The Student Room Group

Has anyone else given up on Oxbridge because of the costs?

Has anyone else dreamed of going to Oxford or Cambridge from an early age, but given up on it because of the fees? Oxford is my dream UK school (my absolute dream school is Princeton, but, with my health record, my parents won't let me leave the country alone), but the fees have shot that dream down.
Reply 1
If you're classed as an International student, undergrad fees can be pretty high at most unis. Which degree were you looking at? Whilst you may have dreamed of Oxford, it's not necessarily the best UK uni for all subjects.
If you're a UK student (and it seems you are Scottish), you can absolutely afford to go to Oxford, or any UK university. As a Scottish citizen, there is definitely a discussion you need to have about whether you want to go to a Scottish or English university, but the fees and loan system are well designed so that anyone can afford a university education (assuming you can live with your parents during the holidays).
Reply 3
OK, well if you're Scottish then you can take out a Tuition Fee Loan like the rest of us (unless you have religious objections to interest, which can definitely be a major barrier).

Plus Oxford is subject to the same £9000 undergrad fee cap for UK students, as every other UK university (private organisations excepted). If you have a problem with Oxford's fees, then you're probably locked out of the majority of degrees in most universities.
Original post by Letheia
Has anyone else dreamed of going to Oxford or Cambridge from an early age, but given up on it because of the fees? Oxford is my dream UK school (my absolute dream school is Princeton, but, with my health record, my parents won't let me leave the country alone), but the fees have shot that dream down.


Oxford and Cambridge both have some of the most generous financial support options in the UK simply because a) they have to as the press is watching them and b) they have lots of wealthy alumni to donate money.

As others have said there is no reason at all why you can not go to Oxford (or any other university) when it comes to costs. The fees are exactly the same as any other institution, barring Scotland.

If you're from Scotland then £9000 will feel huge in comparison to paying nothing to go to Edinburgh, for example. However, the costs really aren't that much - you don't pay them upfront and you only pay back a proportion of your income. Take a look at SAAS for more information but it's likely that on a salary of say, £25,000 you will be paying back about £30 a month so it's little more than a bit of tax. You also need to take into consideration that whilst your fees are free in Scotland, you will likely get little by way of maintenance support from SAAS meaning your parents might have to support you there. It's also important to consider that should Scotland vote for independence then it's likely that the free education will stop because they simply will not be able to afford paying for the rest of Europe to be educated there (including those from the rest of the UK as it will then be a separate EU member state) when they only have the tax available from Scottish tax payers. Depending on how old you are, you could get to going to university and the cost situation will be totally different to now.

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