How much will your university or college course cost?
The two types of cost you'll face in higher education are:
- tuition fees
- your accommodation and day-to-day living expenses
Tuition fees
Tuition fees help pay for the costs of running a university or college - salaries for teaching staff, maintaining the buildings and so on.
If you’re doing a full time course, this page tells you the maximum amount you’ll be charged for tuition fees. Exactly what you’ll have to pay depends on which university or college you go to, which course you do, and where in the UK you study.
For students who started a full-time course before September 2006, maximum tuition fees will also vary depending on personal circumstances.
If you started your course from September 2006
If your course started in or after September 2006 - or you haven’t started yet - the maximum amount you can be charged for tuition fees for 2008/2009 is £3,145. For 2007/2008, the maximum is £3,070.
If you started your course before September 2006
For students who started before September 2006 - and many who started in September 2006 after taking a gap year in 2005/2006 - the maximum contribution towards tuition fees is £1,255 in 2008/2009 and £1,225 in 2007/08.
Tuition fees for part-time students
There are no regulations stating how much universities can charge in tuition fees for part-time courses. Check with your university or college how much they charge - it’s also worth finding out how much the fees are likely to rise over the length of your course.
Accommodation and other living costs
There are a number of things to take into account when you’re working out your living costs. Your costs will be higher if you live away from home, and higher still if you live away from home and study in London.
Living costs for full-time students include:
- accommodation - this is likely to be your single biggest expense if you’re living away from home
- food
- household bills - gas, electricity, water rates, phone, TV licence, contents insurance (some of these will be covered by your rent in you live in halls of residence)
- clothes
- travel
- socialising
- leisure and sport
- study costs - such as books, materials and field trips for your course
The first step in drawing up a budget for student life is working out how much higher education will cost. You’ll need to consider tuition fees, accommodation and living costs.