How much should I have saved for uni??
Hello! I’m currently a year 12 looking to start uni in September 2025. As I’ve been employed for a few months, I’ve been putting around £50/£100 into a savings account for uni each payday. How much would you say is a good amount to have saved for use when I actually go to university? For context, my parents are covering my rent costs for the first year and I’ll be taking out a maintenance loan (£4,767) + working a part time job whilst studying. Thank you!
Original post by departmental-lab
Hello! I’m currently a year 12 looking to start uni in September 2025. As I’ve been employed for a few months, I’ve been putting around £50/£100 into a savings account for uni each payday. How much would you say is a good amount to have saved for use when I actually go to university? For context, my parents are covering my rent costs for the first year and I’ll be taking out a maintenance loan (£4,767) + working a part time job whilst studying. Thank you!
You should be able to manage easily on your maintenance loan in the first year if your parents are covering your rent. You might run in to trouble in years 2 and 3 if your not going to get parental help as your rent could be anything between £5k and £9k per year. Most unis have a cost of living page on their websites so I'd recommend you have a look at these before deciding where to apply.
Try to have at least £2,500 saved.
Original post by departmental-lab
Hello! I’m currently a year 12 looking to start uni in September 2025. As I’ve been employed for a few months, I’ve been putting around £50/£100 into a savings account for uni each payday. How much would you say is a good amount to have saved for use when I actually go to university? For context, my parents are covering my rent costs for the first year and I’ll be taking out a maintenance loan (£4,767) + working a part time job whilst studying. Thank you!
Hi there!
The cost of living is a hot topic at the moment but it sounds like you're planning ahead already which is great!
I currently have my loan come into one bank account and then each week I "pay" myself x amount to live off for the week. I find this a great way to make sure I don't go over budget and anything left over at the end of the week goes into a pot to go towards savings or a day out!
I have linked our cost of living page here which details roughly how much it costs to be a student and the sort of costs to expect.
I hope this helps!
Rebecca, UCLan 4th Year
Save what you can. You always get a part time job if need be.
Original post by departmental-lab
Hello! I’m currently a year 12 looking to start uni in September 2025. As I’ve been employed for a few months, I’ve been putting around £50/£100 into a savings account for uni each payday. How much would you say is a good amount to have saved for use when I actually go to university? For context, my parents are covering my rent costs for the first year and I’ll be taking out a maintenance loan (£4,767) + working a part time job whilst studying. Thank you!
Theres no set amount that you should have saved. But every little helps.
If you carry on working your part time job, and do extra hours over the summer etc, then you should have saved up quite a bit.
Hey, @departmental-lab!
As others have said, there's really no exact amount - when I headed off to uni, I had about £2000-ish saved from part-time work during sixth form, and then took out the full maintenance loan and work during uni to cover the rest of my costs.
Having your first year rental costs covered by your parents gives you a great head start, especially since rent is by far the biggest expense for students. As long as you budget sensibly, you should be able to build up a good amount of savings between now and the end of your first year to rely on going forward.
Do you know whereabouts you're planning to go? Costs can differ pretty dramatically between UK cities, so checking out the cost of living in your university's town/city might help you decide on a savings goal that you feel comfortable with.
Eve (Kingston Rep).
As others have said, there's really no exact amount - when I headed off to uni, I had about £2000-ish saved from part-time work during sixth form, and then took out the full maintenance loan and work during uni to cover the rest of my costs.
Having your first year rental costs covered by your parents gives you a great head start, especially since rent is by far the biggest expense for students. As long as you budget sensibly, you should be able to build up a good amount of savings between now and the end of your first year to rely on going forward.
Do you know whereabouts you're planning to go? Costs can differ pretty dramatically between UK cities, so checking out the cost of living in your university's town/city might help you decide on a savings goal that you feel comfortable with.
Eve (Kingston Rep).
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