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Student Costs of Living in London |
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As a service to our students, and potential students, TASMAC has compiled a list of the costs you might expect to incur as a student living in the UK. These figures come from Student Life UK http://www.ukstudentlife.com which we encourage you to visit. |
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| LIVING EXPENSES |
| Students should allow a minimum amount of £600 per month for their living expenses when applying to TASMAC London, as per the UK Border Agency guidelines. |
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ONE-OFF COSTS |
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As well as your course costs (Tuition Fees) there are other one-off costs (this means costs which you only have to pay once, not regularly) which you may have to pay if you are travelling to the UK. Make a note of the ones which apply to you and estimate the total cost of these. |
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Visa application fee |
(for visa nationals; multiple entry visa more expensive) |
Travel insurance |
(depends on length of your stay) |
Medical insurance |
(note: free public healthcare if you study for over 6 months) |
Post/baggage to/from the UK |
(depends on how much you want to take and bring back) |
Registration with police |
about £35 (only if required to register) |
Travel: to/from airport in your country |
(depends on distance from your hometown to the airport) |
Return flight to the UK |
(depends on distance from your home country to the UK) |
Travel: from/to airport in UK |
(depends on distance from airport to your town in the UK) |
Television licence |
about £130 for colour TV licence (in 2007) |
Television |
£50 for second-hand portable colour TV |
Mobile phone |
between £50 and £100 (pay-as-you-go phone) |
English exam |
about £100 (if not included in course cost) |
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You will probably have to pay a deposit when you move in to your accommodation. This is usually the same amount as about 4 weeks of rent (see below for a guide to accommodation costs). It should be returned to you at the end of your stay unless you have damaged the property in some way. |
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| REGULAR COSTS |
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The following table shows estimated basic weekly living costs for a student (in £).
Numbers are only approximate; there can be very big differences according to where you live and your lifestyle.
Note that course costs and other one-off costs are not included in these tables.
Remember the exchange rate between your currency and the pound may change while you are staying in the UK.
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Cheap (£6,000 per year)
These costs may be relevant if you live close to your school outside London or south-east England, or if you live in student accommodation at a university. It may be difficult to live comfortably in London on this budget |
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Average (£9,000 per year)
These costs may be relevant if you are a language student in London, living in cheap accommodation in a reasonably central location (within zone 2), and using a 'youth' weekly travel pass (for zones 1 and 2). It may also represent the costs of a student with a more expensive lifestyle at a school outside London or south-east England
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Expensive (£12,000 per year)
These costs may be relevant if you live in basic accommodation in a more expensive area in central London or south east England
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Cheap |
Average |
Expensive |
Cheap |
Average |
Expensive |
Accommodation (1) |
£80 |
£125 |
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Food (2) |
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Travel (3) |
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Entertainment (4) |
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Other (5) |
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Total |
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| Notes: |
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Accommodation: Rent; more if meals provided as part of rent. Includes gas/electricity |
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Food: Normal living; less if meals provided as part of rent |
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Travel: Local travel on bus/underground |
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Entertainment: Cinema/eating out/sport |
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Other: Books/telephone calls/clothing/insurance/personal hygiene |
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General living expenses may be about 25% greater in London than elsewhere
Note that costs may also be high in parts of south east England and areas close to London
As an approximate guide, for a couple living together add 50% to the cost of a person living on their own
For example, if the single person's annual cost is £8,000, the cost of living as a couple may be £12,000
As an approximate guide, for each child living with you add 25% of the cost of a person living on their own
For example, if the single person's cost is £8,000, the cost of a couple with two children might be £16,000 (£8,000 for the single person + 50% of £8,000 for the partner + 2 times 25% of £8,000 for the children) |
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| INCOME |
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If you are a full-time student, your visa may allow you to work part-time (up to 20 hours per week). Many part-time jobs are paid close to the minimum wage, which from October 2006 is £5.35 per hour if you are over 22 years of age. This will leave you with an income of about £100 per week, but you may be paid less if income tax is being deducted (usually this money can be claimed back later, or you can arrange to pay just the correct amount of tax). From October 2006 the minimum wage if you are aged 18-21 is £4.45 per hour. |
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| For details of the minimum wage, see: http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/pay/national-minimum-wage |
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You may be able to earn some interest on money which you bring to the UK, depending on what sort of account you open and the interest rates which are offered. For each 1% interest which you earn on each £1,000, you will receive £10 in interest over a period of 1 year. |
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| RBS STUDENT LIVING INDEX |
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Each year the Royal Bank of Scotland conducts a financial survey of undergraduate students at various university towns across the UK. The table below shows results of the 2007 survey (based on an average sample size of about 100 students per location). |
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Rank |
(A) Living costs
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(B) Earnings |
(C) Difference = A - B |
(D) Ratio = A / B |
1 |
Leicester |
£135.67 |
London |
£146.11 |
Leicester |
£55.07 |
Leeds |
1.46 |
2 |
Durham |
£168.55 |
Brighton |
£129.66 |
Leeds |
£58.45 |
Brighton |
1.59 |
3 |
Lancaster |
£172.64 |
Leeds |
£128.00 |
Dundee |
£70.43 |
Dundee |
1.62 |
4 |
Glasgow |
£173.51 |
Dundee |
£113.02 |
Liverpool |
£71.00 |
London |
1.65 |
5 |
Liverpool |
£178.38 |
Birmingham |
£109.76 |
Brighton |
£76.93 |
Liverpool |
1.66 |
6 |
York |
£178.84 |
Liverpool |
£107.37 |
Glasgow |
£78.31 |
Leicester |
1.68 |
7 |
Coventry |
£180.40 |
Bristol |
£105.79 |
Birmingham |
£84.70 |
Birmingham |
1.77 |
8 |
Newcastle |
£180.97 |
Cambridge |
£100.50 |
Newcastle |
£85.46 |
Glasgow |
1.82 |
9 |
Dundee |
£183.44 |
Manchester |
£97.91 |
Coventry |
£85.73 |
Bristol |
1.85 |
10 |
Sheffield |
£185.89 |
Sheffield |
£97.74 |
Durham |
£87.34 |
Newcastle |
1.89 |
11 |
Leeds |
£186.45 |
St. Andrews |
£97.28 |
Sheffield |
£88.15 |
Sheffield |
1.90 |
12 |
Cardiff |
£190.08 |
Aberdeen |
£96.56 |
Bristol |
£89.84 |
Coventry |
1.91 |
13 |
Belfast |
£192.58 |
Newcastle |
£95.51 |
Cambridge |
£92.54 |
Cambridge |
1.92 |
14 |
Cambridge |
£193.04 |
Glasgow |
£95.20 |
London |
£95.14 |
St. Andrews |
1.99 |
15 |
St. Andrews |
£193.49 |
Coventry |
£94.67 |
St. Andrews |
£96.21 |
Manchester |
2.03 |
16 |
Birmingham |
£194.45 |
Oxford |
£93.46 |
York |
£98.08 |
Cardiff |
2.07 |
17 |
Bristol |
£195.63 |
Canterbury |
£92.88 |
Cardiff |
£98.35 |
Durham |
2.08 |
18 |
Canterbury |
£197.39 |
Cardiff |
£91.73 |
Manchester |
£100.86 |
Aberdeen |
2.08 |
19 |
Manchester |
£198.77 |
Belfast |
£91.00 |
Belfast |
£101.58 |
Belfast |
2.12 |
20 |
Aberdeen |
£200.51 |
Bath |
£90.32 |
Lancaster |
£101.90 |
Canterbury |
2.13 |
21 |
Edinburgh |
£201.27 |
Edinburgh |
£88.11 |
Aberdeen |
£103.95 |
York |
2.21 |
22 |
Bath |
£205.17 |
Durham |
£81.21 |
Canterbury |
£104.50 |
Bath |
2.27 |
23 |
Brighton |
£206.60 |
York |
£80.76 |
Edinburgh |
£113.16 |
Edinburgh |
2.28 |
24 |
Southampton |
£208.15 |
Leicester |
£80.59 |
Bath |
£114.85 |
Oxford |
2.35 |
25 |
Nottingham |
£211.15 |
Southampton |
£79.79 |
Oxford |
£126.63 |
Lancaster |
2.44 |
26 |
Oxford |
£220.09 |
Nottingham |
£78.42 |
Southampton |
£128.37 |
Southampton |
2.61 |
27 |
London |
£241.25 |
Lancaster |
£70.73 |
Nottingham |
£132.74 |
Nottingham |
2.69 |
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[average] |
£191.65 |
[average] |
£98.32 |
[average] |
£94.08 |
[average] |
1.95 |
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| Notes: |
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Living costs are weekly averages during term-time and include accommodation (rent, gas/electricity/water utility bills, telephone bills, laundry), shopping (food, clothes, alcohol, cigarettes), personal study costs (books and course materials, photocopying and library costs), entertainment (going out, eating out, CDs, DVDs) and transport. They do not include course tuition fees. |
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Weekly average earnings during term-time, based on those students who have part-time jobs (about 40% of the students in the survey). The numbers depend on hourly wage rates and the number of hours worked. The average working time was 15.6 hours per week, and the average wage was about £6.30 per hour.
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This column shows the difference between living costs and earnings during term-time (a lower amount is better). Note that during holiday periods students may earn more if they work longer hours, and home students may have lower accommodation costs if they stay with their families and do not pay rent.
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This ratio (living costs / earnings) is used to produce the Student Living Index league tables (a lower ratio is better, in the sense that it indicates lower living costs or higher earnings). |
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