Portsmouth, Liverpool and Newcastle are the cheapest places in the UK to be a student, survey finds

Edinburgh is the most expensive due to above average rent costs combined with significantly lower than average term-time income

Portsmouth has been named as the cheapest place in the UK to be a student, according to this year’s NatWest Student Living Index, along with Liverpool and Newcastle.

Even though students in the port city pay slightly more rent than the UK average, they have been found to top up their term-time income by working around 25 per cent more hours in part-time jobs. Despite this, students here still have time to socialise, given they have also been ranked as one of the most sociable lot to study with.

The annual report surveyed 2,500 students across the UK to determine the most and least expensive places to study by taking into account a range of factors from how much students spend on going out to how much time they spend studying.

Edinburgh has come in last as being the most expensive city due to above average rent costs combined with significantly lower than average term-time income. Despite this, though, students in the Scottish capital spend the most on going out and spend more than the weekly average on alcohol.

The UK’s most cost-effective student cities:

1. Portsmouth
2. Liverpool
3. Newcastle
4. Belfast
5. Exeter
6. York
7. Cardiff
8. Nottingham
9. Birmingham
10. Dundee
11. Manchester
12. Norwich
13. Leicester
14. Brighton
15. Reading
16. Glasgow
17. Leeds
18. Bristol
19. London
20. Sheffield
21. Plymouth
22. Oxford
23. Cambridge
24. Southampton
25. Edinburgh

(Student Living Index 2016/NatWest (Student Living Index 2016/NatWest)

The majority of a student’s income comes from loans, which, on average, are £161.14 per week, four times higher than any other source, including part-time work. After loans, money from parents is the largest source of income.

Surprisingly, students in the capital are paying below the national average for rent, while those at the prestigious Oxbridge institutions are paying the most; with the national average at £109 per week, Londoners are forking out £105.08 a week in comparison to a whopping £135.38 in Oxford, and £131.48 in Cambridge. Oxbridge students, though, have emerged as the hardest-working with students at the universities spending the most time studying each week.

With the average weekly spend on alcohol at just £6.85 a week, students in Newcastle, Glasgow, and Reading spend the most on booze; £9.32, £8.63, and £8.50 respectively. Edinburgh (£8.19), Belfast (£7.84), and Newcastle (£7.81) all spend the most each week on going out, with the national average for this sitting at £6.65.

Although tuition fees are now higher than ever across England and Wales, only one in 50 take fees into consideration when deciding which university to attend. Other concerns such as subject choice, university reputation, distance from home, and the cost of living were more important for 98 per cent of prospective students.

The research also found that over half of students find managing their finances stressful, with less than two in five having an assigned budget.

Dan Jones, NatWest’s head of student accounts, said: “Making the most of university can be expensive and there is a massive difference in the costs students face depending on where they choose to study.”