Sending your child to university is an exciting milestone, but tuition fees, living costs, and hidden expenses can add up. Julia Barnes, a Senior Higher Education Adviser at Sevenoaks Schools, sets out the total cost of university, funding options, and practical tips to help you support your child.

How much will it cost?

Costs vary depending on whether your child pays ‘home fees’ or ‘international fees’, the location of the university, and their lifestyle.

Tuition fees

If your child’s a UK national who has lived in the UK their entire life, they’re likely to be classified as ‘home’ fee payers. If they’ve never lived in the UK, they’re likely to be ‘overseas’ fee payers.

• Home students pay £9,535 each year for most courses. Placement or study-abroad years are usually charged at around 15% of the standard fee.
• International students pay between £11,400 and £38,000 per year.

If your child applies to a Scottish university, the fees will be different:

• Scottish students pay £1,820 per year.
• Students from the rest of the UK pay £9,535.
• International students pay £30,000–£40,000.

Note: these figures are correct for the 2025/26 year of entry. Check the UKCISA website (link below) for full guidance on fee status.

Living costs

Your child’s main living costs will be their accommodation, bills, food, travel, books, phone, and social activities.

• Weekly average: £200–£250 per week (UCAS Student Lifestyle Report 2023).
• Monthly average: £1,142, with rent averaging £529 (higher in London).
• Yearly average: £11,000+ per year 
   

How to fund higher education

Student loans

If your child qualifies for home fees, they can apply to Student Finance England for:

• a tuition fee loan covering the full £9,535
• a maintenance loan to cover some living costs (it will rarely cover all of them) 

The maintenance loan your child can receive will depend on their household income and living arrangements. Students living away from home in London receive the highest amount.

• If your household income is under £25,000, they’re likely to receive maximum support (see the table below)
• If your household income is over £62,377, they’re likely to receive the minimum amount (£4,915 per year if living away from home).
  
   

Maximum maintenance loans for the 2025/26 academic year

Figures sourced from Gov.uk.

Repayment

Repayment is income-based. Once your child’s graduated, they won’t need to repay their loan until they’re earning over £25,000. The repayment will be taken directly from their salary (like a tax) as a percentage of the amount they earn above the threshold.

Part-time work

Part-time work will help your child to develop valuable skills and pay towards their living costs. Getting the balance right is important, though – if your child’s course has a lot of contact hours or is especially demanding, they may want to limit work to a few hours a week or during the holidays. 

Common student jobs include cafe and bar work, being a student ambassador, retail, and private tuition. 

Bursaries and scholarships

Unlike student loans, these don’t need to be repaid. 

• Bursaries and grants are often based on household income. Bursaries are awarded by universities, and grants are awarded by charities or trusts. Some courses provide bursaries to eligible students, for example some healthcare courses may qualify for an NHS Healthcare Bursary.
• Scholarships are usually based on academic, music, or sports excellence. They may be paid directly into your student’s bank account, or given to them as a discount (for example, 40% off accommodation, or even as vouchers for things like books). They can be funded by universities, private companies, individuals, or charities.
• If your child’s studying abroad as part of their degree, they can apply for a grant under the Turing Scheme, a sum of money to help with travel or other costs while they’re away. Like bursaries and scholarships, they don’t have to pay this back. 

Pro tip: Use Unifrog’s Special Opportunities tool to find grants and scholarships for your child. To find the tool, head to your parent account homepage, select ‘Log in as a student’, ‘All tools’, and then ‘Special opportunities’. 
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How to budget for university  
 

• Work out how much financial support you can offer and discuss it with your child.
• Create a budget together that includes tuition, rent, bills, food, and travel.
• Consider their study location: smaller towns can mean lower living costs.

Pro tip: With your child, use Unifrog’s UK Universities tool to create a shortlist. You can then apply filters to rank the courses by things like ‘fees’ and ‘rent’:
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Sample monthly budget (Source: Save the Student)

Is it worth the cost?

University could be worth the cost if:

• Your child wants a career that requires a university degree, like dentistry or architecture (though it’s becoming increasingly difficult to secure graduate roles).
• They’re passionate about a specific subject and want to learn as much as possible about it.
• They don’t know what they want to do yet. A subject like business or English could help them to keep their options open.
• They want to earn a high salary. Some research suggests that UK graduates earn significantly more over their lifetimes than non-graduates, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimating a net gain of £280,000 for men and £190,000 for women. However, University College London recently found that this may be partially driven by graduates working more hours, rather than just higher hourly pay.
• They want to enjoy the social aspects of university life (though it’s worth keeping in mind that some apprenticeship providers provide social initiatives like buddy schemes and meetups). 
   

Some questions to discuss with your child:
 

• Why do you want to go to university?
• Is your aim to earn a higher salary?
• Do you want to study a subject in greater detail?
• Do you need a university degree for a specific job?
• Is it about growing up and living independently?

An alternative: degree apprenticeships

Many career paths, including some of the more traditional ones like law, can now be accessed with a degree apprenticeship. 

If your child does a UK degree apprenticeship:

• university tuition fees will be paid by the employer
• your child will be paid a salary
• they’ll have no student debt

However, your child won’t be provided with accommodation and may need to live independently. Degree apprenticeships can also be very competitive. 

Your child can apply for a degree apprenticeship alongside their UCAS application to keep options open. 
 

A timeline for you and your child 

• Spring and summer of Year 12: record examples of activities and skills for the personal statement, do extracurricular reading, research universities, and attend open days
• Autumn of Year 13: research tuition fees, bursaries, grants, and scholarships
• January of Year 13: UCAS application deadline (October for Oxford, Cambridge, medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine)
• March onwards: apply for student finance
• Spring/summer: decide on firm and insurance choices and research accommodation costs
• Summer: finalise accommodation and budget

Written by Julia Barnes
Senior Higher Education Adviser and US Counsellor, Sevenoaks School
Times Higher Education Accredited Counsellor
jmb@sevenoaksschool.org 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-barnes-37946663/