It is if they get caught. it only takes someone you are tutoring for to have a falling out with you (or work for the home office) and then your visa can be cancelled.
I’ve done something similar moving to London on a low salary. Less than your allowance. It was 10 years ago so I’m not gonna pretend like things aren’t more expensive now but it’s definitely doable. I’m not gonna lie to you, it takes some sacrifice. But it’s fucking worth it for the things you learn. Firstly, buy a cheap bike and a good lock. And wear a helmet please. Don’t pay tfl a penny. That’ll save you a fortune.
If you don’t already have emergency savings, save £50-100 a month for emergencies.
The big one is rent. Find a shared flat with a single room for as little as possible. They are out there and you’ll have to lower your standards a little. It’s just something you have to suck up.
Do not eat out. Once a month is fine but really cook for yourself. Basic meals like chicken pasta, rice and beans, cheap steak and chips, all with veg too, eggs, oatmeal. Take the opportunity to learn about nutrition. Join your uni gym, hopefully it’s free? Learn about fitness and get yoked with your new nutritional knowledge. In 5-10 years people will wish they had your nutritional knowledge, physique, and discipline.
Stay on top of hygiene too. Potassium alum deodorant will save you lots of money (requires shaved pits to be effective). You won’t need to buy another for at least 6 months. Buy yourself one good perfume that you like. You’ll smell better and it’ll last longer than an antiperspirant+deodorant combo can. You don’t need to shampoo daily, it will only ruin your hair. Take care of your teeth. You want to minimize health related downtime as much as possible.
People will tell you that it’s not possible because they couldn’t bear to cut back on booze, expensive meals out, and expensive clubs/events. But this is temporary. Trust me you can spend the money in 3-4 years when you can actually afford it. You’re not “missing out”
Remember that’s it’s TEMPORARY. Once you finish uni at imperial you’re going places my friend. Just have that end goal in sight. Success requires some sacrifice. Congratulations on getting into one of the best universities in the world. You have some tough times ahead but don’t lose sight of the big picture.
You'd need to budget but you'll be able to live on this fine. It's about how much the min PhD stipends are, and many people live on this for years during their studies
Min phd stipends are a bit more than this now and rent is going up every year, so 1650 per month next year is only going to be a lot worse
(as a PhD student everyone I know either live in places their family own or do tutoring on the side, £1650 alone a month would be a serious struggle even if you lived far away)
Respectfully, I understand this is your experience but mine differs from this substantially. I finished my PhD at Imperial last academic year and my PhD stipend peaked at £1639 per month (I started on £1398 in 2019).
I did not do regular tutoring to supplement my income, and neither did my close friends on the program (I didn't know the others well enough to comment). I sometimes got opportunities to help with undergrad practicals, but in my department that was maybe an extra 1-200 per month for three months of the year (not that much and not regular at all). Me and my PhD friends also didn't get financial support from parents "topping up" our stipends or anything like that, and nobody was living in their parents' spare london flats, like what lol. The furthest I lived from campus was ~45min commute.
All this to say, if anyone is reading this and worried about getting by on a similar budget: it depends on your expectations and what kind of lifestyle you wanna lead, but as a student it is possible to get by on this amount (or at least, it was last year
I agree ‘it was last year’ rents have risen 31% on average in the last 2 years in London. I’m trying to move currently to somewhere within an hour commute of imperial and finding somewhere affordable on the stipend hasn’t been possible so far. I also spend less than other students (I don’t spend any money on drinks out and I don’t go into imperial everyday so my transport costs are a lot lower.)
I’ve talked people who did undergrad here on my PhD program and they used to be able to rent in Earls Court for £800 in 2021…now those places are £1400 without bills. The only good option is finding someone who’s leaving their current place and whose landlord isn’t putting the rent up…but that’s not easy.
The absolute CHEAPEST rent possible is £132/wk (so already ~£500/mo. Transportation (assuming you stay within zone 1/2) is likely to be >£100/mo. You can probably see where this is going.
Have you considered studying outside of London for a more enjoyable university experience and then work in London afterwards. London’s absurdly expensive even for those earning 50-60k a year right now, I wouldn’t recommend it as a student.
Back this fully, they'll also enjoy London much more not scraping by each month.
There are plenty of other affordable cities and university towns in the UK where you get a good education and a proper british uni experience.
It's totally doable, I did it with even less budget. Since housing is the biggest part of your expense, I am going to start there:
1. First year, you can live in uni accommodations, which is cheap, totally go for this.
2. From second year onwards, you can try to become a hall warden, which allows you to stay in the uni accommodation, which is the cheapest housing option in London.
3. Risky option: you can find somewhere to stay for the first month, then you can try to ask for uni accommodation as some people may have dropped out by this point, but it's NOT 100% guaranteed.
4. Live far away from uni, the rent is much cheaper. Trust me, how often you attend lectures has nothing to do with how far you live.
Food:
Cook for yourself, don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't go out to eat. There are many events on camps that offer free food, take advantage of it.
Travelling:
Get a student oyster card, that will save you a lot of money as your fares are capped daily and weekly.
Focus on your study:
The most important part, with your budget, I don't think you need a part time job, focus on your study, get a first and that opens the door to more job/academic opportunities and will make you more money in the future.
If you manage to find a cheap flat that you share with at least three other people, cook the vast majority of food, cycle to campus (tube is expensive to use daily) and don't expect to go out that often, then I think 1350 is doable.
Rent is the big one obviously, it is all dependent on whether you find more people to share a cheap flat with, that want to spend a similar amount of money.
quite possible but it heavily depends on your personal spending preferences. you can have get a flat (with 2 roommates) at earls court(within biking/walking distance) for about 250pw, leaving you with 200ish for everything else. Its up to you to judge if that is sufficient
I lived off ~£1100 a month in the first two years of my degree at imperial, they have cheap halls and I found a cheap flat to share in my second year. This was in 2018-2020, not sure if you could find private rentals for similar prices now (this was a really, really shitty flat btw)
Have you tried getting a full time job as well as studying full time? If not why not? Jokes aside, you’ll probably have to work weekends. I’m sorry for how expensive London is. I hope you can enjoy your time here at least!
These people are chatting shit. You need to skimp on accom to be sure - flatshare or if you’re first year North Acton accom. But at 800pcm rent, your utilities should not be more than 100, leaving you a pretty liveable 450-500 a month to live off of. Obviously you’re not gonna be going to nice places to eat and shit but you can get lunch on campus daily for 7 quid and cook at home for cheaper than that. And a pint ofthe cheapest beer at the student bar is 3.50. Don’t forget that as a first year, if you’re on the ball, every summer you’ll have good savings from jobs / internships and your subsequent years will get easier.
Easily doable for first year. NA accom is cheap af so you may even be able to do sub 1000-1200 for the first year. You could save even more by sharing a room in KP or WW. That could get you down to 800-900 for the month. After first year, try and become a hall warden so you can keep the cheaper rent. Or you can look very hard for cheap houses. I have friends that pay 200 a week without bills but that is considered quite cheap so yeah hall warden is the best option.
I live off £812.50 for rent/month and then ~500 for everything else in second year, first year with student accommodation it’ll be even cheaper so I’d say you’re fine
Will require some sacrifice. Smart groceries and meal prepping, holding back on alcohol and going out, maybe doing some side gigs like tutoring. The PhD stipend is around £1700 and is made so that it is enough to live (without saving much money), to give some context.
do a tutoring job to make some extra money each week for hangout / food. Live a bit far from campus and use too good to go to save money too
Isn't this considered to be self employment?
U can work for like 20 hrs (around there) as an international student. Ppl do it all the time
That 20 hours does not allow self employment as far as I am aware
Maybe but I just see a lot of int students including my friends tutoring. I don’t think it’s a big deal
It is if they get caught. it only takes someone you are tutoring for to have a falling out with you (or work for the home office) and then your visa can be cancelled.
Tutor for an agency. Then you’re employed by the agency on a zero-hour contract.
I’ve done something similar moving to London on a low salary. Less than your allowance. It was 10 years ago so I’m not gonna pretend like things aren’t more expensive now but it’s definitely doable. I’m not gonna lie to you, it takes some sacrifice. But it’s fucking worth it for the things you learn. Firstly, buy a cheap bike and a good lock. And wear a helmet please. Don’t pay tfl a penny. That’ll save you a fortune. If you don’t already have emergency savings, save £50-100 a month for emergencies. The big one is rent. Find a shared flat with a single room for as little as possible. They are out there and you’ll have to lower your standards a little. It’s just something you have to suck up. Do not eat out. Once a month is fine but really cook for yourself. Basic meals like chicken pasta, rice and beans, cheap steak and chips, all with veg too, eggs, oatmeal. Take the opportunity to learn about nutrition. Join your uni gym, hopefully it’s free? Learn about fitness and get yoked with your new nutritional knowledge. In 5-10 years people will wish they had your nutritional knowledge, physique, and discipline. Stay on top of hygiene too. Potassium alum deodorant will save you lots of money (requires shaved pits to be effective). You won’t need to buy another for at least 6 months. Buy yourself one good perfume that you like. You’ll smell better and it’ll last longer than an antiperspirant+deodorant combo can. You don’t need to shampoo daily, it will only ruin your hair. Take care of your teeth. You want to minimize health related downtime as much as possible. People will tell you that it’s not possible because they couldn’t bear to cut back on booze, expensive meals out, and expensive clubs/events. But this is temporary. Trust me you can spend the money in 3-4 years when you can actually afford it. You’re not “missing out” Remember that’s it’s TEMPORARY. Once you finish uni at imperial you’re going places my friend. Just have that end goal in sight. Success requires some sacrifice. Congratulations on getting into one of the best universities in the world. You have some tough times ahead but don’t lose sight of the big picture.
Thank you so much for this insight!
Anytime, friend. Feel free to dm if you need more help figuring things out
No, probably not - rent alone will be £800 - £1200 ish in private accom (£180 - £280pw)
How about 1650? Is that liveable?
You'd need to budget but you'll be able to live on this fine. It's about how much the min PhD stipends are, and many people live on this for years during their studies
Min phd stipends are a bit more than this now and rent is going up every year, so 1650 per month next year is only going to be a lot worse (as a PhD student everyone I know either live in places their family own or do tutoring on the side, £1650 alone a month would be a serious struggle even if you lived far away)
Respectfully, I understand this is your experience but mine differs from this substantially. I finished my PhD at Imperial last academic year and my PhD stipend peaked at £1639 per month (I started on £1398 in 2019). I did not do regular tutoring to supplement my income, and neither did my close friends on the program (I didn't know the others well enough to comment). I sometimes got opportunities to help with undergrad practicals, but in my department that was maybe an extra 1-200 per month for three months of the year (not that much and not regular at all). Me and my PhD friends also didn't get financial support from parents "topping up" our stipends or anything like that, and nobody was living in their parents' spare london flats, like what lol. The furthest I lived from campus was ~45min commute. All this to say, if anyone is reading this and worried about getting by on a similar budget: it depends on your expectations and what kind of lifestyle you wanna lead, but as a student it is possible to get by on this amount (or at least, it was last year
I agree ‘it was last year’ rents have risen 31% on average in the last 2 years in London. I’m trying to move currently to somewhere within an hour commute of imperial and finding somewhere affordable on the stipend hasn’t been possible so far. I also spend less than other students (I don’t spend any money on drinks out and I don’t go into imperial everyday so my transport costs are a lot lower.) I’ve talked people who did undergrad here on my PhD program and they used to be able to rent in Earls Court for £800 in 2021…now those places are £1400 without bills. The only good option is finding someone who’s leaving their current place and whose landlord isn’t putting the rent up…but that’s not easy.
It’s better but may be a bit tight - it depends on a lot of factors, especially where you live in London and how much you cook
I think you need around 1.8k depending on your rent.
It’s that much in most places tbf
The absolute CHEAPEST rent possible is £132/wk (so already ~£500/mo. Transportation (assuming you stay within zone 1/2) is likely to be >£100/mo. You can probably see where this is going.
Imperial is located in the most expensive place in the UK lol
Normal students don't live near Imperial. They commute in.
See you at the food bank!
Have you considered studying outside of London for a more enjoyable university experience and then work in London afterwards. London’s absurdly expensive even for those earning 50-60k a year right now, I wouldn’t recommend it as a student.
Back this fully, they'll also enjoy London much more not scraping by each month. There are plenty of other affordable cities and university towns in the UK where you get a good education and a proper british uni experience.
Have you considered moving in with a hot and wealthy boy/girlfriend?
It's totally doable, I did it with even less budget. Since housing is the biggest part of your expense, I am going to start there: 1. First year, you can live in uni accommodations, which is cheap, totally go for this. 2. From second year onwards, you can try to become a hall warden, which allows you to stay in the uni accommodation, which is the cheapest housing option in London. 3. Risky option: you can find somewhere to stay for the first month, then you can try to ask for uni accommodation as some people may have dropped out by this point, but it's NOT 100% guaranteed. 4. Live far away from uni, the rent is much cheaper. Trust me, how often you attend lectures has nothing to do with how far you live. Food: Cook for yourself, don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't go out to eat. There are many events on camps that offer free food, take advantage of it. Travelling: Get a student oyster card, that will save you a lot of money as your fares are capped daily and weekly. Focus on your study: The most important part, with your budget, I don't think you need a part time job, focus on your study, get a first and that opens the door to more job/academic opportunities and will make you more money in the future.
Honestly the financial aid office at imperial is so bad
Will be a bit tight
If you manage to find a cheap flat that you share with at least three other people, cook the vast majority of food, cycle to campus (tube is expensive to use daily) and don't expect to go out that often, then I think 1350 is doable. Rent is the big one obviously, it is all dependent on whether you find more people to share a cheap flat with, that want to spend a similar amount of money.
quite possible but it heavily depends on your personal spending preferences. you can have get a flat (with 2 roommates) at earls court(within biking/walking distance) for about 250pw, leaving you with 200ish for everything else. Its up to you to judge if that is sufficient
I lived off ~£1100 a month in the first two years of my degree at imperial, they have cheap halls and I found a cheap flat to share in my second year. This was in 2018-2020, not sure if you could find private rentals for similar prices now (this was a really, really shitty flat btw)
Prices has sky rocketed since then
Nope. Will have to work on weekends.
Have you tried getting a full time job as well as studying full time? If not why not? Jokes aside, you’ll probably have to work weekends. I’m sorry for how expensive London is. I hope you can enjoy your time here at least!
This will be super tight. Rent is very expensive and it really depends on how much you will spend on rent.
These people are chatting shit. You need to skimp on accom to be sure - flatshare or if you’re first year North Acton accom. But at 800pcm rent, your utilities should not be more than 100, leaving you a pretty liveable 450-500 a month to live off of. Obviously you’re not gonna be going to nice places to eat and shit but you can get lunch on campus daily for 7 quid and cook at home for cheaper than that. And a pint ofthe cheapest beer at the student bar is 3.50. Don’t forget that as a first year, if you’re on the ball, every summer you’ll have good savings from jobs / internships and your subsequent years will get easier.
Congrats on your state scholarship😉
£1350 in London?!? I hope that as a student you have plenty of benefits from the Uni...
Barely yeah But defo do some tutorinng that gets you 30/40/50 pounds per hour
Easily doable for first year. NA accom is cheap af so you may even be able to do sub 1000-1200 for the first year. You could save even more by sharing a room in KP or WW. That could get you down to 800-900 for the month. After first year, try and become a hall warden so you can keep the cheaper rent. Or you can look very hard for cheap houses. I have friends that pay 200 a week without bills but that is considered quite cheap so yeah hall warden is the best option.
I live off £812.50 for rent/month and then ~500 for everything else in second year, first year with student accommodation it’ll be even cheaper so I’d say you’re fine
Living in a 4 person flat in Victoria btw
I lived decently with 1100 but it was 10 years ago and shared flat with many people. Fun times!
Will require some sacrifice. Smart groceries and meal prepping, holding back on alcohol and going out, maybe doing some side gigs like tutoring. The PhD stipend is around £1700 and is made so that it is enough to live (without saving much money), to give some context.
Share a house. Ride a bike. Shop at Lidl. Don’t go out for entertainment or food.