A third of UK students now planning to live at home

[born2bme]

Interesting stats here showing the cost of living impact on students:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70gy180e8lo

A third of new UK students now planning to live at home.
Nearly 10% of new Open University students are school leavers.
And "most" full time students reportedly working in term time.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner it sounds like we live in the same area - and you’re right, this ‘go to the local uni’ thing doesn’t work when your options are either Oxford or in our case, Buckingham university which is one of the lowest ranked in the country. London would cost so much in commuting it would wipe out any savings. There are huge areas in the country where ‘just going to the local uni’ doesn’t work - either there isn’t one commutable, or it’s not suitable for someone either in terms of calibre or subject course. DDs have ended up in Durham and Manchester so a long way from home, but both doing courses they couldn’t have done anywhere round here.

My DS is living at home, he never wanted to live in a squalid flat with others and he doesn’t drink alcohol/go clubbing, so he’s saving himself from debt and living at home.

Yes it didn't work for us for DS to go local, only one local is Northampton which is low ranked and not somewhere you would go to study Physics. I don't think there are any others within commuting distance. DS went to Leeds.

@poundshopkardashians Yes, it’s a bit of a tax on rural(ish) living. Even if you live in Oxford, you have one university that you might consider and then one that’s obviously ultra competitive. Someone living in Durham might be in difficulty too. The staying at home choice only really works if dc are a great fit for that uni or there’s a choice. Extremes don’t help in terms of tariff and most dc.

I know Buckingham well and obviously your dc are having a very different student experience in Durham and Manchester and @summater the same applies to Leeds. There’s always going to be many of us with dc unable to study locally. If you live in Buckingham, you don’t even have a railway station to get out of the town! I also rather suspect jobs for teens and students are in short supply too although the private university students probably are not looking for them.

It’s very very common to live at home here in Ireland if you come from a city that has third level colleges. A lot of people regardless of income would steer their DC towards the local places if at all possible(and obviously for many thousands it’s not possible to stay at home). I know people who would say it’s still cheaper to buy their child a car if they and get them driving to college rather than paying rent and all the associated costs. We don’t have the loan system like England so students within certain income families still receive grants. We are lucky enough to have some good places close by to choose from so it takes the extreme financial pressure off families.

Depends on what you regard as commuting distance.

I have had students commuting 50 miles. Within a 50 mile radius of Northampton there are some excellent opportunities to study Physics.

We don't have a railway station so would have to bus to even get to a station. Leicester would take ages to get to

DS didn't come home after University, he got a job in Leeds and is still there. He would have struggled to get a job locally

Yes, my students commuted by car. Which in turn brings its own problems.

@Elbowpatch It produces a huge problem if you cannot afford a car! Or are unable to borrow one! Again the poorer rural student is disadvantaged. We have a station dc could drive to but it’s not the answer for university.

@Elbowpatch Where would you go to study physics within 50 miles of say Buckingham? Driving 50 miles every day for a lab based degree is an awful idea too. No drinks as well! What social life would there be? Virtually none.

Where I come from it's normal for young people to choose the university that is closest to their home. The amount of debt is not worth it. It's better to save this money for a property rather than spend the next 10+ years in a flatshare.

I'm in Finland and working out a budget is part of the curriculum here. My DD is in her final year of comprehensive and as part of their study guidance class they need to work out a budget for when they move out, looking at what income they can have (thankfully still have some grants here but also loans, savings, part time work), what rent they will need to pay (they have to look up possible examples, student accommodation usually states prices), what they need to buy regularly (groceries), what they'll need less frequently (cleaning supplies and suchlike), what other costs they might have (bus pass etc.) And then to consider whether they can afford it with their income. Some of these kids (like DD) will be doing this for real next year, moving out to go to high school in a different town or city, so very important lesson. DD has now realised that she will not have enough money for the first year as she won't be entitled to a study grant until she's 17, so will need to rely on me and any savings she can make by next autumn. She also could have realised it would be a lot better to commute for that first year but that would be quite difficult logistically.

This is one of the best things about school here I think, teaching the practical stuff. Sure parents should be teaching this too but not all will, not even all are capable.

Yes I’m in Lancashire and whilst on initial glance you might think Manchester an option it’s not via public transport. My friend’s son tried it for a fortnight and dropped out. It’s 2 hours plus each way via public transport. The only live at home option would be a low ranking ex poly still well over an hour by bus.

You presumably missed the “Which brings its own problems” part of my post.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend commuting, but sometimes needs must. One of my highest achieving students commuted fifty miles. She didn’t drink.

I previous post was based on Northampton. However, from Buckingham, Oxford and Warwick spring to mind.

I previous post

That should obviously read "My previous post"

The edit facility seems to have disappeared.

We could live near Cambridge but DS wouldn’t have got a place. Going local only really works if all universities are equall

This is such a valid point. Schools leave it far too late to advise on student finance (and the expectation for parents to make up the shortfall) meaning lots of students are caught in the trap of having a plan but no money to finance it.
My eldest DD lived away for Uni, we made up the shortfall and she worked through the summers to pay for clubs/ hobbies/ luxuries. DD2 chose to stay at home, we are commutable to some very good London unis. She has not needed the maintenance loan, as we cover all food/ driving lessons/ phone etc. Her summer job has covered her train fares and her sat job is her to spend however she chooses.

This is the last fully published UCAS report

https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/more-school-leavers-living-at-home-for-university-and-college-study

More detail on the current cycle, as per the BBC report, to come in due course.

Don’t imagine much of the full detail for this cycle will be much different to that published for last cycle. As per the linked report above the “intend to live at home” for the most deprived quintile was 52%, as compared with 18% for the least deprived quintile.

which anyone who looks at the HESA table 57 would also likely conclude.

At the risk of sounding glib, the many people who move to Buckinghamshire for the grammar schools may simply need to factor in a further move later in their child's education, either for their 18+ year old to go to uni, or for themselves to move to a uni town if they want their dc to live at home. I don't think we need to fret too much about them. There can't be a top uni in every town. People choose where to live based on a range of factors.

Interestingly as far as undergrads from Buckinghamshire go the most popular university is indeed Buckingham followed by Oxford Brooks - jointly account for just under 11%, meaning the vast majority go somewhere else. After these two for Bucks its

• Nottingham uni
• Birmingham
• Exeter
• Nottingham Trent
• Reading
• Southampton
• Loughborough
• Bath

to make up the top ten, accounting for almost 33% of undergrads from Bucks

then

• Cardiff
• Warwick
• Leeds
• Bristol
• Manchester
• Durham
• Cambridge
• Royal Holloway
• Bournemouth
• Portsmouth

to make up the top 20, spanning 51% of undergrads from Bucks

In contrast let’s take County Durham, broadly similar population size but a progression rate around half that of Bucks.

Top four destinations cover 56% of undergrads from there, with 47% going to the first three

• Northumbria
• Sunderland
• Teeside
• Newcastle

The top 10 account for 72%, with the remains six being

• Durham
• York St John
• York
• Leeds
• Leeds Beckett
• Manchester Met

A pp mentioned Surrey - bigger population than Bucks, but similar progression rate. Top two destinations Surrey Uni, closely followed by Exeter, 8.6% combined

Top 10 destinations like Bucks account for just under 33% of undergrads from Surrey. The remaining eight being

• Nottingham
• Southampton
• Bristol
• Bath
• Kingston
• Portsmouth
• Cardiff
• Bournemouth

Really interesting. Where is the data from? I know Exeter university do outreach programmes in the South West targeting schools where kids haven’t traditionally progressed to university. I expect some of those universities do the same in their local area.

@Genevieva all derived from HESA, Higher Education Statistics Agency, www.hesa.ac.uk Table 59. It’s a bit of a mixed bag in that the simple csv file that can be downloaded shows info by larger council area - ie Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes rather than district councils but then covers London as a single entity, ditto Greater Manchester and West Midlands rather than by London Borough etc.

DS's first choice is within easy commuting distance (15 minute train ride and 10 minute bus). Living in halls is a non-negotiable - both for him and us!

Interesting table - the Surrey-Bristol pipeline which everyone talks about (well, in Surrey at least) is absolutely born out by the numbers!