University of St Andrews

please i need answers

Hi everyone, St Andrews is my first choice this year for psychology and I really want to get in. however my biggest concern is the expenses. How epensive is St Andrews if you are cooking your own meals and buying from Aldi for instance? Can somenone give me an estimate amount for per week? And also for second year, how much are rents for student flats, i dont mind walking or cycling or taking the bus whatsoever, can someone give me an estimate weekly rent? These are really important as i am an international student and money will be a really big issue for me.

Reply 1

DJKL

Original post by ayten63

Re halls catered/non catered, see below:

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/ug/ugfees2018/

Re room in flat I would budget £475-£600 per month, you may get cheaper but not much, and if flat rent wanted re second year you need to be sorting /finding early, say February to take occupation late August/September as competition can be keen. Sharing with more people in a bigger house may work out a little cheaper per person, but rounding everyone up early to sign up is likely more difficult. Also budget for renting for 12 months, some landlords do shorter but a fair few are 12 month lets.

Cannot be more accurate, my children finished in St Andrews in 2016, my son in 2013/2014 (final year) was paying £395 per month plus bills re his room in a two bed flat in Boase Avenue (it was a cheap flat at the time) my daughter was paying nearer £490 pm plus bills in her final year in 2015/2016 .

Re living costs/books/travel/entertainment/food, expect depends how frugal you are. My son lived pretty cheaply but he is a good cook from raw materials, my daughter was more expensive as far more meal deals/ prepacked food. I would budget at least £350 per month, possibly nearer £400 to cover everything including share of bills.

From what I can see pretty busy social life, a lot of which revolving around parties, certainly my son and his friends did a fair bit of drinking as evidenced once visiting him the night after a party!!!!

University of St Andrews

Reply 2

MinnieD

Hi! Im currently in my fourth year studying St Andrews :smile:

I'm not going to lie to you - St Andrews is expensive. However, this is my third year living in Albany Park, which is the cheapest accommodation there is. Unfortunately they're knocking it down and the halls they build are likely to be slightly more expensive than they are now BUT Andrew Melville is a similar price once you take into account the fact that you won't need to buy food as it is catered. Last year, I lived in a flat on Chamberlain Street (about a 15 minute walk from the centre of town). Some people would say this is "miles out" but they are crazy. I paid £395 a month for it and bills were about £40 a month each. Also, it was pretty lovely too! Huge garden, long driveway, big bedrooms, modern kitchen, etc. However, it was quite a find! There are definitely many cheaper houses further out by Morrisons but some people aren't willing to walk that far (about 30 mins). It is dog eat dog when it comes to looking for flats in St Andrews - you HAVE to be on the ball and also 2 beds are much easier to find as they don't require a HMO licence. Another thing to consider is living in Dundee, which some people do as it is MUCH cheaper and MUCH easier to find somewhere! The bus from Dundee is about 25 minutes and about £3 something each way but you can get bus passes that may work out cheaper depending on how often you'll be travelling in.

With regards to living costs, it is just as expensive food-wise as anywhere else. We have an Aldi, which you can't really beat on price! You can easily feed yourself on £20 a week but don't forget to budget for going out, alcohol for pres, toiletries, train tickets home, gifts, stationary, etc. I budget about £60 a week and I'm pretty ok although it is very easy to spend a lot more - I am very organised with my money!! Also, another thing about St Andrews is that there isn't many places to go out and the places we have (mainly the union and the Vic) are often very cheap or free entry! Drink prices are always pretty cheap as there is no student night/every night is student night! I can easily get drunk at pres, get free entry and maybe have like one shot... very often don't spend more than £5 (or £10 if I go all out) haha! We also have a free night bus that goes to all the halls and down Lamond Drive where a lot of students live so no need for taxis either (although a taxi would be max £5). In cities you can easily spend £30 on a night out and if you do this regularly, as many students do, you can see how this easily adds up!

Hope this helps!

Reply 3

Lochender

Its funny how everyone thinks St Andrews is a ridiculously expensive place to live yet i know that a lot of my friends who were studying in other universities were paying an awful lot more than I was for their first year accommodation
as far as living prices go as long as you are prepared to walk the 15-20 minutes into town then things are alright - no bus fares like city students have.
everything is pretty central and the town is based around its students so most things are relatively cheap. although some places are geared toward tourists and can be extortionate but you will work out which those are from the outside