Located in England’s East Midlands and close to the region’s major cities of Leicester and Nottingham, Loughborough has a lot to offer students. The town’s university, Loughborough University, recently ranked 7th in the UK according to Complete University Guide’s league tables. The cost of living in Loughborough isn’t too far off the average for the UK, and is cheaper than most of the UK’s major cities, while being within easy reach of several major locations.
If you’re classed as a Home student for your fees, then courses will typically be charged in line with the government cap, which is £9,250 per year (going up to £9,535 per year for the 2025/26 academic year). This sounds like a lot of money, but it’s okay! You can apply for a loan from the student loan company for your nation to cover the entire cost. This is paid directly to your uni, so once you’ve applied and been approved, you’re all sorted.
On top of this, you’ll get a maintenance loan from the student finance company. This loan is means-tested, which means you’ll get more money if your household income is lower. The most you can get is around £10,000 (this will be rising to up to £10,544 from the 2025/26 academic year). The maintenance loan is paid in three instalments over the year.
Getting student loans might sound a bit scary, but fortunately these loans don’t work the same as normal loans! You don’t need to worry about repaying until after you’ve graduated, and you only repay if you’re earning over the annual repayment threshold for your payment plan.
On top of the government support, you can also look at scholarships and bursaries offered by your university. These are usually non-repayable, so you don’t need to stress about adding to your student debt. At the Loughborough University, there are undergraduate scholarships and bursaries for Home students from a low-participation in Higher Education area, for those from low-income backgrounds, student athletes and more. Check the uni website to find more details on the awards on offer and their eligibility criteria.
Usually, you’ll live in halls in your first year. At Loughborough University, you have several different room types to choose from. If you want to have meals provided for you, the uni has catered accommodation. You can get ensuite or shared facility catered accommodation, and prices for these rooms are between £123 per week and £209 per week.
After your first year, you’ll probably be living in privately rented accommodation, which tends to be a bit cheaper than halls. If you opt to live in a shared house, you can expect your rent to be between £400 and £500 per month, but you’ll also have to consider utility bills, which often aren’t included in the cost of rent. For this, you’ll want to set aside around £50-£70 per month, depending on how many people you live with.
In Loughborough, you’ll have a few different options when it comes to getting your groceries, so you might want to shop around for the best deal. As it’s a market town, you could opt to buy bits from the local market instead of the supermarkets.
The average UK student spends around £30 on groceries per week, so you can use that as a starting point to budget. Your exact grocery bill will depend on your diet, and may vary week to week as some weeks you’ll have to stock up more than others! Remember to pick up a loyalty card to the supermarkets you use most often to take advantage of the exclusive offers and discounts available.
The prices for going out in Loughborough will be similar to nearby city Leicester, where a meal in an inexpensive restaurant is around £14.50, while a three-course meal for two at a mid-range restaurant comes in at about £50.
If you’re going out drinking, a pint of beer is usually between £4 and £5. When you’re craving that fast food meal on the way home, you can expect to pay about £6.50 for a combo meal (or of course you can save some pennies and just get the chips… we know that’s what you really want!).
Loughborough is a fairly small town, so chances are you won’t need to use public transport too much, but if you do there are some offers you can take advantage of. If you commute to uni, you can get a 10% discount on East Midlands Rail season tickets.
When it comes to local buses, there’s a free bus operating around campus and several other bus services running around the town, connecting Loughborough to other local towns and villages. Ticket prices depend on the company you’re using, but a single ticket is usually between £2 and £3. Until October 2023, most one-way bus journeys are capped at £2.
We’ve covered most of your regular expenses above, but there are some other things you’ll need to have money set aside for. For example, if you want to buy tickets to an event, or join a uni society, or if you need to buy some books or equipment for a course. And not to mention if you want to buy some new clothes! Make sure to build this into your monthly budget so you’re not caught out by one-off expenses.
Overall, we’d recommend having a budget of around £900 in Loughborough. This will vary depending on how your rent compares to the average prices, and on your lifestyle. So make sure you budget a bit more for going out if you’re the sort of person who likes to go out multiple times a week! If you’re more of a homebody and prefer watching a movie with friends at home over clubbing, then you’ll be able to save a bit more.