GLASGOW is the least affordable city in the UK for students, research has found.
People studying in Scotland’s largest city have the poorest term-time income and receive the lowest amount in bursaries and scholarships while paying above average household bills.
However, despite their perilous finances, Glasgow’s students spent the most when they go out compared to anywhere else in Scotland, confirming the city’s reputation for nightlife.
They also spent the most on alcohol, both in bars and at home. The figures are revealed in the Royal Bank of Scotland Student Living Index, which surveyed almost 3,500 students across the UK to determine the most affordable place to study.
Scottish universities were revealed to have both the highest and lowest monthly student incomes, illustrating the divide which exists between the poorest and richest students.
Those attending higher education in Aberdeen were revealed to receive the most from their parents, averaging £351 a month from the bank of mum and dad.
Overall, the Granite City’s cohort of students have the highest incomes out of anywhere in the UK at £1,583.80 per month, taking into account all sources of cash such as loans, part-time work and savings, which is £440 more than the national student average.
At the other end of the scale, Glasgow students had the lowest total income – less than half their Aberdonian peers’ monthly stipend at just £786.60 a month. The bank found that the average Glaswegian student gets £182 a month from their parents, £103 from term-time work and £52 from a bursary. Student loans was the biggest source of income for most.
However, those in rented accommodation pay less than the UK average, with someone in a student flat paying £433 to their landlord each month, against £448 nationwide.
Kate Powell, President of the Students’ Representative Council at the University of Glasgow, said: "The cost of living for students has skyrocketed due to the rising rent charges in the West End.
"Most students we see are paying upwards of £400 a month in rent and loans barely cover students’ living expenses.
"The Scottish Government need to address this by applying a Rent Pressure Zone to the West End and increasing the number of bursaries and support available to students."
London was the most expensive city to rent in the UK, with the average monthly spend said to be £584.
The survey found that students in Stirling are the most fashion conscious, spending almost £40 a month on clothes and shoes, the highest in the whole of the UK.
Dundee students had the highest household bills, £30 more than the UK average of £43 a month, while St Andrews students are the most likely to say they have chosen to study there due to the university’s reputation.
Students in Edinburgh spend the least in Scotland on going out, £19.90 per month compared to the UK average of £25.10.
The probe also revealed student’s motivation for choosing their place of study did not come down to money, with more than half saying they picked their college or university because of the subjects available.
A quarter based their decision on the institution’s reputation, while just under ten per cent said it was because they could live near their parents.
Only five per cent said that managing their money was the most stressful thing about further education, about half of those who said studying for their degree was the hardest thing.
Almost two thirds of students said that their set a budget, but less than a quarter were able to stick to it.
When it came to studying, students at Cambridge and Oxford were the biggest bookworms, spending 137 and 123 hours at their desks a month respectively.
In Scotland, students in St Andrews hit the books for the longest, with studying for an average 118 hours a month, while in Glasgow the figure was 88 hours.
Londoners spent the least time reading for their subjects, studying just 66 hours a month.
Dan Jones, Royal Bank of Scotland head of student accounts said the purpose of the probe was to uncover student’s habits and help them plan their finances when they enter higher education.
He said: “The Student Living Index helps students to see how they might budget while at University.
“Our main priority is to help students stay on top of their finances throughout their studies and our Student Account offers a number of features to help students make the most of their money and their time while at University.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel