Erm, so a really high amount of UK uni students are being bankrolled by their parents in 2025. Half of students rely on their parents’s help to pay for rent, according to NatWest. Yikes. Here are all the Russell Group unis ranked by how much money students there are getting from their parents in 2025. This is pretty alarming stuff.
Many of the UK’s most prestigious unis just-so-happen to be in really spenny places to live. Maintenance loans now barely cover the average rent in lots of cities with Russell Group unis. This explains why so many students at Russell Group unis are begging their parents to top up their income. It’s pretty alarming that students struggle to afford attending Russell Group unis without their parents handing out money. This makes it way harder for students who aren’t as privileged to go to these leading universities.
Oxbridge students are getting an above average amount of cash from parents. University of Oxford students get a whopping £936.20 per month from their parents, and Cambridge students are receiving an even bigger £1,142.30 per month. The cost of living is really high in both these places. Some University of Oxford students have even resorted to living in an old Sugababes tour bus. Really.
The London unis are also pretty high up on the list, which makes sense as rent is so expensive in the capital.
This data all comes from NatWest’s annual Student Living Index. The figures show the average amount of money students in each city with Russell Group unis said they received from their family per month in term time. Fewer students from Durham responded to NatWest’s survey than students from other cities, which might explain why the figure for Durham is so astronomically high (or perhaps the parents of Durham University students are just really minted).
So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by how much money students in that city get from their parents in 2025:
24. Queen’s University Belfast – £345.40 per month
23. University of Glasgow – £565.30 per month
Glasgow girlies making the most of Glasgow being a cheaper place to go out in
22. University of Edinburgh – £588.50 per month
21. University of Leeds – £594.00 per month
20. Newcastle University – £595.60 per month
19. University of Warwick – £619.30 per month
18. University of Southampton – £619.80 per month
17. University of Liverpool – £628.60 per month
16. University of Sheffield – £652.10 per month
15. University of Nottingham – £754.80 per month
14. University of Exeter – £658.20 per month
13. University of Manchester – £730.70 per month
12. University of York – £794.30 per month
11. Cardiff University – £869.40 per month
You may need to invoice your parents for a round of VKs in the club
10. University of Birmingham – £879.90 per month
=5. Imperial College London, King’s College London (KCL), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Queen Mary University of London and University College London (UCL) – £884.50 per month
4. University of Oxford – £936.20 per month
3. University of Bristol – £977.20 per month
2. University of Cambridge – £1,142.30 per month
1. Durham University – £1,890.00 per month
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