Located on the coast of Wales, Aberystwyth offers students coastal living, the beautiful Welsh countryside, easy access to other Welsh towns, and a surprisingly affordable cost of living. If you’re considering applying to university here but not sure where to start with your budgeting, our guide to the cost of living in this city is just what you need to get an idea of how much you can expect everything to cost.
If you’re a Home student, then courses will typically be charged in line with the government cap, which is £9,250 per year (this will be rising to up to £ £9,535 from the 2025/26 academic year). This sounds like an overwhelming amount of money, but don’t worry! Most Home students can get a loan from the student loan company for their nation to cover the entire cost. This money is paid directly to your university, so it takes all the stress away.
As well as this, you’ll get a maintenance loan. The amount you get for this loan is based on your family’s household income, and it’s intended to help cover your rent, food and other expenses during your studies.
Taking out loans might sound scary, but fortunately these loans are offered on rather generous terms. You won’t have to pay anything back until after you’ve graduated, and even then you’ll only repay if you’re earning more than the repayment threshold for your loan plan.
As well as the government support, universities offer a lot of scholarships and bursaries to help students through their studies. These awards don’t usually need to be paid back. At the University of Aberystwyth, there are a range of scholarships and bursaries including ones for high achieving students, students from lower-income families, student athletes and student musicians. Always check the uni’s website for the most up-to-date awards available and their eligibility criteria.
In your first year, you’ll probably be living in university halls, which is a great way to meet and make friends with fellow students. At the University of Aberystwyth, all your utility bills are included in your rent, as is security, maintenance and even a gym membership.
Rooms in the university’s halls start from £114 per week and go up to £174 per week for a room in a self-catered flat. Studio rooms are priced at £192 per week. There’s also an option to have a catered room for £205, which comes with a pre-paid meal allowance card, meaning you’ll have most of your meals included in the price of your rent.
After your first year, you’ll probably rent privately in the town, and it’s at this point that you’ll be able to take advantage of the low cost of living in Aberystwyth. You could rent a one-bedroom flat for around £700 per month, or you could rent a three-bedroom flat for around £900 – just £300 per person per month!
You’ll probably also need to pay utility bills on top of your rent, and we’d recommend budgeting £60-£80 per month to cover this. The more housemates you have, the lower your utility bills are likely to be per person.
There are a few different supermarkets in Aberystwyth, so you might want to shop around to see where the best deals are for the items you buy most often. Here are some of the average prices for commonly purchased items:
Milk (1L): £1.29
Bread loaf: £1
Rice (1kg): £1.18
Eggs (12): £3.25
Cheese (1kg): £7.44
Chicken fillets (1kg): £6.36
Apples (1kg): £2.07
Potatoes (1kg): £1.15
The average student in the UK spends about £40 on groceries per week, so you can take this figure as a starting point for budgeting, and then work out whether you’re likely to spend a bit more or less than average based on your diet. Remember to pick up a loyalty card to the supermarkets you use most often to take advantage of the exclusive offers.
Of course, you’ll want to go out and socialise while you’re at uni! But this can be a big drain on a uni student’s bank account, so you’ll want to be careful. Fortunately, going out in Aberystwyth doesn’t have to break the bank.
A meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs about £14, and if you push the boat out and go for a three-course meal for two at a mid-range restaurant, you’ll probably be paying about £56.
If you’re going out drinking, then you can expect to pay about £3.70 for a pint of beer, and the late-night fast-food combo meal you get on the way home to soak up the beer you’ve just downed will set you back an average of £7.
Aberystwyth is fairly compact, so chances are you won’t really need to use the local transport much. If you end up having cause to use the bus regularly, however, you can get a student bus pass for £91, which will last you the whole academic year – from when classes start in September until exams finish in late May.
If you’re aged 16-21 living in Wales, you can also get a MyTravelPass card, which gets you 1/3 off all bus journeys in Wales, so you can travel further afield and keep benefitting!
If you’re coming home late from a night out, taxis in Aberystwyth cost around £1.24 per km, and have an average starting price of £2.60. As everything in Aberystwyth is so close together, a taxi journey home should be relatively inexpensive!
As well as all the regular expenses we outlined above, you’ll need to keep a bit of extra money aside. This extra money will need to cover one-off costs such as joining clubs or societies, buying tickets to society events, purchasing new clothes, buying birthday gifts for friends or family and, of course, making sure you have all the supplies you need for your course such as books, printer credits and stationery.
Overall, we’d recommend having a budget of around £800 per month in Aberystwyth, as this should allow you to live comfortably. Always take into account how much you’re spending on rent before you fix your budget, and also always remember to think about your lifestyle – if you want to go out four times a week and buy a new outfit each time you’ll have to budget much more than someone who only goes out once a week and re-wears clothes for years!