How much does it cost to live in London as a student?

With college claiming that their new bursary scheme is “most generous bursary provision of any of the leading UK universities” Felix decided to investigate just how generous the university is with its money compared to others.

It seems that despite concerns over student consultation on the matter, the changes will still be delivering substantially more money into the pockets of students than any other London University.

We looked at the bursary schemes available at London School of Economics (LSE) and University College London (UCL), two other “leading” UK universities that are also based in London, alongside the money available to those studying outside the UK. It seems that Imperial will offer more than any other London university when it comes to money per student, regardless of household income. as shown in the bar chart below.

So just how do universities decide how much money students need to live on? Various student surveys are used to determine the cost of living in London or as a student in general.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has predicted that the total expenditure of a student in London is around £13,300 for living costs (£23,500 in total when including course costs). This includes £6,143 for rent. They predict that on average a student’s income from loans and funding comes to £17,450, so another £6,000 has to be found from elsewhere.

At UCL they use data available from the government, and consider a total of £322 per week a reasonable amount to cover all living expenditure. LSE and King’s College London “broadly estimate” that students should expect to pay between £1,000 and £1,200 per month for living costs.

The UK Government also ran a Student Income and Expenditure Survey, and this data is also heavily used to predict the costs of student living.

The Student Living Index 2014, ran by the bank, also found that 22% of students nationwide are now receiving less financial support from their parents this year compared to last year. Despite this, the average contribution per student per week of funds from parents is still £114.10, when considering all areas of the UK in which they study.

The survey also found that, when ranked, students in London when compared to other cities are the 6th most “economical,” meaning they manage to pay the least amount of money, but still sustain themselves with living essentials. London students do however spend more money than others on eating out, spending an average of £17.10 each week in Nandos and beyond.

When it comes to alcohol, we aren’t doing much better: we are 6th in the country for how much we pay per week on beers and bombs. We pay £10.90 a week on average at the bar, although if nights at the Union (or, more accurately, my bank statements the next day) are anything to go by, this probably has a very large standard deviation.

Students in London are also spending the most on travel, with each student spending on average £15.10 a week. The average of students as across the country is £6.50.

Imperial have it’s own estimates of how much student living costs, as shown in the pie chart opposite. Despite estimating that students need £286 to live off on a weekly basis as opposed to £322, the UCL average, Imperial still offers more financial support than our central London cousin.

PHILIPPA SKETT