University Realistic Costs ?

[mad?]

Also, if considering working during term time, depending on the course commitments etc, this about what the local wage might be. In her first yer DD's neighbour got a job at a local cafe paying £6.25 per hour, so a four hour shift (which took out 5 hours with travel time changing etc) effectively paid £5 per hour (and she had to miss one of her 'free' meals). Another neighbour babysat for her tutor at £7 per hour but could study at the same time.... DD had too many commitments to work in term time but the pay she gets in London as opposed to Durham more than makes up for that. If the local area is cheap to live in, the part time jobs will probably pay low as well! Exeter sources its on campus employees from the student body so there is work tailored to student needs, Warwick has an on campus recruitment bureau which similarly has jobs suitable for students in term time. That said, IME, working in the holidays is a more lucrative option, and less disruptive to university life. One caveat is babysitting, which is effectively money for studying in someone else's house!

[KB]

It's definitely worth doing some budget planning with him before he goes off. There are lots of ways of keeping costs down and too many ways of running up unecessarily high bills!
I agree with the point about considering work options and the best use of time. It might be that getting extra studying done or making the most of extra curricular activities is better during term if the hourly rate that can be achieved in another location during vacations is much higher.

The 'debt' they come out with shouldn't be treated lightly and there are all kinds of arguements against the system but do make sure he understands it's not like actually borrowing money from a bank etc so if he doesn't earn he won't be paying back etc.

Another option is to take a gap year. He could earn a decent amount to help his finances when at Uni. He could consider if his degree choice is the best for his situation. If his year 13 performance is likely to be better than this disrupted year 12 he might get better than predicted grades and therefore more offers spying a year later.

[2childmum]

DS has just finished his first year at Durham and has had a fantastic year.

All first year students in Durham have to live in one of the colleges, which are fully catered (apart from Josephine Butler). They do cost about £7000 a year, and then colleges charge some fees on top, but this then includes not just a room and food, but things like cleaning, college libraries, social spaces, lots of college level societies for sports, arts etc, which means students can join in a whole range of activities without having to be good enough for university level (my son has rowed, played rugby, is a chapel scholar, plays trumpet in the college orchestra and big band etc etc and has only had to pay for the rowing) and there is a subsidised gym. In his college even the laundry facilities are free. There are opportunities to work in the college bar, and in college shops (mainly found in Hill colleges). The pastoral care is also excellent with college 'parents' (second year students allocated to all the freshers), postgraduate students who live in, and all students are allocated a college tutor as well as a subject tutor in their department. This is on top of the usual university level pastoral care and student union facilities.

He is living out next year, and is paying just under £90 a week for a shared house.

The other thing we have found this term is how much more teaching he has had than a couple of friends at other unis - he had 3/4 weeks of lectures, tutorials etc before exams, and then a weeks research project afterwards, and lots of great social activities and sports events which he has really enjoyed - building a raft to race across the river on his college day being the highlight from what i can gather. Two of his best friends only returned to uni this term to take exams and then came home again - although they were paying for their accommodation. They had no teaching and nothing else seemed to be going on either.

There is financial assistance available e.g. https://www.idoxopen4learning.co.uk/dur ... bcr=MTIzNg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some colleges have their own funds too - might be worth a look before choosing a college, although there is no guarantee that you end up at the college you chose!

In fact it might be worth looking at the above website more generally as it lists a lot of funding which your son may be eligible for, whichever uni he looks at.

[logic32]

Scary mum - you made DS laugh when I told him that history students clearly have time for a job !

Mad - that's a very good point about the correlation between cheap area and lower pay. Wish babysitting around here was £7 an hour. It's always been £10 since mine were little!
He already works at a sports centre once a week and they have offered him holiday work so that may be a better option.

KB - thank you, I am also having to learn how to budget better too, so perhaps I shall get him more involved for practice. Though to be fair he is already very reluctant to part with money so hopefully this should serve him well. We will apply this year regardless but dependent on his AS grades in August decide whether or not a gap year might be required.

2childmum - so glad to hear your son had a fantastic 1st year at Durham. It sounds as though he has made the best of the opportunities on offer. Not sure how much use my DS would make of even the free laundry facilities ! But that is great to hear exactly how much is available. Thank you also for the link to the extra grant, sadly I think we would be eligible now so that would definitely help. I had no clue about any of this and didn't think I would ever need to.

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to share all this information. He went to school with a smile on his face today much reassured.

[SteveDH]

Also its worth checking if the university offers any sort of bursary scheme, although they are usually a bribe for students getting higher grades. That aside my DD gets around 3k a year which covers her rent, I thought that was expensive until I saw the 7k, although her's is un-catered.

[Loopyloulou]

All first year students in Durham have to live in one of the colleges, which are fully catered (apart from Josephine Butler).

I don't think that's quite right 2childmum (I was at Durham's Open Day with DS2 on Saturday). Whilst all the colleges offer first year accommodation to any new undergraduate who requests it, St Cuthbert's College positively welcomes students who would rather live out on an uncatered basis. Durham has a glut of private student accommodation, so that would probably be a way to reduce costs if your son so wishes.

[Amber]

As I recall, JB isn't the only self catered one either.

[ToadMum]

As I recall, JB isn't the only self catered one either.

The website says that the expectation is that first years will live in (in pairs, in many more cases than is usual in other universities).

JB is the only fully self-catered college, with two or three others being mixed options or 'part catered'.

JB also being the only fully self-catered college which also has no shared rooms, I know where I would aim for.

[Loopyloulou]

Indeed the expectation is that most Durham students will live in for their first year, with a proportion (differing from college to college) in shared accommodation. St Cuthbert's is an exception to that rule, as a quick look at the college's history will show (though the great majority of St Cuthbert's first years do in fact decide to live in, some catered, some not).

[KS10]

DS's grandparents have offered to pay - are insisting actually that they pay - DS's tuition fees. The tuition and maintenance loans have already been sorted and we are all really reluctant to accept their generous offer. They don't understand the system at all and I was wondering how to explain that they would be better off saving it for something else without causing offence.