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Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rise of the stay-at-home student? More Gen Z are living with mum and dad while at university - as rent costs soar
For many, university is remembered as a time full of messy house shares, raucous parties and bleary group debriefs the morning after the night before. But it has now been revealed more Gen Z students than ever are giving up the chaotic joys of student digs to live with mum and dad instead, according to new figures. Nearly a third of 18-year-old applicants in the UK for the academic year 2024-25 planned to stay at home, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said. This some 30 per cent figure is more than double that seen around 20 years ago, the Times reports - and also the highest recorded in this same timeframe. In 2007, only 14 per cent of teens said they would not be moving out during their studies - and even more recently, in 2015, this figure had only risen to 21 per cent. It comes as the financial burden of a degree balloons, with rents as high as £1,000 a month, parents unable to help out and an alive and well cost-of-living crisis. An average student's debts at graduation typically tot up to an eye-watering £53,000. And this is likely to only get worse after next month, when annual tuition fees will increase from £9,250 to £9,535. Stay-at-home student living started to peak sharply after the Covid pandemic, which saw families get used to rubbing along together at home during lockdowns. It came after a similar rise after the 2008 financial crash, after which family budgets suddenly became tight. Back in 1984-85, only around eight per cent of freshers lived at home, according to a 2020 report from the now-defunct Higher Education Funding Council for England. The number of home-dwelling students first really began to rise in the nineties - the same decade as tuition fees were introduced, in 1998. Passing on student accommodation is particularly common in London, where rents are famously high, and Scotland, where students go tuition fee-free. Meanwhile, applicants in Wales, the south east and throughout the south west seem largely to stick with a traditional student room. The most common reasons mentioned for living with the parents were saving money (64 per cent) and being near family (46 per cent), as per a survey of 1,000 UK students by Leeds Beckett University. More than half (53 per cent), meanwhile, said it motivated them to consistently attend classes - perhaps with mum and dad there to keep them in line. Ucas chief executive Jo Saxton pointed out some students stay at home as it is close to the best course or university for them or to caring and family responsibilities. But the former school leader emphasised, generally speaking: 'More needs to be done to ensure the cost of living doesn't become a limit on young people's ambition.' She added how this affects students often varies vastly depending on which part of the country they come from and study in. For instance, Glasgow Caledonian University is the UK institution with the most students living at home, at a whopping nearly half (45 per cent) of its intake. It is followed by SOAS University of London (44 per cent) and University of Wolverhampton, Birmingham City University and the University of Bradford (all 43 per cent). Meanwhile, a mere one per cent of those at Oxford and Cambridge stay with their parents. Many Oxbridge colleges offer an appealing lifestyle of ease, with three meals a day, room cleaning and in some cases, even a free laundry service. Also down at the lower end are the University of Durham and Aberystwyth University, at 2 per cent, and the universities of Lancaster and St Andrew's, at 3 per cent. More than half of the most disadvantaged students plan to live with their parents instead of in halls - compared to fewer than one in five of the most well-off. Ucas plans to roll out a scholarships and bursaries tool next year to try to even out students' access to the monetary support they need. Gabrielle Williamson, 26, lived with her parents in the town of Blantyre, around 15 miles away from Glasgow University, where she studied for six years, graduating in 2023. Now a dentist, she said she stayed at home to save money but also to enjoy the homebody benefits of her mum making her meals and washing her clothes. She said her parents had been upset at the thought of her potentially moving to Dundee for her degree. And with friends in student accommodation she could crash in at the weekends, Ms Williamson did not feel she missed out. A typical drive on a UK motorway in September might see drivers surrounded by cars stacked with pots, pans and duvets as freshers head to university for the first time. Ucas strategy director Ben Jordan recalled his own drive to Cardiff University, 'with the bedding on the front seat of my Fiesta muffling Oasis's Definitely Maybe'. But he emphasised it is likely far more students than we might think will not be driving across the country - but simply logging on to Zoom from home. 'This stereotypical view of a literal journey into higher education isn't the case for everyone', he said. And it seems it can no longer be the baseline assumption. Students now rate being 'close to home' as their fourth biggest priority, up from ninth a decade ago, a recent Ucas survey has shown. Joel Gilvin, 23, lived with his parents in Mile End, east London, during his degree in finance and accounting at Birkbeck University, which he graduated from summer. His family were not happy about this at first, with his dad especially wanting him to have the full digs experience, like he did after moving from Liverpool to Warwick. But Mr Gilvin was put off by the downsides of independent student living - a maintenance loan to repay, tricky housemates, messy flats and high rents. He admits he might have made friends and memories by living out. But this actually encouraged him to make more of an active effort to do this back home, through his hobbies of playing guitar, piano and cello. The student said he felt most of his fellow pupils were moving away from home simply for social life reasons - and that just was not enough to motivate him to do it. Karly Nuttall, 23, lived with her parents in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, while she studied just over ten miles away, at the city centre's School of Journalism. She had originally not intended to study in Manchester - with Covid and lockdown hitting and bringing the end of her social life any way, she thought she may as well. And the student has no regrets - she loved her time living in Manchester. Hari Gautama, 21, who is about to enter the final year of his chemistry degree at King's College London (KCL), lives with his parents in the northeast of the capital. He had seen his sister pay an arm and a leg for student accommodation in the city - 'a very small space right by some train tracks in Vauxhall' - and he was put right off. The student was concerned the basic maintenance loan would not cover this kind of rent. And his life - friends, a band, the capital's vibrant music scene - was back in the capital, with his parents not fussed if he came back at 3am in order to live it. The maximum maintenance loan - paid to those whose parents' household income is less than £25,000 - is £13,348. This is less than the average annual student rent in London (£13,595), according to a report from student housing charity Unipol and the Higher Education Policy Institute. And digs these days keep getting more and more luxe in both specification and price tag. Garden Halls, for instance, which serves London universities like KCL, Goldsmith's and UCL, charges up to £1,675 a month for an en-suite room. It also boasts tennis courts, landscaped gardens and catering. Fusion Students, meanwhile, in the capital's Brent Cross area, charges up to £1,711 a month. Communal facilities include a gym, basketball court, boxing and cardio studios, meditation area, karaoke room, recording studio, gaming zone, cinema and roof terrace. But it seems living at home does not even stop beyond graduation day either. The proportion of 25-to-34-year-olds living with their parents has risen by more than a third in less than two decades, research from earlier this year found. About 450,000 more young adults are now in the family home compared to 2006 - and it is especially evident among men and those in their late 20s. The trend, like that with students, has been fuelled by rent and house price increases with young people moving home to save, according to the study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Those living with parents are more likely to have seen 'large declines in net wealth', it found - and move back in with mum and dad following breakups or redundancies. This figure hit a peak of 21 per cent during Covid before falling back slightly after lockdown restrictions were eased. Meanwhile, the share of 25 to 29-year-olds living at a parental home increased from 20 per cent to 28 per cent in the same time frame. It suggests the age people traditionally flee the nest is rising. Bee Boileau, a research economist at IFS, said: 'For some, living with parents provides an opportunity to build up savings more quickly than if they were renting - which is an especially valuable advantage in high-cost places like London. 'However, others are likely to be living at a parental home due to a bad shock of some kind - such as the end of a relationship or a redundancy - or simply because they cannot afford to live independently.' Young people living with their parents would otherwise be paying £560 per month on average if privately renting, the study said - with this figure rising to £1,000 in London. Some 14 per cent of young adults living with their parents saved more than £10,000 over a two-year period, equal to an additional £400 each month. This rate is more than a third higher than similar young adults who are living in private rented accommodation. Business appears to be booming at both the bank and the hotel of mum and dad.
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Make driving test pass rates gender equal, Labour told
Make driving test pass rates more gender equal, Labour has been told. A report commissioned by a Government agency suggested that candidates should be asked if they would like their examiner to be 'chatty' or 'formal' to boost female pass rates. Transport research group TRL, which proposed the measure, said it would avoid examiners creating 'potential anxiety'. Records dating back to 2007 show males are more likely to pass the test than females. The annual pass rate for males has ranged from 47-55 per cent in that time, while for females it is 41-48 per cent. The TRL study on the gender imbalance commissioned by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) found the performance of male candidates is less affected by their examiner. Researchers heard evidence that females may be more likely to notice and interpret an examiner's behaviour and demeanour, and this may prompt 'self-judgment and worry about how they are doing ', the study found. This was based on interviews with learner drivers, people who had recently passed the test, instructors and examiners. Among the interviewees, a successful candidate said their examiner was 'very down to business' with 'no pleasantries' which 'made me feel just a little bit more intimidated'. But an instructor said a 'really chatty examiner' could end up 'distracting the student', while an instructor said having a conversation with a candidate could 'slightly distract' the learner at a time they 'want to be 100 per cent concentrating'. In the report's recommendations about how to reduce 'potential inequalities around gender', it noted that examiners' communication approaches can be interpreted in various ways by different candidates. It went on: 'Examiners could ask candidates at the beginning of the test what kind of communication (eg formal, chatty) would put them in the best frame of mind for driving to the best of their ability. 'Such a change would enable examiners to remain focused on ability and outcomes but do so in such a way that does not introduce potential anxiety that is unrelated to driving competence in candidates.' 'Reassuring, fair and professional approach' Emma Bush, managing director of AA Driving School, said: 'It is probably asking a lot of examiners to act 'formal' or 'chatty' on demand. 'Candidates probably don't want a sergeant major nor a comedian examining them. 'What all candidates want is a reassuring voice and presence, combined with a fair and professional approach to the test.' The study found no evidence that the gender of examiners themselves has a direct impact on the test experience of a candidate. It noted that female candidates are more likely than their male counterparts to pass the driving theory test, which it attributed to females generally doing more preparation. Researchers found that arranging subsequent attempts at the practical test involves more money and 'effort' than for the theory test. 'This imbalance could be addressed through, for example, increasing the price and effort required for the theory test', the report stated. Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said it is vital the test system gives 'everyone a fair opportunity to demonstrate their ability to drive, regardless of gender'. A DVSA spokesman said it is 'committed to equality, diversity and inclusion', and wants all candidates to 'receive the highest level of customer experience'. The average waiting time for a driving test in Britain as of the end of June was 22.3 weeks. The DVSA attributes the backlog to an increase in demand and some people booking their test much earlier than before. Officials hope an increase in the number of tests being conducted will bring waiting times down.
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
16 ways to make the most of a small garden, with Chelsea gold winner Jo Thompson
It has been a busy year so far for garden designer Jo Thompson. Her latest book, The New Romantic Garden, was published in February; in May, she created the gold medal-winning The Glasshouse Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and now she has released an online course, The Fundamentals of Garden Design, with Create Academy. While she has designed gardens all over the world, what unites them all is a love of planting – 'I can't bear the sight of a bare pergola,' she says – as well as a desire to make spaces that feel like they have always been there, and 'create an atmosphere'. Her own garden in Kent is no different. It's small by country standards, as she lives in the middle of a village, so many of the ideas she applies to smaller projects are rules she lives by. Although she does have to break them sometimes: 'My garden is a laboratory where I try out varieties I may want to use in projects for clients.' Here are her tips for creating a sense of space and atmosphere in a small garden. Limit your materials First of all, get out into your garden and look at the material that surrounds you. 'You can't necessarily green out everything, but you can distract,' says Thompson. 'Remember that once your garden is full of beautiful things, the eye won't be attracted to that rusty padlock or gate that bothered you.' If your house is made from brick, then perhaps that's a material you repeat in the garden. 'Try to keep your choice of hard materials to three maximum – for example, brick, oak and stone – otherwise it can look too busy,' says Thompson. Keep fences simple Thompson isn't a fan of painting fences. 'Once you paint a fence, you've got to keep on painting it, and that's something to remember.' Instead, she recommends keeping wooden timber fences simple and letting them age naturally: 'Too many decorative details in a small garden can look really busy. I prefer to let the plants do the talking.' Instead of trellis with fancy filigree details, she recommends just a small enough amount of trellis that lets plants such as honeysuckle and clematis grow on top of themselves. 'You don't want the fence to be a feature in itself: that draws the eye and makes the garden feel smaller.' Plant in bulk In a small garden, you need plants near the windows that draw the eye as you look out. Thompson favours perennials that create airy veils you can look through; think plants with naked stems such as salvias, verbenas and rudbeckia. The classic mistake Thompson always sees in a nursery or garden centre is people with 20 plants in their trolley, but only one of everything. 'However hard it is, restrict yourself to fewer varieties, but more of them,' she advises. So instead of one lovely flower or plant, have five of them. 'Put three of them together, and then two of them a little bit further away,' says Thompson. 'Then repeat nearer the house, so you've got that sense of harmony and the eye isn't zigzagging about.' Have fun with bulbs Bulbs are great for small gardens, where you can plant tiny ones into pots and have them near your kitchen window. 'Have things like Iris reticulata and muscari on a bistro table – the flowers that you're not necessarily going to see if they're at the end of the garden,' says Thompson. 'You can chop and change, and move things elsewhere from season to season.' And then, of course, you can plant the bulbs out in your beds: 'There's an allium for every space.' Plant a rose Roses are plants that Thompson returns to again and again, for their beauty. She is sure there is a rose for every garden. 'They're not as high-maintenance as people think. They can cope with hot weather, especially if they are in the ground and have sent their long tap roots down,' she says. Blush Noisette is a small climber that doesn't get higher than 8ft or 9ft. 'It's a great rose for a small space.' Thompson recommends looking for repeat-flowering roses that offer bang for their buck: 'English roses are great for that. Olivia Rose Austin is a very popular one, with a lovely, pretty pink colour. Look for scent: go to David Austin or Peter Beales now and smell them. You'd want to be planting them in November.' If space is very tight, then roses can work well in pots, so long as you water them: 'Olivia Rose Austin thrives in a pot, as does Emily Brontë, and Kew Gardens. The latter will bloom all summer.' Keep furniture compact Sitting outside and perhaps having a little barbecue is part of enjoying a garden, but be realistic about how much space you have. 'You don't need a built-in barbecue and permanent sofas,' says Thompson. Instead, if your space is really tiny, have folding garden furniture that you can store in a small shed and bring out when the weather is good. Add a statement parasol If you want to make your space more jolly, then think about investing in a fabulous parasol. Thompson is a fan of the East London Parasol Company. 'They're not cheap, but there are loads of really good ones,' she says. If you want to spend less, check out Dunelm. 'I have a bright orange one that's quite retro,' says Thompson. 'Whatever your tastes are, you can really go with it. Just remember to bring them inside [if the weather's bad].' Look up Thompson is partial to a pergola, if there's space, as a way to add height: a vital consideration in a small garden. She also advises making use of fences and walls to add climbing plants that draw the eye up, creating the illusion of more space. Have unexpected moments Small pots clustered together are a favourite thing of Thompson's. She also likes auricula theatres: display structures used to showcase auriculas, a type of primula. They usually feature tiered shelving units that provide shelter from rain and sun, while their dark backgrounds enhance the visual impact of the colorful blooms, allowing for close-up viewing or viewing as a group. 'Even a little bookshelf on a wall where you put your terracotta pots with one or two little spring bulbs is quite fun as well,' says Thompson. 'It looks really pretty, and uses no ground space at all.' Avoid brightly coloured pots Good pots that are frost-proof are worth investing in. However, Thompson advises going for softer colours in a small garden; pinky terracottas and orange pots that will calm down with age. 'I probably would avoid too many bright colours, because they do grab the attention and can make it feel small,' she says. 'Steer away from those bolder colours, and towards the calmer ones for a smaller place, if you want it to feel calm.' Don't go overboard with storage Think about what sort of storage you really need, and choose the worst corner of the garden. Often, a shed like a little sentry box will suffice. 'That will be simple enough to put in a spade, a rake and some trowels,' says Thompson. She advises against putting a storage unit in a place where it will become a focal point, and 'don't necessarily have the door facing out; turning it 90 degrees can work nicely'. Don't default to a lawn – and avoid plastic In a small space, opting not to have a lawn might be prudent. 'I understand that it's nice to have something underfoot, but a lawn means you will need a lawn mower,' Thompson points out. If you have a small shady garden, you're unlikely to be able to grow a lush lawn, but don't be tempted by artificial grass, says Thompson: 'A few people I know haven't realised that in a heatwave, when you sit on Astroturf, it burns you. It's also unhygienic; I think that's something a lot of people don't realise. You only need cats and foxes going across it peeing, and it's disgusting.' If you want a low-maintenance alternative to a lawn, permeable surfaces such as gravel will still allow you to embrace clusters of pots and seating. 'You've got to think about the drainage, and then have paving stones if you want to be able to walk barefoot through your garden,' says Thompson. 'Not everything has to be a square of lawn.' Be careful of mirrors Some mirrored glass behind a climber can give a sense of the garden going on for longer than it does – but, says Thompson, 'more often than not it just ends up looking like you've put up a mirror to make your garden look bigger. Especially if you put it in a sort of arch directly facing you, it's the one thing you always see.' Instead, if you want to add a mirror, place it behind plants: 'And then you just get an idea of light, just those sort of speckles of light.' Choose simple water features The sound of water flowing is lovely if you live in the city and want to distract from traffic sounds, but Thompson prefers to keep it simple and avoid anything too trickling. 'Those water features with pebbles and things coming out of stones that you see in the garden centre can be too much,' she says. 'A simple trough with a spout is lovely, because if you're going to be constantly looking at it, you don't want to go over the top. You want something easy to maintain.' Forget symmetrical borders A common sight for Thompson is gardens with rectangular borders of 20cm, 'which is totally and utterly pointless, because you can't grow anything apart from climbers', she says. Instead, give up on the idea of your garden being symmetrical and look at where the sun hits it: 'Make your sunniest border your deepest border, and give plants at least 45cm. You can plant things like geraniums that you can cut and they will keep coming back.' Create winter interest In a smaller garden, you won't have a choice of beds to dedicate to the different seasons. Instead, Thompson says, simplicity can be calming in winter. 'Have blobs of evergreen such as Ilex crenata or euonymus that give a little bit of structure in winter, but then get lost in summer.' Easy additions, for example, pots with winter-interest bulbs such as snowdrops and early spring croci set on a bistro table, will help to keep your garden looking good throughout the year – whatever its size.
