The Student Room Group

Royal Veterinary college

I've finally put RVC as my firm choice for Bio-veterinary science and was wondering if anyone has any advice on managing finances as I'm worried I wont be able to afford to live here.
Copied and pasted from the RVC offer holder's group:

Get a job with flexible hours, e.g sign up to Brightsparks or At Your Service and do as many shifts as you want to. RVC also employ student ambassadors and that pays well and is flexible. There are lots of other options available; part time retail work, tutoring... even getting paid in Amazon vouchers to do online surveys can help. I don't think that having a job means necessarily compromising on your social life, after all ,going out costs money tongue emoticon Remember that you can work over summer to raise funds for the next year, plus you may be able to find EMS placements (i.e. lambing) that can give you some pocket money.

Live frugally. Shop late at night to get reduced food (it's honestly fine and will last forever in the freezer). You can get a 9p loaf of bread from Sainsburys near the Camden campus. Learn the times that shops start reducing their prices. Don't always assume that Lidl is the cheapest place for things (I often find Wilko to be cheaper, for example). The website MySupermarket can be used to check prices between brands, but be aware that supermarkets are sly and each one may stock different sizes of the same brand to make prices less comparable. Don't buy what you don't need; even if it works out better value if you don't use it you've wasted money.

Careful with your travel. That's easily my biggest expense. If you have a railcard, add it to your student Oyster card. Travelcards are generally cheaper than going pay as you go. Be aware of Zones, it's expensive to go through Zone 1 so a slightly longer journey can work out significantly cheaper. The Overground practically orbits Zone 1 without going through it, so make use of it! Bus travel is free with any travelcard so bear that in mind (e.g. a return ticket to Potters Bar is £5.20, or you can take buses).

Remember though that students in London living away from their families get a better loan, and that the recent changes to the system mean that you might be in a better situation financially than you would have been if you'd have started university a year earlier. RVC have bursaries and hardship funds too, available through the Advice Centre.

Hope that helped, let mw know if you have any other questions (I'm a first year at the RVC :smile: )

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