At Oxford Brookes we’re always trying to find ways to help you with costs.
Your living expenses will depend on a variety of things, including your accommodation choices and lifestyle.
These figures take into account the amount of money that most students spend on:
Based on the range cost for a self-catered room in University halls of residence. Includes the cost of heat and water. You also have the option to pay your hall fees in instalments. For specific prices and more information, see our Accommodation pages.
Accommodation in a shared house in Oxford costs on average £138 per week plus utility bills, such as water, gas and electricity. Most students opt to stay in halls for their first year and then choose to move to a shared house for the remaining years of their course.
Costs are dependent on your contract. To save costs you could consider choosing a SIM-only plan - or switch when your contract ends.
Refurbished mobile phones are a budget-friendly alternative if you need to replace your phone.
To save money, consider doing your weekly shop with your flatmates as bulk items are often cheaper. Supermarket loyalty cards are a good way to access discounts and offers.
Such as toiletries, cleaning products, laundry.
Don’t forget to budget for course books and printing, stationery and other equipment. You can cut costs by buying second-hand books. And remember to ask if there are student discounts when buying IT equipment.
Depending on your lifestyle and living arrangements, you may need to add to your budget for items such as:
Managing your money can seem like a challenging task. However, there is lots of free information available to support you in creating your weekly budget.
Broadcaster Martin Lewis at Money Saving Expert has a helpful student budgeting planner that includes a free downloadable template to manage your weekly finances.
One of the perks to being a student is the range of discounts with top brands and local services to support your weekly purchases. You can also visit the Student Friendly Oxford pages for details of local discounts.
The University’s Student Money Advice team (studentmoneyadvice@brookes.ac.uk) can support you in managing your money to make it go further, and with advice about funding your studies.
Whether you’re in halls of residence or private accommodation, there are ways to manage your money.
When you move into private, rented student accommodation you will need to pay energy bills. These will include electricity, gas and water and are usually paid on either a monthly, 3-monthly or 6-monthly basis, depending on the arrangements you have made with your utilities providers.
Energy bills have increased significantly for everyone recently, so it’s important that you are aware of the various cost-saving information that is available.
Save the Student has put together a useful article called ‘Student bills - set-up, compare and split’.
If you stay in halls of residence, rent packages include your utility bills, contents insurance and travel on the Oxford Brookes buses or BROOKESbus - see the Travel section for more information.
You may notice that food prices have risen since the global pandemic but don’t worry - there are ways to save money.
Here are our top tips to help you make your money go further:
In our catering outlets on our Oxford campuses we are offering 50% off selected food 1 hour before closing, 7 days a week.
Students from Oxford Brookes Business School and the Centre for Nutrition and Health collaborated with Brookes Union on a campaign to reduce food waste, with an Instagram competition called @LoveFoodLeftovers. Students were challenged to make a short food recipe video using leftovers to help you save money and use up your leftovers!
Oxford is a city that’s easy to get around. You can enjoy what Oxford has to offer by foot, bike or public transport.
BROOKESkey provides you with access to a range of local travel products and services and is available to Oxford Brookes students and staff.
For more resources and useful information about travel in and around Oxford, visit the Student Travel Offers page.
University life involves lots of work but plenty of play too!
During your time at Oxford Brookes you will meet new people and make lifelong friendships. Fun activities with friends can cost money but there are plenty of free or low-cost things you can do, from live music and exhibitions to walks around some of the university parks and picnics by the river.
Daily Info is a local website that lists all of the exciting events and activities happening across Oxford. The good news is that many of these activities are free to attend. Get out and about, and explore what the city has to offer.
We recently launched support measures to help students with cost of living pressures. This includes an increased budget for our Financial Aid packages, and plans to protect students in halls of residence from the rising costs of utilities.
That’s not all, to help with costs, when you’re on campus you’ll find:
