The most expensive cities to be a student in – and it’s not London

As students prepare to head to university this month, new analysis has revealed the cities which could leave students in the most debt. 

TOTUM, the UK’s leading discount card and app provider for students have ranked 24 of the UK’s biggest student cities, based on student population, in order of affordability. 

To calculate which cities are most affordable, the analysis has calculated the average cost of a night out in each city by comparing the drink prices across student venues and pubs, club entry and freshers events tickets and wristbands to calculate a nightlife cost per term. 

This has been used alongside the average student rental price per city to give an estimated termly cost and has been compared against the minimum and maximum loans available to those living away from home and outside London, to calculate what budget students have left.*

Across the UK, the study found that those on the lowest maintenance loan fall short on average by -£55.28 per week which amounts to a staggering -£773.92 per term. 

Edinburgh was found to be the most expensive city to be a student, with students on the minimum loan estimated to fall short by -£957.60 per term. Enjoying the city’s nightlife in the city alone is estimated to cost students £627.77 per term. 

On the flipside, Glasgow was named the most affordable city for students. While those on the minimum loan could still be short by £-44.28 per week, the analysis deemed it the cheapest city to enjoy nightlife with this expected to cost under £20 a week (£19.29).

The top ten cities most likely to put students in the most debt were revealed as: 

1. Edinburgh (-£957.60 per term)
2. Birmingham (-£912.52)
3. Exeter (-£882)
4. Brighton (-£870.24)
5. Portsmouth (-£828.80)
6. Liverpool (-£821.38)
7. Cardiff (-£816.34)
8. Aberdeen (-£811.58)
9. Cambridge (-£791)
10. Oxford (-£788.90).

Full list – where does your city rank?

Overall rank	Student city	Average cost of Freshers Week	Average nightlife cost per term (x2 nights out per week)	Remaining loan after rent and nightlife cost per week (Minimum loan)	Remaining loan after rent and nightlife cost per week (Maximum loan)
1	Glasgow	£39.00	£290.06	-£44.28	£93.39
2	Newcastle	£32.00	£292.89	-£44.48	£93.19
3	Dundee	£37.65	£332.00	-£47	£90
4	Sheffield	£33.88	£344.32	-£48.15	£89.51
5	Plymouth	£32.03	£357.42	-£49.09	£88.58
6	Southampton	£31.08	£391.83	-£51.55	£86.12
7	Leeds	£34.00	£407.83	-£52.69	£84.98
8	Manchester	£46.00	£410.19	-£52.86	£84.81
9	Swansea	£46.00	£427.29	-£54.08	£83.59
10	Belfast	£50.29	£433.27	-£54.51	£83.16
11	Nottingham	£41.02	£444.28	-£55.29	£82.37
12	Leicester	£38.00	£446.13	-£55.43	£82.24
13	Bristol	£51.00	£446.69	-£55.47	£82.2
14	Coventry	£45.00	£455.73	-£56.11	£81.55
15	Oxford	£43.00	£459.13	-£56.35	£81.31
16	Cambridge	£36.03	£461.13	-£56.5	£81.17
17	Aberdeen	£49.00	£480.87	-£57.91	£79.76
18	Cardiff	£47.75	£486.50	-£58.31	£79.36
19	Liverpool	£49.00	£491.56	-£58.67	£79
20	Portsmouth	£50.19	£498.95	-£59.2	£78.47
21	Brighton	£50.67	£540.38	-£62.16	£75.51
22	Exeter	£46.75	£550.00	-£63	£75
23	Birmingham	£51.00	£582.74	-£65.18	£72.48
24	Edinburgh	£49.79	£627.77	-£68.4	£69.27

Source: TOTUM

While those on the highest maintenance loan do have some leftover, students in the UK are left with £82.38 on average per week, according to the study. This is left to account for food, transport and other everyday expenses, including course material related purchases such as textbooks, notepads or laptops. 

With Fresher’s week on the horizon, experts are urging students to budget ahead of term starting, to help keep their spending on track. 

According to analysis of TOTUM’s internal sales database, they’ve predicted that the 18th September is the peak for student spending, based on when offers and discount codes are redeemed the most on the platform across the last five years.*

To help students better manage their money, Matthew Sheeerin, budgeting expert at Money Wellness shares his advice: 

1. Understand your spending allowance before you go to university 

Matthew says: “University is probably the first time you’ve had to manage your own money, so don’t worry if budgeting feels completely new. To understand how much money you have available to spend, start with what’s coming in, then take off the things you have to pay for. 

“Rent will probably be the biggest one, but remember food, travel, your phone, bills and course costs too. It’s also worth allowing for things that don’t happen every month, like travelling home or an unexpected expense. What you’re left with is your spending money. The important thing is knowing what that figure is before you start spending.”

He adds; “Remember to work out how long the money left needs to last. Set your Freshers budget before Freshers starts. Once you’re there and everyone’s heading out, it’s much harder to make sensible decisions about money.”

2. Set a yearly, monthly and weekly budget

“Budget for the academic year first, then break that down into monthly and weekly spending. The yearly view makes sure your money will last until your next student loan payment, while the monthly figure helps you stay on top of rent and regular bills. A weekly amount then gives you a simple guide for everyday spending.

“Your spending won’t be exactly the same every week, and that’s fine. The important thing is to look ahead so that spending more one week doesn’t leave you short the next.”

3. Check your bank account once a week

“The most effective thing you can do is check your money once a week. Spend five minutes looking at what’s gone out, what’s coming up and how much you have left to spend. If you’ve spent more than planned, don’t ignore it and hope it’ll sort itself out. Make a small adjustment the following week.

“Remember, don’t budget right down to zero. Leave yourself some breathing room because something unexpected will come up.”

To find out more about what students can expect to spend at university, please visit: https://totum.com/talks/advice-and-hacks/freshers-nightlife-index2026 

Photo by George Pak : https://www.pexels.com/photo/college-girl-and-boy-studying-together-7972485/