a shortage of student accommodation

I took a pic of ucl accomodation costs slide at 2023 open day and showed it a few people and they were absolutely gobsmacked. Ucl were at least open about it. Kings had no prices at their talk, just a from £x figure and when you checked it was a handful of rooms for care leavers rest was astronomical.
The longer contracts are what hikes costs up. Min I’ve seen is 41 weeks.
Back in my day I only paid for term time whereas we will pay for dc’s for Christmas and Easter hols.
Going rate for halls seems to be around £7000/8000 mark outside London.
Common set up for min loan kids is parents pay rent, teen lives on loan so unless saved up finding £8000 a year from net is a huge ask especially if more than one at uni or other younger kids.

We have 2 at Uni at the same time for 3 years. We are not big earners. Neither of their student loans even cover their rent let alone having anything left to live off. Hopefully dd will get the NHS bursary but this doesn't come through until November and is intended to help with costs of travel to placements etc which can be miles away. We are constantly having to give them money to help with rent and for living. Many of dd's friends have transferred course to live back at home. DD can't get work as her Nursing course is full on. DS has tried everything to get work with no luck. It's depressing. We are desperately trying to save to retire as dh has health problems but it's looking like this is not going to happen anytime soon.

The way things are going more people will choose universities closer to home and don’t move out. This is what DH and I did; not UK. We still had a great experience; went out on weekends and trips with friends; albeit not all the time and the crazy partying that seems to be going in UK universities