Ranked: How shockingly little maintenance loans really cover costs at Russell Group unis

If you’ve struggled with being skint while you’re a student, you’re really, really not alone. We compared the average maintenance loan to the living costs at all the Russell Group unis in 2025, and the results are pretty alarming. The math just ain’t mathing. The average amount students get from their maintenance loans just doesn’t cover the cost of living in any of the Russell Group uni cities.

The UK government just announced they will attempt to make unis moderately more affordable for UK students by reintroducing maintenance grants. So, here’s a deep-dive into exactly how far money from the current maintenance loan system stretches for students at each Russell Group uni.

The Russell Group unis vary quite a lot by how affordable they are, too. The four most expensive Russell Group unis to study at are all in London. King’s College London students spend an average of £1,450 a month on rent and living costs. Yikes. The cheapest (or really, the least unaffordable) Russell Group uni to study at in 2025 is the University of Liverpool. The average student loan covers all but £376 of students’ rent and living costs. That’s, like, almost achievable!

Liverpool students can celebrate they’re a bit less screwed than average

If a student’s maintenance loan doesn’t cover all the costs of being at uni, then they’ve got to top up their income somehow – usually by getting a part-time job or by relying on their parents for money. Inevitably, students with jobs won’t have as much time for revision or internships as those whose parents are able to bankroll them.

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Now, UK uni students get different sized maintenance loans depending on various factors such as whether they live with their parents, whether their uni in in London, and how much money their parents make. UK  Save the Student‘s latest National Student Money Survey found that on average, students get £640 a month from their maintenance loan. We compared this to the average students from different unis said in this survey they spent on living costs (such as bills, food and course materials) and four weeks of the usual weekly rent for students in that uni’s city, according to StuRents. You with me?

Please keep in mind that these figures are all averages. You could argue that the students who don’t struggle for funds (and probably don’t rely on maintenance loans) are splashing out on fancier accomm, so are bringing up the overall average. The purpose of this ranking is to give you a rough indication of how screwed students generally are at each uni.

I didn’t forget about the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Queen’s University Belfast or the University of Sheffield – I lacked the data to compare them to the other unis. Sorry.

So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by how much rent and living costs students still have to fund after their maintenance loans:

21. University of Liverpool – short by £376

£448 of living costs, £568 of living costs

20. Newcastle University – short by £378

£546 of living costs, £472 of rent

19. Cardiff University – short by £380

The price of a pint in Cardiff is less tragic than in other UK cities

£416 of living costs, £604 of rent

18. University of Southampton – short by £414

£446 of living costs, £608 of rent

17. University of Birmingham – short by £436

£444 of living costs, £632 of rent

16. University of Warwick – short by £448

£548 of living costs, £540 of rent

15. University of Exeter – short by £517

£429 of living costs, £728 of rent

14. University of Nottingham – short by £540

£454 of living costs, £636 of rent

13. Durham University – short by £570

£442 of living costs, £768 of rent

12. University of Leeds – short by £582

Who needs groceries when you have Aperol Spritzes?

£574 of living costs, £648 of rent

11. University of Oxford – short by £726

£654 of living costs, £712 of rent

10. University of York – short by £740

£521 of living costs, £824 of rent

9. University of Manchester – short by £741

£613 of living costs, £768 of rent

8. University of Bristol – short by £774

£554 of living costs, £860 of rent

7. University of Glasgow – short by £828

£656 of living costs, £812 of rent

6. University of Cambridge – short by £863

Er, it’s a good thing Cambridge Uni has so many free museums

£711 of living costs, £792 of rent

5. University of Edinburgh – short by £877

£701 of living costs, £816 of rent

4. University College London (UCL) – short by £1,084

£540 of living costs, £1,184 of rent

3. Queen Mary University of London – short by £1,118

£574 of living costs, £1,184 of rent

2. Imperial College London – short by £1,319

£775 of living costs, £1,184 of rent

1. King’s College London (KCL) – short by £1,450

£906 of living costs, £1,184 of rent

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