If you are serious about pursuing your studies in the United Kingdom, but you don’t have the resources to do that, you can consider applying to some affordable or low tuition universities in UK. We know how expensive UK universities are, but that doesn’t mean, they don’t have affordable universities there. So, in today’s post, we are going to look at some low tuition universities in UK for international students where the tuition fees ranges from £7,000 to £10,000 per year. If this is still too high for you, please consider other low tuition universities in some parts of Europe, like Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, Latvia etc. In those countries, tuition fees usually range from 2000 Euro to 7000 Euro per year.
So let’s now look at some low tuition universities in the United Kingdom, but before I do that, I will like to talk about other things like the cost of living, admission, visa requirements and how to apply for admission to universities over there.
The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It 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.
Read also: Comprehensive List of Low tuition Universities in Canada and How to Obtain a Canadian Study Visa
Cost of living in UK for students
Cost of living is the amount of money an individual needs to take care of his/living expenses. In the United Kingdom, the cost of living is affordable. For expenses such as feeding, accommodation, transportation, buying of books, an individual will need between £1000 to £1200 per month. Note that this amount may vary depending on the individuals spending habit and city of residence. Let’s briefly look at 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 network 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
If you live in an apartment you will need to calculate water, heating and electricity into your budget – this can start from £10/week for all bills depending on the time of year.
Accommodation
In 2017, the average student rent came to £125 per week, or £535 a month, however, students in London can expect to pay an average of £182 a week, or £640 a month.
Now that we have seen what the cost of living look like in the UK for students let’s take a look at the admission requirements to study for undergraduate and graduate programs.
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.
How to apply for admission into a UK university
All Uk universities accept online application. If you are applying for an undergraduate or foundation program you must apply through UKEAS. They will help you apply for admission into any program of your choice. For masters and PhD programs, you can apply yourself by contacting the university offering your program and submitting an online application. Once your application is approved or successful , a conditional/unconditional offer will be sent to you so you can start the visa processing.
Visa requirements for study in UK
Once you have received an unconditional offer, 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.
Let’s now look at some of the low tuition universities in the UK for international students.
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 |
These tuition fees might be high for some people. If this is the case with you, I will advice that you consider other countries with low tuition universities for international students.
