Living expenses in London for first year student of Graphic Design and Media?

Would really appreciate some advice on the cost of living in London not including accomodation please. ie How much would one need per week for food, travel, clothing, entertainment, books and materials? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Reply 1

scapestudentliving

Hi Sunnygirl70,

It does really depend on how you like to live, whether you like to buy a lot of new clothes and go out clubbing/for dinner etc regularly. This is just some very basic information and cost of living is different for everyone, but it should be somewhere for you start.

Food
You can get by on £20-£30 a week, if you plan your meals in advance. Eating less meat will make things cheaper, as will buying frozen meat and vegetables.

Travel
Based on Adult rates (the fares for an 18+ Student Oyster and Adult Oyster are both the same/very similar on the TfL website< https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/fares?intcmp=1648 >, not sure if this is mistake or not!) the bus is £1.45 per journey. Say you get the bus to uni every weekday, and then make 4 journeys at the weekend – that’s £ 20.30 a week. If you take the tube for these journeys (Zones 1-2 for argument’s sake) it would be £39.20 – less if you’re travelling off peak.

Entertainment
A student cinema ticket costs in the region of £10, a pint/spirit+mixer costs around £4-5, and a cheap meal out can be as little as £5-7 without alcohol, if you do your research.

Hope that helps!

Emma

- Scape

University of the Arts London

London

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