By james art Durham students receive the sixth largest amount of financial support in the Russell Group from parents while studying for a degree
Durham students receive an average of £21.60o during their studies from their parents.
This data comes from consulting firm High Fliers, which interviewed about 14,200 graduates this year.
Of the thirty universities studied (all 24 Russell Group universities, plus Bath, St Andrews, Aston, Lancaster, Leicester and Loughborough), Durham students received the seventh highest amount of money (sixth in the Russell Group) from parents. The average for all 30 universities is £15,900.
Of the six universities that finished above Durham, four were based in London – only Edinburgh (where it’s worth noting that most students study for four years, not three) and Bath students scored more than Durham students outside the capital. at £25,200 and £22,300 respectively.
Durham and Bath are very comparable due to their location in small towns with populations under 100,000 – it makes sense that smaller towns have fewer homes, parents in turn have to put more down to fill the gap between home loans maintenance and rent.
Students in Durham also received more money on average than other cities in nearby geographic areas. Students at Newcastle and York, the two nearest universities to Durham in the survey by mileage, received an average of £14,000 and £14,900 respectively.
In addition, students at Durham received more money from parents than students at Oxford and Cambridge. Cambridge students received £18,700, while Oxford students received £15,900.
The students who receive the most money come from Imperial College London, where the average student will receive £31,700 during their studies. At the other end of the spectrum, Aston students earn an average of £6,700.
Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers, told The Times: “The real cost of living at university now far exceeds the maintenance loans available to students to pay for their living costs during their degree – and the gap continues to widen every year.
“Half of UK university students say they have struggled financially during their degree and would not have been able to complete their courses without significant financial support from their parents.”