Your Association President has been working on the affordability of University accommodation. As part of this we’ve launched our Accommodation Survey, for students who currently or who have previously lived in Halls, so we can hear your experiences of living in Halls. Our research has shown us that compared to other universities, we have very high accommodation fees for both undergraduates and postgraduates, and we want to gather your views so we can advocate for you with the University.
As part of our initial research, we found that St Andrews has the highest average undergraduate accommodation fees in Scotland, at £245.58 per week. Our accommodation fees for postgrads are also the highest in Scotland (when we assume that contracts in Edinburgh are for 50 weeks), with the average postgraduate accommodation fee in St Andrews being £227.27 per week. Take a look at Figure 1 and 2 below to see how we compare.
Figure 1. Average undergraduate accommodation fees per week (Scotland).
Figure 2. Average postgraduate accommodation fees per week (Scotland).
We also compared our average accommodation fees with those at some English universities, and we found that our fees are high both for undergraduates and postgraduates. For undergraduates, we had the highest average fees, and for postgraduates, only Warwick had higher average fees than us. Take a look at Figure 3 and 4 to see the comparison.
Figure 3. Average undergraduate accommodation fees (England & St Andrews).
Figure 4. Average postgraduate accommodation fees (England & St Andrews).
Finally, we investigated how affordable the different room types in St Andrews are relative to student loans. There are no rooms which are affordable for students on the minimum undergraduate SAAS loan, and all rooms are affordable for students with the minimum UKRI PhD stipend. However, as you’ll see from the charts below, it’s a mixed bag for students depending on level of study and whether you are SAAS or Student Finance England funded.
Figure 5. Percentage of room types affordable with maximum Student Finance England undergraduate maintenance loan.
Figure 6. Percentage of room types affordable with minimum SAAS undergraduate maintenance loan.
Figure 7. Percentage of room types affordable with the maximum SAAS undergraduate maintenance loan.
Figure 8. Percentage of room types affordable with maximum SAAS postgraduate loan.
This shows us that parents are expected to contribute in order for students to be able to afford to live in St Andrews, or the shortfall will otherwise have to be made up through paid work, or scholarships and bursaries from the University or other non-government sources. Accommodation fees at St Andrews are also very high relative to others in the sector, making this even more unsustainable.
If you want to make your voice heard, no matter your experiences when living in Halls, fill out the Accommodation Survey.