Student Living Index 2019

• Students in Cardiff take home the third highest monthly income at £1,321.80, while also benefiting from the third lowest monthly rent, at £375.40. When you factor in low monthly living costs of £359.70, this makes Cardiff the city that offers students the most value in 2019.
• At the other end, students based in London are most likely to experience financial hardships. The average monthly rent in London exceeds the national average by 44%, at £700 per month. Combined with living costs of £536.30 and an average term-time income of £1,197.20, this makes London the city with the worst value for money in 2019.
• Bristol has overtaken London (2018) for the highest monthly income, with students in Bristol receiving £1,387.20 on average per term, 24% above the national average. This is in contrast with the £849.50 per term received in Aberystwyth, which is 24% below national average.
• Term time income has decreased in London and Hull, by £200 and £400 respectively. However, the average student rent has increased 5-15% in all South East student cities and London since 2018.
• Students in Oxford are most likely to seek parental financial support, receiving £321.20 per term on average. Students in Manchester demonstrated the most financial independence by earning the most each month through a part-time job, at an average of £167.70.

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• Compared to last year, students are spending an average of £15 less per month on their household bills, and there’s also been a decline in alcohol spend.*
• A coffee in Cardiff will set you back £3.90 – that’s 44% higher than the national average.
• Aberystwyth University overtakes Newcastle and Northumbria to become the biggest spenders on alcohol, forking out £50.80 per month. Students at Newcastle University fell slightly behind at £47.40 per month, followed by Northumbria at £46.10.
• Manchester remains the number one city for fashion-conscious students, who spend almost four times as much on fashion and clothing as students in Aberystwyth - £54.40 per month compared with £15.70.
• Students in Liverpool spend the most on a night out, with 22% having spent over £30 last time they went out.
• A takeway in Cardiff, at £13.40, is costing students nearly twice as much as a takeaway in Hull, which is £7.20 on average.
• 64% of all UK students do not spend any money on academic studies.

*Excluding those who do not drink.

• 64% of students attempt to budget, even if they may not always stick to it. Of those that do budget, a trusty Excel spreadsheet was the most popular method, with 20% saying they budget using the programme.
• Of the students who are able to put a little aside each month, 47% of student savers transfer any remaining money into a separate savings account, whilst only 9% use money saving apps or tools. A total of 32% do not save anything.
• Students in London and Aberdeen manage to save the most, at £133.10 and £130.60 respectively. That’s over twice as much as students in Swansea (£53.10) and St Andrews (£44.80).
• Portsmouth and Hull’s students are the ones struggling to budget the most, with 58% and 57% respectively saying they often run out of money before the end of the semester. Students in Glasgow and Stirling have the least difficulty, with only 26% and 25% saying they do.
• Students in Aberdeen receive the best money management support from their university (11% of students). However, they still rank in the top four for students most stressed about managing their money (30% of students).
• 41% of all students do not receive any kind of student discount from their university.

• Oxbridge residents have topped the time spent on academic studies for the third year in a row. Students in Oxford are also the most social, spending 42 hours per month socialising and 119.9 hours per month studying.
• The average student spends 81 hours a month studying and 28 hours a month socialising. This is a 9 hour decrease in time spent studying and a 2 hour decrease in time spent socialising since 2018.
• Students spend an average of £12 on their studies and £44 on social activities per month.
• Hull students spend the least time socialising and studying. Student residents are spending just 50.8 hours per month on study and 17.7 hours per month socialising.
• 45% of students find their studies stressful, but 41% of students say they enjoy studying for their degree.

• Students in Stirling spend the most hours working a part-time job, while students in Durham spend the least at 27.3 hours and 6 hours per month respectively.
• Manchester offers the highest earnings from term-time work, where students are making an average of £167.70 per month. Reading offers the lowest earning potential with students only taking home £40.00 a month from term-time employment.
• For the second year in a row, Scotland features heavily in part-time hours worked, with three Scottish cities featuring in the top five (Stirling, Edinburgh, Aberdeen). This isn’t reflected in term-time money earned. Only one Scottish city, Aberdeen (£157.60 per month) features in the top five of that ranking.

If you want tips on landing a job at university, or finding your first job after graduation, check out our guide.

• When asked on a scale of 1 to 10, St Andrews had the highest number of students (47%) selecting 8, 9 or 10 when asked if they felt satisfied with their university’s mental health resources. Bristol ranked in last place with 14% of students feeling satisfied with the resources on offer.
• 71% of UK students said their university offered affordable health and wellbeing programs. Aberystwyth has the highest number of respondents who agreed, at 94%, while Poole had the lowest at 53%.
• More students are also reporting feeling stressed by the study requirements at university, with the average score on a scale of 1-10 moving from 6.9 in 2018 to 7 this year.