Now that the new academic year is about to start and people are receiving their offer letters from universities, students all around the country are deciding where to go. With that being said, a lot of students have to move and either pursue student accommodation or rent privately. While undergraduate studies are free in Scotland, the same cannot be said about student housing costs. In fact, Glasgow was named the second most expensive city in the UK for students by a survey done by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
While Edinburgh is the most expensive place in the UK for students to live once again, Glasgow follows the Scottish Capital taking second place, as revealed in the Royal Bank of Scotland Student Living Index. “The index takes into account student income and living costs to calculate a score for university towns and cities across the UK.”, RBS states.
The Royal Bank Student Living Index surveyed 3,052 students to help find out some of the most affordable places to study in the UK. The survey also looked into student spending, such as on going out, and the income they earn from part-time work. This year, rent has increased by a whopping 30% for students, with the national average monthly rent now at £591.90.
What is more, Bournemouth topped the list as the most affordable city in the UK for students, taking the top spot from Cardiff from the previous year. RBS said that: “Higher-than-average term-time incomes contributed to Bournemouth being named the most affordable student location.”
A whopping 90% of students said they had to make changes to their lifestyle to live within their budgets. That number skyrocketed to 96% in Glasgow, Bournemouth and Cardiff.
According to the Student Living Index, Edinburgh scored 0.74, while Glasgow got 0.68. London took third place with a score of 0.59, and Coventry shortly followed with 0.58, while Liverpool came fifth with a score of 0.53.
Jaimala Patel, Head of Royal Bank of Scotland Student Accounts, said: “An increased reliance on student loans and double-digit increases in spending on food shopping and rent is having a real impact on student finances. There are some reassuring signs that students feel far more comfortable budgeting than in previous years, and they are taking steps to live within their means. We provide a range of tools to help students, including spend categorisation in our mobile app and a Round Ups tool to help develop a strong savings habit.”