If you want to pursue your studies in the UK and you are hampered by finances, you can look into some low tuition universities for international students. We know UK universities have very expensive tuition fees, but this doesn’t mean all their schools are expensive. There are the affordable ones with tuition fees for international students ranging from £7,000 to £10,000 per year. That’s affordable, you will agree with me! So I have taken time to research on these schools and find out their tuition fees. But before I do that, will like us to take a look at a breakdown of the cost of living in UK for students, admission and visa requirements.
The United Kingdom, made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an island nation in northwestern Europe. England – birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles – is home to the capital, London, a globally influential centre of finance and culture. England is also site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.
Cost of living in United Kingdom
The cost of living in UK for students varies and depends on factors like the spending habit of student and the city where the student resides. A budget of £700 to £1000 per month should be enough to take care of a student’s food, accommodation, transportation etc. Here’s the breakdown:
Food
If you cook your own food, try and budget in about £25 to £30 per week to purchase food supplies. You can of course be smart and savvy about this and save much more.
Telephone (landline)
BT has a base rate of £10/ month for just line rental so calls are charged on top of this so that would be £2.50 per week.
Telephone (mobile)
The cost of mobiles varies depending on the provider and tariff you are on. Prepaid is generally cheaper to control costs, but if you make a lot of calls a contract will start at £5/ week.
DSL / Internet
Most companies charge a base of £5/ week for standard DSL in the UK.
Bills
If you live in a house or apartment you will need to calculate water, heating and electricity into your budget – this can be anything from £10/week for all bills depending on the time of year.
Travel
If you live away from University you will need to include travel expenses in your budget. This can be anything from £10/ week, more if you live in London.
Study Materials
Books, notepads, paper, printer cartridges are all things you will need and you should budget about £7/ week for this.
Fun
It’s not all study when you come to the UK, there will be time for some fun so you need to think about the cost of this. A cinema ticket in the UK costs around £8, a pint of beer £3, a DVD rental around £3. These are all costs you will need to budget so set aside what you’ll need for fun!
Admission requirements
To study in the UK at the undergraduate level, applicant will have to present a good O’level or A ‘level result for admission. Remember, UK universities have country specific admission requirements, so you need to contact the university and get the right requirements. For students whose results is not good enough to fetch them admission into degree programs, foundation year is a good option. For master programs, a good undergraduate degree is usually required and for PhD, a good Masters result. Please contact your university for a program specific requirement.
Visa requirement
Once you have been given admission into a university, the next thing to do is to apply for visa. The requirements for visa vary from country to country, so you need to contact the consular of your country to find out country specific visa requirements. But these are the basic requirements:
- Details of your passport
- A recent photograph
- An unconditional offer of a place on a course offered by a licensed Tier 4 Sponsor, evidenced by a ‘Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies’ (CAS) form from your course provider (worth 30 points)
- Proof of adequate English language skills, demonstrated by passing one of the secure English language tests (SELT). You will not need to provide this if you’re from an English-speaking country such as the United States or have completed a qualification equivalent to a UK degree in an English-speaking country.
- Proof you have financial support throughout your stay in the UK (worth 10 points)
Proof of financial support can take the form of bank statements or a letter from your financial sponsor, showing you can cover your tuition fees, accommodation and living costs. You must prove that you have £1,015 (~US$1,230) per month for living costs if studying in the UK outside of London, and £1,265 (~US$1,540) a month for living costs if studying in London.
List of low tuition universities in UK
| University | Undergraduate tuition fees | Postgraduate tuition fees |
| Glyndwr University | £7,450 | £8,100 |
| The University of West London | £9,350 | £9,950 |
| Southampton Solent University | £9,785 | £10,300 |
| Leeds Trinity University | £9,300 | £8,500 |
| Leeds Metropolitan University | £9,500 | £10,100 |
| Canterbury Christ Church University | £9,710 | £10,510 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | £9,700 | £10,000 |
| Aberystwyth University | £9,750 | £10,750 |
| University of Bedfordshire | £9,600 | £9,600 |
| Queen Margaret University | £10,170 | £10,170 |
| Edinburg Napier University | £10,080 | £10,760 |
| Robert Gordon University | £9,900 | £10,000 |
| Royal Agriculture University | £9000 |
As you can see from the table above, these are the the universities in UK with low tuition fees for international students. You can contact them to get more information.
