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Original poster

Living costs for Imperial

34 replies

Inmyfifties · 01/05/2025 06:12

DS is starting uni in September and he’s put Imperial as his first choice which I’m really pleased about. I’m now planning ahead and trying to estimate a realistic monthly budget for living costs (excluding rent) for a typical first year.

Could parents with recent experience share some figures with me please? I’ve looked online but would also like some more real examples.

Thank you!

OP posts:
FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 09:17

Hi @Inmyfifties , ds is in his second year at Imperial. He gets the minimum maintenance loan which has just increased for him to £8K. I think in his first year it was £6K. We pay his accommodation (9-10K roughly) and he has a loan for tuition fees. All that seems to work and he does plenty of hobbies and travels occasionally to other UK cities to meet friends. He doesn't drink or go clubbing or do anything which might drain him though. In his first year he was at Paddington halls so took out an annual bike pass and cycled everyday. So, he basically has £8K for all accommodation bills, food, travel, activities, purchases etc over the year. We do help him with things too, i.e. pay for all his travel to/from home, his mobile and some clothes/shoes/uni kit etc.

Original poster
Inmyfifties · 01/05/2025 12:29

Hi @FriendlyLaundryMonster thank you so much! That is very helpful.

To be honest £8k is more that I was expecting, during the open day one of the students presenting mentioned he needs around £500 per month. So my estimate for around 39 weeks tuition was more or less £5,500.

my DS doesn’t drink and isn’t into clubbing either so that helps! I do want him to enjoy his time as well as work hard though.

thanks again! If anyone else has more info please let me know?

OP posts:
Stoufer · 01/05/2025 12:38

Not in London (at a uni in the Midlands), but we give our yr2 ds £300 per month, which he has to buy all food (he’s in self catering accommodation), local travel, socialising, mobile bill (£7 per month). His house bills are included in his rent. I will also send him money occasionally for trips away (with his student society). I imagine travel in London will cost a lot more.

I think it’s important that they get a sense that they have to budget for things..

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 12:38

@Inmyfifties it can probably be done on less. I’m fairly sure he managed on £6k last year. Accommodation tends to be for the year though, rather than 39 week, so worth bearing in mind.

Original poster
Inmyfifties · 01/05/2025 12:48

Hi @Stoufer , I completely agree, he will need to learn about budgeting for sure! One of the useful skills I’d like him to really master while he attends uni.

@FriendlyLaundryMonster if you have any hints or advice on the budgeting front that I can pass on please let me know.

OP posts:
Stoufer · 01/05/2025 12:54

This Easter, my ds was chatting about how he does his food shopping in Lidl, and about how a box of his breakfast cereal costs less than a £1! So Lidl for food is a good start for budgeting… I also shop at Lidl :)

And actually their ranges are expanding massively, I always used to have to go to Sainsbury’s as well, to pick up tofu and other veggie / vegan type foods, but Lidl does all of that sort of stuff now :)

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 15:01

@Inmyfifties I’ll have a think about budgeting tips. I do now know that you can add your railcard to your Oyster card, which helps.

Mapletreelane · 01/05/2025 15:25

@FriendlyLaundryMonster how has your DS found Imperial? And how was his experience of looking for and securing accommodation 2nd year? DS has an offer but still debating if the London experience is worth it (I'm fully for it but it's his decision ultimately)..

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 15:36

@Mapletreelane ds is very happy there. He’s an editor at the newspaper, involved in some campaign work and part of a few clubs. He found the work in 1st year very manageable, while also doing various out of uni activities and attending exhibitions and concerts. He went in with 5 A stars and did really well in the Step exam. It’s been a really good fit. This year, there’s a bit more work to do and he’s been more grateful that you don’t need to get 90% for an A! He found his second year place fairly quickly. His group only viewed one other I think and then just put in an offer. Some groups were offering less than the asking, so they secured it with the asking price. Contracts do tend to be for a full calendar year though.

Woollyguru · 01/05/2025 15:51

@FriendlyLaundryMonster are you sure the min maintenance loan is £8k? I was just looking into this yesterday and if living away from home in London I saw the maintenance loan was £6853.

Unless it's different because your DS is in his 2nd year?

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 15:54

@Woollyguru we are in the Scottish system!

Woollyguru · 01/05/2025 15:55

@FriendlyLaundryMonster would you say if we budget for £10k rent and DS can use the maintenance for living expenses that would be ok?

He has got an online business which doesn't take up much time but is quite lucrative so I think he can top up with that if he needs to.

Woollyguru · 01/05/2025 16:07

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 15:54

@Woollyguru we are in the Scottish system!

@FriendlyLaundryMonster ok that explains the difference then!

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 16:20

@Woollyguru I think that sounds absolutely fine. David could have attended a Scottish uni and paid no tuition fees! But for Imperial we thought it was worth it. As rankings have just placed it top in Europe and second in the world behind MIT!

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 16:21

Ds not David!

Original poster
Inmyfifties · 01/05/2025 16:31

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 15:36

@Mapletreelane ds is very happy there. He’s an editor at the newspaper, involved in some campaign work and part of a few clubs. He found the work in 1st year very manageable, while also doing various out of uni activities and attending exhibitions and concerts. He went in with 5 A stars and did really well in the Step exam. It’s been a really good fit. This year, there’s a bit more work to do and he’s been more grateful that you don’t need to get 90% for an A! He found his second year place fairly quickly. His group only viewed one other I think and then just put in an offer. Some groups were offering less than the asking, so they secured it with the asking price. Contracts do tend to be for a full calendar year though.

Wow @FriendlyLaundryMonster 5 A-stars at A level??? That’s amazing.

OP posts:
FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 16:58

@Woollyguru Interested in what the business is…

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 16:58

@Woollyguru Interested in what the business is…

Londonmummy66 · 01/05/2025 17:10

DD is at RCM just round the corner and had £500 pcm as an allowance - paid for food/transport etc. (we paid for halls which were self catered) She only ran out in her first month- a few things to buy up front and she hit freshers hard. She's now living at home but if she wasn't I'd probably give £600 due to CoL. As a music student she's always been able to earn on the side from teaching and gigs though which helps.

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 01/05/2025 17:20

@Inmyfifties Thank you. He is a smart cookie and takes it all in his stride.

Original poster
Inmyfifties · 01/05/2025 18:30

Londonmummy66 · 01/05/2025 17:10

DD is at RCM just round the corner and had £500 pcm as an allowance - paid for food/transport etc. (we paid for halls which were self catered) She only ran out in her first month- a few things to buy up front and she hit freshers hard. She's now living at home but if she wasn't I'd probably give £600 due to CoL. As a music student she's always been able to earn on the side from teaching and gigs though which helps.

Thank you @Londonmummy66 , based on all the feedback here, I coming to the conclusion that between £550 and £600 a month might be enough.

OP posts:
MrsPatmore · 01/05/2025 20:22

We give dc £100 every week and pay an extra £50 towards travel costs monthly so they set aside some of the £100 weekly towards transport. We pay for their phone and gym contract though and gave them a couple of hundred pounds during freshers week on top to join clubs. It’s been fine but dc doesn’t really drink alcohol and doesn’t really like clubbing so that keeps the costs down. I think if you have a party dc then they’ll need a bit more.

Dc is having a good time (1st yr). They’ll live at home for the second year. 1st year accommodation is subsidised with a grant of £5K if parental income is below £60K. Accommodation at the N Acton halls is pretty cheap compared to other uni’s we looked at. En suite around £6,800, cheaper sharing and very sociable halls as there are so many students there.

Londonmummy66 · 02/05/2025 10:39

@Inmyfifties - the big issue with South Ken is the accommodation costs - once those are covered it isn't necessarily that much more expensive than uni elsewhere (unless he choses to do his grocery shopping at Partridges on Gloucester Road...). It should also be possible to find some work in hospitality, especially if he can pick some up over the summer so he has experience. So yes I think he should be able to cope comfortably on £550 -600.

Original poster
Inmyfifties · 02/05/2025 19:34

Thank you @MrsPatmore and @Londonmummy66 , that’s really useful to know.

will definitely try to “encourage “ DS towards N Acton halls, but I am sure he will no want to share a room!

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chutneypig · 02/05/2025 19:42

It might be worth a look at the video tours for the North Acton halls, the shared rooms looked considerably more separated than I expected. My DS still isn’t keen on shared but the single rooms are equivalent or cheaper than those his sister is looking at outside London. I’m trying not to think about year two yet!