More students planning to live at home for uni over ‘insane’ living costs

However, fellow student Jessica, who is also going to study at Liverpool John Moores University, feels she will miss out.

She says she would have loved to live on campus and enjoy student life, but the price of renting is “ridiculous” and “insane”.

“I have a part-time job as everything is so expensive, and then commuting is going to kill a lot of my free time as well,” she says.

“It is a bit sad really when you think about it.”

But she is pleased that staying at home means she will still be able to have her mum and dad’s cooked dinners.

Earlier this year, BBC News followed the daily journey of one first-year student who said she was saving over £7,000 on accommodation by commuting 90 minutes into Manchester each day from home.

The figures were recorded on results day and are expected to rise over the coming month as more students accept university places through clearing.

A record number of UK 18-year-olds have been accepted into university this year.

But student rents have risen sharply in recent years, alongside other living costs.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) said last year that students needed £61,000 over the course of a three-year degree in order to have a “minimum socially acceptable standard of living” – and that’s excluding tuition fees.

Its report found that in 2024 the cost of renting in university-owned accommodation ranged from £108 per week, for 40 to 44-week contracts in Northern Ireland, to £338 a week for the shortest contracts in London, where rent makes up nearly half (46%) of students’ costs.

In most areas it was between £140 and £180 a week, with private halls usually being more expensive.

Many students are eligible for a maintenance loan, which can help with the cost of accommodation, but the average annual price of a room on campus is increasing much faster, according to some student unions.

Hepi says most young full-time students now work in paid employment during term time to make up the difference between their maintenance loan income and the cost of living.