Belfast is the fifth most affordable city for students in the UK, according to new research by Ulster Bank.
The bank’s Student Living Index measures local students with those in cities across the nation, in terms of income, expenditure, how happy they are with the university and how the pandemic impacted their studies this year.
Monthly rents in Northern Ireland appeared to be around 57% lower than the UK average (£437.40 vs £251.50)
The results reveal that students in Manchester are enjoying the most value for money, overtaking Cardiff which topped the bill in 2019. The cost of living for students across the UK has dropped by 1% since the 2019 survey results were published.
Those studying in Belfast can expect to spend an average of £28 on alcohol a month – around 40% of what is spent monthly on groceries. They manage to pack this spending into the 23.7 hours a month that they spend socialising, less than the 29.3 UK average and well behind Durham students’ 43.3 hours.
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Belfast students recorded the highest number of hours spent on part-time work, on average working 21.7 hours per month alongside their degree. Two-thirds of students here however don’t have a part-time job.
Perhaps in correlation with more working hours, Belfast students were found to spend the least amount of monthly hours studying at home with an average of 27.7 hours, less than half the amount of time students at Cambridge were recording.
The survey showed that despite a lower cost of living in NI’s capital, 25% of students in Belfast feel stressed about managing their finances, scoring 7% higher than the UK average.
Even with a higher number of hours spent at part-time jobs, the monthly income of local undergrads fell below the UK average by almost £89. Contributions from friends and family here was also lower than the UK average by around £34 each month and almost half of what students at Oxford can expect to receive towards the cost of living.
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The Student Living Index also surveyed students about how Covid-19 has impacted on their university experience. Across the UK, one in four students thought the pandemic has had a negative effect on their ability to achieve their degree qualification with Plymouth (39%) and Sheffield (35%) students feeling most affected.
Belfast students have ranked their quality of online education as being above the UK average but below average when it comes to feeling supported by their university since face-to-face classes and lectures were suspended. Over two thirds of students were offered either online courses or counselling to help support them during the crisis.
Terry Robb, head of personal banking at Ulster Bank, said: “It’s troubling to see one in four students here feel stressed when it comes to money management so we want to work with local universities to address this issue. We know that better money health leads to better mental and physical health so it’s important students here feel supported.”
In 2018, the Student Living Index reported that Belfast was the sixth most expensive UK city for students and NatWest's own Student Living Index found that Belfast seemed to be the most expensive for a pint, spirit mixer, coffee and car costs, with one of the highest spends on eating out. However, rents here have always remained comparatively low.
For more information on Ulster Bank’s student account, visit https://digital.ulsterbank.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/student-account.html
