Warwick University: value for money?

Warwick University has been ranked as the seventh Guardian Top 20 university with the overall lowest living costs, following a survey commissioned by online cash payment provider Ukash.

The investigation compares the annual cost of living at each of the twenty highest-ranked universities in the Guardian’s university league table 2014, in which Warwick was placed tenth.

The study considered factors such as the cost of car insurance, rent payments, the cost of a pint at each respective Students’ Union (SU) and the average cost of tuition.

The list was topped by Scottish universities Edinburgh Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh and St Andrews, whose free tuition for Scottish students brought the average cost of annual tuition fees down to less than £5,500 each.

The University of Warwick placed seventh in the study with a total cost of just under £14,000, behind both the University of East Anglia and the nearby University of Birmingham.

Third-year Maths student Stella Moon told the Boar that she was “not surprised that the London universities are very expensive”.

Ms Moon also suggested that food outlets on Warwick campus could be cheaper, despite Warwick SU’s ranking as the joint-seventh cheapest for a pint of lager, stating: “Xananas is quite expensive and drinks can be really expensive at the Duck.”

Second-year Economics student Phillip Stoneman commented on some of the survey’s omissions: “There’s no comparison of public transport rates, which is strange as one would assume that not all students would have a car.”

Mr Stoneman went on to say: “My biggest irk is that the survey assumes that you have gym membership and car insurance, whereas the data itself would be better used in comparing certain facets.”

The University of Kent was placed fourth, aided by its more flexible tuition fees from which Ukash calculates an average fee of £5,595.

The bottom of the table was dominated by London universities, with London School of Economics having the most expensive overall price tag of just under £20,000.

It is followed by University College London and Imperial College London, which cost around £18,000 each.

The other universities in the list are also in England and charge £9,000 per year.

In a press release regarding the study, Miranda McLean, marketing director at Ukash, commented on the results.

“We produced this cost comparison study for students who want to go to a top university but also don’t want it to cost the earth.

“We were surprised to find such staggering differences in costs, with factors such as car insurance, rent and tuition fees varying greatly depending on where you study.”

“We were surprised to find such differences in costs.” Miranda McLean

The complete list of items factored into the cost of living by Ukash is as follows: a hoody from the SU; car insurance for a 2010 Ford Fiesta in the local area; annual gym membership on campus or nearby; three pints of the cheapest lager available at each SU every week; the total cost of entry to two SU events per month; the total cost of ordering two small pizzas from a local vendor found on Just-Eat each month; contents insurance; tuition fees; average rent for a room in a four bedroom house in a typical nearby student housing area.

The total cost of these items for Warwick University was calculated at £13,930.25.

A full breakdown of the figures in the report is available here.