Can someone explain what a student oyster photo card is and how I use it in London?

Hi all,
I am moving to London for university in October and one of the last things on my list is to register for the student
oyster photo card. However I am slightly confused to what it actually does. I have rarely visited London so I'm not very knowledgable about travel cards or pay as you go fares etc. I am also getting a railcard which I believe you can link to it. Can anyone explain to me what discounts the Oyster card will give me?

Reply 1

Sinnoh

There's a yellow reader on the ticket gates at train stations and at the entrance on buses. You touch it against the reader and money is deducted from the card. You put money on to the card by using the machines at a train station. You can also choose to get a weekly or monthly pass, but it's worse value I think.

Alternatively, if you have a contactless card, you can just use that, it's the same fare as Oyster I think.

Reply 2

Nahaha

Whenever you get on a bus/train/tube you use your oyster. You get a steeply discounted rate for the bus (before you're 18 it's free), and I think about 10-20% off for train and tube. You tap it in at the station/getting on the bus instead of using a ticket or paying in cash (which you can't do on the bus in London).