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| University students will spend ?34m on rent this year |
CAMBRIDGE students spend less on alcohol but more on bills than students elsewhere in Britain, according to a new survey.
Students in the city are set to spend more than ?83 million on rent and term-time expenses over the next academic year, the Royal Bank of Scotland's Student Living Index reveals.
They will fork out around ?34 million on rent, ?8 million on supermarket shopping, ?6 million on going out, over ?2 million on books and course materials, and ?2 million on music and CDs.
But more than two in five still underestimate the weekly cost of living expenses and rent.
Cambridge is in the bottom half of the index - which ranks 24 of Britain's major university towns in terms of cost-effectiveness by plotting average student expenditure on living and housing costs against income from term-time employment - at 18th place.
This could be because a low percentage of students take term-time employment. Less than a third will take a part-time job to help cover term-time living costs. In total, they expect to earn around ?10 million over the next academic year, and on average, will work 13 hours a week - just below the national average of 16 hours.
Cambridge has fallen from 13th place in 2004, which could in part be explained by a rise in average weekly rental costs in Cambridge, from ?69 in 2004 to ?76 in 2005.
Cambridge's students taking term-time jobs earn ?78 per week, below the UK average of ?90, but this may be because they earn a lower hourly rate (?5.52 compared with a UK average of ?6.02). The most popular term-time jobs are bar and restaurant work.
Anne McGillivray, head of student banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "Today (Monday, 01 August)'s students face a range of financial hurdles.
Two fifths underestimate the amount they need to spend on rent and living costs. The key to managing your finances effectively is forward-planning and setting and sticking to a realistic budget." |
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