Living expenses and budgeting
As a single student, we estimate that you’ll need between £9,000 and £12,600 per year to cover daily living expenses. This includes accommodation, food and local travel in Liverpool.
If you are an international student, you’ll have to show that you have enough money to cover living costs. We currently require you to have £9,207 (£1,023 per month for nine months). Find out more about living costs as an international student.
Information about subject-specific additional costs can be found on the course pages.
For help managing your money while studying, visit our Student Services money advice pages.
Books and Printing
Our students submit most assignments online, which means that printing costs should be minimal.
Core textbooks are available in the library. If you do wish to purchase your own books, there are several ways to keep the costs down. The Pass the Book scheme allows students to buy, sell, collect and donate a book. This includes hundreds of titles which have been generously provided for free by our alumni. At the end of a specified period, the student returns the book and it’s given to another student. Blackwell’s bookshop on campus sells second-hand copies of textbooks. You can sell your own copies back when you no longer need them.
PCs/laptops
There are over 2000 computers available across campus for students. We offer 24-hour term-time access to the Sydney Jones and Harold Cohen libraries, where a PC finder service can help you to locate available computers. The library also loans out laptops for four hours. Some subjects use interactive polling during lectures to enhance our students’ learning experience, so it’s useful to have your own smartphone.
Compulsory field classes
Where there are compulsory field classes associated with a course, the core costs for these will often be met by the School. Some programmes will require students to cover the costs of travel to the field class, and some may require the student to pay for their own meals. Students may also need to purchase their own outdoor clothing suitable for some field classes.
Optional field classes
Where there are optional field classes associated with a course, students will normally be expected to meet the costs themselves, although there may be subsidies available. Costs will vary depending on whether the field class is in the UK, Europe or further afield.
Professional association fees
Some courses recommend that students become members of their professional association. You can find available discounts and subject-specific costs on the course pages.
Travel to placements
There may be costs associated with travel to placements, or for example, with travel to interviews for placements. These will vary. If students are spending a full year in industry, they can expect to be paid a salary by their employer.
Library fines
We’ve minimised the burden of library fines, while still ensuring that our resources remain available for all. Fines will only be charged on our standard loan items if they are both overdue and required by someone else. We contact students to let them know and give them time to return an item. Fines are then payable at £1 per day. Different fines processes apply for short loan items and laptop loans.
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