publication date: Aug 5, 2008
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author/source: Fiona Beckett
The enormous spending power of students is highlighted this week in the 2008 Nat West Student Living Index, an annual study which examines student spending habits.
According to the survey British students are set to spend a record £10.8 billion on living costs and accommodation over the coming academic year, up from last year’s £10.3bn. Of this: approximately £3.9 billion is spent on rent; £1.2 billion on supermarket food shopping; £864 million on going out and £489 million on books and course materials
To pay for it three-quarters of a million undergraduates (nearly half the UK student population - 42%) take part-time jobs, saying they couldn’t get by without working.
Apparently Portsmouth University students work the most number of hours per week (18.45) and also spend the fewest hours studying per week (17.95) - in sharp contrast to Edinburgh University students who spend an average of only 12 hours in a part-time job and at least 35 hours on academic work per week
Plymouth is revealed as the most cost-effective place to study, while Exeter is the most expensive, making Plymouth students on average £3,510 better off than Exeter undergraduates
The thing that strikes me about these figures, despite the size of the overall amount spent on food, is how little students actually spend on in the supermarket per week - about £21.48, Nat West estimates. Quite a bit less than the £25 quoted by the student accommodation company Unite in their last report. Granted another £15.22 is going on eating out but it suggests a good many of you may be living on cereal, beans and toast ;-)
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