Press Releases

7 August 2006

As A-Level and Highers students prepare for exam results, The Royal Bank of Scotland unveils the Student Living Index 2006 - a league table which ranks Britain's major university towns by cost-of-living

• For financially-savvy undergraduates, Cardiff is the most cost-effective place to study, while Cambridge is the least cost-effective
• During one academic year, going to Cardiff could mean the average student is more than £2,400 better off- the equivalent of over 3,500 bags of pasta
• Over the next year, university students will spend £10 billion on living and accommodation costs
• However, almost half of all students will work part-time during term to earn some extra cash. In total, these hard-working students expect to earn £2.3 billion
• The most popular part-time student jobs are in bars and clothes shops, but more unusual occupations include turf accountants, life guards and charity fundraisers
• More than half of undergraduates (52 per cent) still underestimate the weekly cost of living expenses and rent at university

The annually published alternative university league table - the RBS Student Living Index - was unveiled today by The Royal Bank of Scotland, revealing that Cardiff is the most cost-effective place in the UK for undergraduates to study. A combination of relatively low living costs and rent and the highest weekly earnings from part-time work have won Cardiff the top spot.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's Student Living Index, now in its third year, ranks Britain's major university towns by plotting average student expenditure on living and housing costs against income from term-time employment¹.

The research, conducted in 26 British university towns this year, shows that the average Cardiff student spends £188 per week on living and housing costs, but earns an impressive £131 from part-time work. At the other end of the scale, the average student in Cambridge spends £206 per week, but makes just £69 from term-time employment.

This means that, for the average undergraduate doing part-time work, choosing Cardiff over Cambridge could theoretically leave them £80 per week better off. Over one academic year, this would equate to £2,4002 - the equivalent of 3,692 bags of pasta³.

RBS Student Living Index - Full Rankings

The full table of university towns, ranked by The Royal Bank's Student Living Index, is as follows¹:

Rankings according to the 2005 Student Living Index are indicated in brackets after the name of each university town. No bracket denotes the first time this town has been included in the study.

British students set to spend £10 billion on living costs and accommodation

The RBS research suggests that, in total, British students will spend over £10 billion⁴ in housing and living costs over the coming academic year. Of this: approximately £3.7 billion is spent on rent4; £995 million on supermarket food shopping; £688 million on going out; £404 million on books and course materials; and £306 million on music and CDs.

The RBS Student Living Index research reveals that the lowest weekly living costs (excluding rent) are in Durham (£101), whilst London has the highest at £161 per week. However, as Durham also has the lowest average earnings (at £63 per week) this means it takes penultimate place on the table. In terms of weekly housing costs, Aberdeen (£88) and London (£93) are the most expensive towns in the UK compared with just £60 in Sheffield.

Movers and Shakers

One of the most marked changes from last year's league is St Andrews, which, thanks to high weekly earnings (£106) and relatively low living costs (£110) earns an impressive fourth place on the table; a significant improvement on last year's bottom-of-the-league spot. This could be the result of a significant increase in the number of St Andrews students taking on term-time work - a rise from 30 per cent in 2005 to 43 per cent in 2006. A similar trend is also apparent in Edinburgh and Bristol, which have also made impressive progress on the table, perhaps suggesting that in more expensive towns and cities, savvy students are increasingly taking on employment to help cover costs. Leeds has also made an impressive climb from mid-table eleventh place to second just behind Cardiff. This is the result of a combination of relatively low rent (£61 per week) and the fact that almost two in five Leeds students have found it easy to find part-time work in the city.

Britain's hard-working students set to net £2.3 billion from part-time work

The RBS Student Living Index also shows that students are challenging traditional work-shy stereotypes: almost half of undergraduates (45 per cent) are taking part-time jobs during the university term to help offset their term-time living costs; this is up from 40 per cent last year. According to the study, the hardest-working students are in Belfast and Glasgow, where 61 per cent and 60 per cent respectively have term-time employment.

On average, those with a part-time job work 16 hours per week (no change from 2005), although one in five students (20 per cent) work more than 20 hours each week. Students in Leeds work the longest hours (21 hours), whereas Durham students work the shortest (12.4 hours).

In total, British students taking term-time jobs expect to earn almost £2.3 billion4 over the coming academic year. The highest average weekly income from term-time jobs is to be found in Coventry (£132). This compares with just £63 per week in Durham. A quarter of UK students taking on term time employment (25 per cent) will earn more than £120 per week.

The most popular term-time jobs are traditional short-term money spinners like bar and shop work (20 per cent and 14 per cent respectively). Interestingly, according to the research data, approximately 15,600 students will work in marketing and 7,800 will be working for management consultancies. More unusual term-time occupations include band musicians, nail technicians and autocue operators.

Paul Jeffrey, Head of Student Banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland, comments: "For many students, heading off to university is the first time that they will live away from their parents. With that newfound independence comes a range of unexpected financial hurdles that many will not be adequately prepared for. According to our research over half, 52 per cent, of students underestimate the amount they need to spend on rent and living costs.

"The key to managing your finances effectively is careful budgeting and the aim of the Student Living Index is to encourage more students to include financial planning into their university preparation. Once at university, our in-branch Student Advisors can offer valuable support and advice on money management. The RBS Student Royalties account, with its market-leading £2,500 interest-free over-draft and money-saving offers, can also help to ease the financial strain."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

For more information on the RBS Student Royalties Account, visit your local RBS branch or go on-line at www.rbs.co.uk.

Research was conducted by The Survey Shop among a sample of 2,648 undergraduates from 26 university towns across the UK.

Available for interview:

• Paul Jeffrey, Head of Student Banking, The Royal Bank of Scotland.
• Student case studies.

Case studies and full report available on request.

¹ The Royal Bank's Student Living Index was calculated as follows: for each university town, average local weekly student expenditure on living and accommodation costs (comprising alcohol, books and course materials, cigarettes, going out, buying clothes, laundry, transport costs, utility bills, telephone bills, eating out, buying CDs, DVDs and videos, photocopying and library costs, supermarket food shopping and rent) was divided by average local weekly income for working students. This provided a relative differential value, by which the 26 university towns were ranked. Rankings according to the 2005 Student Living Index are indicated in brackets after the name of each university town.

² This theoretical figure was produced by calculating the differential between expenditure and income for Cardiff and Cambridge. The Cambridge differential was then subtracted from the Cardiff figure, and then multiplied by the standard 30-week academic year.

³ This estimate is based on the average cost of a packet of dried pasta in the UK at 0.65p.

⁴ These estimated figures were calculated by extrapolating research data against 2004/5 statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which indicate that there are approximately 1,754,910 undergraduates in the UK. These estimated figures also assume a standard 30-week academic year.