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Bangor is located on the coast of north Wales at the northern end of the Menai strait. The land rises up dramatically from the sea to form the mountains of Snowdonia, and nestled in between sea and sky is Bangor; the oldest city in Wales, and yet due to its large student population, the average age is one of the country’s youngest. If you’re considering studying in this unique cathedral city, you’ll be interested to know that the cost of living is ideally suited to your student budget. Read on to discover more.
Fees and funding in Bangor
As a Welsh institution, Bangor University charges a slightly lower tuition fee than its English counterparts. Not a huge amount less, but every little helps! Fees are capped at £9,250 per year for an undergraduate degree course (this will be rising to up to £ £9,535 from the 2025/26 academic year) and students typically take out a student loan from Student Finance to cover this.
Conveniently, Student Finance pays your uni directly at the start of the year, so all you have to do is organise your own accommodation and living expenses. You can access a second maintenance loan to help supplement your rent, transport, groceries and other university expenses. The amount you receive is based on your household income and a few other factors, and is worth up to roughly £10,000 per year, paid in several instalments.
Like the tuition fee loan, the maintenance loan is repayable once you have finished your course and started earning your own money. Payments begin when you are earning over the yearly threshold for your loan plan, which gives you a lot of financial security when getting started with your career. For new students on Plan 5, the amount you’ll need to earn is £25,000 a year. Repayment thresholds for other plans differ.
Bangor University is a well-funded uni, which offers a generous selection of scholarships open to both domestic and international students. These provide many options to subsidise the cost of your studies, and range in value up to the prestigious Vice-Chancellor Scholarship which is worth a whopping £10,000. Check out the uni's website for full information on eligibility and important dates.
Student accommodation in Bangor
Bangor itself has a population of only 17,000 people. Bangor University has around 10,000 enrolled students, so you don’t have to be a maths student to see that there must be plenty of student housing available in the city and surrounding area! Placement in the uni’s halls of residence is guaranteed to all first-year students, and these are in two student housing villages in the city centre and Upper Bangor.
St Mary’s Village is located in the centre of town and about a 15 minute walk to the main campus. It offers en-suite bedrooms, budget rooms, studio apartments and houses variously priced between £87 and £230 per week.
Bryn Eithin is a brand-new budget accommodation option within St Mary’s Village, available from September 2023. Rooms here have shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and are the cheapest option, with rooms costing as little as £87 per week.
Ffriddoedd Village is the larger of the two student villages. It’s five minutes’ walk from the main campus, so you’ll never need to be late for class. There are about 1,800 rooms on site, and most bedrooms have an ensuite bathroom, arranged in shared facility apartments of between six and eight students. Rooms cost from £95 to £165 per week.
Due to the extreme demand for student housing, rental prices in Bangor are astonishingly affordable. A studio apartment costs around £450 - £490 per month which is around 30% cheaper than in Swansea, a city known for its competitive student rent prices. A three-bedroom apartment costs on average £375 per person per month, with utilities bills coming in at only £45 per person, making Bangor one of the most student-friendly housing markets in the UK.
Cost of groceries in Bangor
Although a fairly small city, Bangor is surprisingly well serviced by supermarket and grocery store chains. Its streets are also home to many independent grocery stores, offering locally sourced ingredients at competitive prices, so you never know where you might find a bargain.
Common shopping items are priced on average:
- Milk (1l): £1.15
- Bread loaf: £0.77
- Rice (1kg): £1.38
- Eggs (12): £2.50
- Cheese (1kg): £7.08
- Chicken fillets (1kg): £7.98
- Apples (1kg): £2.62
- Potatoes (1kg): £0.93
The amount you spend on groceries will depend on your individual eating habits, but we’d recommend budgeting around £30 a week on food shopping. Bangor University provides a downloadable budget planner on their website.
Going out in Bangor
In terms of its nightlife, Bangor is known more for its pubs and restaurants than its bars and clubs. This being said, there are a small selection of venues open until around 3am on Fridays and Saturdays which cater to the large and lively student population which calls the city home. Student discounts and drinks deals are plentiful, and late-night fast food is inexpensive, at £5.75 for a burger van meal or kebab.
Drinks are notably cheap compared to other places in Wales and the UK, with the average cost of a pint of beer at an almost unbelievably low amount of £2.20. It’s easy to see why pubs are so popular here, and Bangor has plenty of them.
Eating out is also affordable on a student budget, with a meal at an inexpensive restaurant costing an average of only £13. With fresh seafood readily available, and a range of gastropubs, hotel kitchens and high-street restaurants to explore, you’re bound to find something to your taste.
Transport in Bangor
Bangor is an extremely walkable city, so you won’t need to take public transport nearly as often as you might in a larger town. Despite this, buses remain affordable at less than £60 per month for an unlimited pass, and using your student discount will reduce this amount by a further 30–35%.
The city is connected by rail to surrounding towns such as Llandudno to the north and Holyhead on Anglesey Island, and the bus services will take you swiftly south to Caernarfon and Porthmadog. Tickets are generally less than £10 if you purchase a 16-25 Rail Card which entitles you to 1/3 off your rail travel.
Other student expenses in Bangor
Bangor University is widely known for the quantity and quality of its student clubs and societies. Student reviewers frequently mention how important their participation in societies has been to their experience of living in Bangor, and you’ll have more than 150 to choose from. While these are generally not too expensive to join, you may end up needing some extra funds for equipment, activities or trips, depending on the particular club, so set aside some cash for this and get involved.
Your course might also require some extra materials such as books, art supplies or printing credits so plan ahead and factor this into your budgeting, especially around the end of term!
Overall, without considering tuition fees, we’d recommend budgeting around £700 a month studying in Bangor, depending on your accommodation and lifestyle.
