Leicester ranked third most affordable university city

The city of Leicester is among the UK's most affordable for students, coming third in a ranking of university cities across the entire UK, and first in the Midlands.

For the fifth year in a row, NatWest's Student Living Index asked 3,419 students across 35 popular university cities how much they spend on essentials like food, rent and bills, and how they juggle their time across studying, part-time work and socialising. Each university's affordability has been calculated by dividing students’ average monthly costs by their average monthly income.

Leicester comes out as the third most affordable city after Hull and Cardiff. The Student Living Index also reveals that students in Leicester are most careful with their spending, with nearly a third saying they budget carefully (32.41%).