King’s College London (KCL) has emerged as the most most expensive university in the UK to be a student, with undergraduates racking up total costs of almost £29,500 each year.
With A-level results day looming, and university places expected to be snapped up in a Ucas Clearing scramble, students are expected to scrutinise both the quality of their degree and the cost of studying it more than ever.
As the costs associated with university rise, comparison site Gocompare has put together an interactive rankings table, Degree of Value, to allow A-level students to pre-determine the total cost of key factors associated with studying a specific course at a particular university.
The table also enables young students to compare two universities that offer the same course to see if cost is a factor in the decision over which one to attend.
The UK’s most expensive universities, per year:
The research has taken into consideration the factors of tuition fees, halls, travel costs, socialising costs, and how much students can expect to spend on books and food each academic year.
Using the publicly available information from university websites and the local facilities, Gocompare has even looked at lesser-considered costs such as gym, clothing, and even laundry, allowing students to break costs down monthly and annually.
In contrast, Ulster University is the UK’s cheapest. Studying at the Northern Irish institution will only set students back 50 per cent of the total KCL fee - £14,260 - and less than half the price for halls accommodation.
View the full breakdown:
Out of the two most prestigious universities in the UK, Cambridge is cheaper than Oxford at a total of £21,893. Oxford comes in at £23,299 when totalling up the likes of accommodation, tuition, and social life.
Explaining to the Independent why the Gocompare team moved to put Degree of Value together in the run up to A-level results day on 18 August, a spokesperson said: “Back in May, it was announced that, as a part of a drive to improve the level of teaching, UK universities were given the incentive of being able to charge higher fees if they met targets.
“With this in mind and with the cost of university have risen dramatically in the last decade anyway, we have produced a piece that enables prospective university students to pre-determine precisely how much a particular course at a certain institution will set them back over the course of a year.
“This is great for people who will be taking up their places once results are announced, as well as for those who will find themselves going through Ucas Clearing this month.”
