Going Higher: Cheap And Cheerful

The cheapest place to live in the Midlands is either in Coventry or in the Stirchley and Balsall Heath areas of Birmingham. The cost of a room in a flat here is around pounds 30 per week.

If you are feeling thirsty, the cheapest union bar in which to buy a pint is the University of Leicester, with beer at just pounds 1 a pint. Derby varies between 90p to pounds 1.20.

The most reasonable places to eat out have to be the numerous balti restaurants in Birmingham. You will have plenty to chose from those situated in Stirchley, on the Ladypool Road, in Moseley and the city centre

itself. You can eat a veritable feast for under pounds 5.

This year a "reward card" has been developed for students in Nottingham, which gives them all kinds of useful concessions at shops, pubs and clubs throughout the town.

Derby students' union is one of the fastest growing in the country, with excellent students' bars in town and on campus, and runs two nightclubs.

Wolverhampton is reckoned to be the city in which you can live most cheaply. At current prices, you should be able to manage on around pounds 25 per week after paying your rent.