UK Cost of Living Calculator
Build a monthly and yearly student budget for studying in the UK, and see where the money goes.
Fill in what each line costs where you are studying. The calculator totals your month, multiplies it out over a year, and shows what is left once your income is counted. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Where to get the figures#
- Rent is the number that decides the budget, and it splits the country in two: London against everywhere else. Take it from the accommodation portal for your university or a local letting site, not from a national average.
- Bills may already be included in university halls and are usually separate in a private let. Check which before you compare two rents.
- Council tax: full-time students are generally exempt, but the exemption has to be claimed, and a house with a non-student in it may still be charged.
- Transport depends entirely on whether you can walk to campus. Where you cannot, check the student season ticket rather than single fares.
Costs that are not monthly#
Some of the biggest numbers are not part of a monthly budget at all, so keep them separate: tuition fees, the visa application and its healthcare surcharge, your flight, a deposit and the first month up front, and setting up a room. Budget for those once, then use this calculator for the months that follow.
Why it starts empty#
Rents and bills differ so much between cities, and move so quickly, that a figure filled in for you would be wrong more often than right. The arithmetic is the part worth automating; the numbers should be yours.