Thinking about your living costs is an important part of planning for university life. The cost of living can vary greatly depending on your lifestyle, budget and spending habits. To help, here we provide a summary of indicative costs, to be used as a guide only.
Single students
This is an estimate of monthly living costs to use as a guide.
- Accommodation: £570-£1400
- Food: £300-£400
- Travel: £39-£85
- General expenses*: £300-£400
* General expenses may include social and leisure activities, mobile phone contracts, laundry and clothing, toiletries, books and equipment for your course.
See below for additional guidance.
Couples and families
If your partner or family are going to be joining you at the University, you should also consider expenses such as the additional costs of accommodation, food and childcare.
This is an estimate of monthly living costs to use as a guide, including accommodation, but excluding childcare:
- Couple: £2750 (accommodation: £1100-£1400)
- Couple with one child: £3000 (accommodation: £1200-£1800)
- Couple with two children: £3500 (accommodation: £1400-£1800)
- Couple with three children: £4000 (accommodation: £2000-£2400)
Additional guidance
Food
Weekly food for one person estimate: £75-£100.
For those based at the Cranfield campus, there is a small shop located on campus and large supermarkets in Milton Keynes and Bedford. Supermarket prices will generally be cheaper than smaller stores but this can vary from store to store.
If you are studying at Shrivenham, there are supermarkets a short distance from the campus in the villages of Shrivenham and Watchfield, and in nearby Swindon. All major supermarkets have a home delivery service.
Clothing and laundry
If you do not have a washing machine you will need to budget for visiting a launderette. Please note most on campus accommodation does not include a washing machine but launderettes are available.
Weekly launderette for one person: £5-£8
Winter clothing estimate for one person: £350-£450
If you live in a country with a warmer climate than the UK, you may wish to bring additional clothing for the winter months.
Transport
Students living off campus will need to budget for travel costs to the campus each day, whether you are running your own car or using public transport. If you plan to use a bus service regularly, you can save money by purchasing a weekly or monthly ticket. At Cranfield there is the Uno, a bus service for students living off campus in the Bedford and Milton Keynes areas.
At Shrivenham, the number 66 bus running from Swindon to Shrivenham, then onto Oxford, costs on average £3-£4.
Further information about transport links in and around Cranfield and Shrivenham can be found on their respective web pages.
Mobile phone and internet
Make sure you find the best package available as a student, to keep your mobile phone bill down. If you are an international student, you may find it cheaper to get a UK phone number. You may choose to use a mobile phone either on a 'pay as you go' basis or through a monthly contract.
If you live off campus, you will likely need to budget for internet facilities. The costs of internet facilities vary, so it is a good idea to compare prices before you choose which company to use.
Television
Annual TV licence fee: £174.50
If you are going to watch live TV or BBC iPlayer on your mobile device, PC or television, you are required by law to have a television licence.
Council tax
If you are living in private, rented accommodation, you may have to pay council tax, a charge that each local government makes for services to the community, such as policing and fire services, road and street lighting, rubbish collection and park maintenance. Households where everyone's a full-time student do not have to pay Council Tax. To find out if you have to pay council tax, please visit the UK Government website.
Alternatively, the Student Wellbeing and Disability Support team will be able to assist you with council tax enquiries.
Household Bills
If you are living in private, rented accommodation, you may have to pay additional utility charges such as water, gas and electric. Check your tenancy agreement to see what is included in your accommodation fees. Charges will vary depending on how many people live in the property.
