Rise of the stay-at-home student: ‘Mum made all my meals'

Times

3 days ago

Almost a third of 18-year-old students in the UK applying to university now stay at home while they do their degree, according to official figures.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) found that 30 per cent of students who applied to start their degree in the current academic year (2024-25) said they would be living at home, rather than in student accommodation.
In 2007, just 14 per cent of teenagers said they planned to live at home during their studies, with the figure rising to 21 per cent by 2015.
The figures highlight the rapid change among students, with many unable to afford rent — which can be as much as £1,000 a month — and parents unable to help out financially. A typical student leaves university with debts of £53,000, which is likely to rise when tuition fees increase from £9,250 a year to £9,535 next month.
The trend for 'stay-at-home' students rose sharply after the financial crash in 2008 and has jumped again since the Covid pandemic, when children became used to spending more time at home with their family during the lockdowns.
Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, said that the high cost of living is contributing to more teenagers staying at home — a trend which is particularly common in London, where rents are high, and Scotland, where tuition fees are free for Scottish students.
Saxton said: 'If students choose to stay at home during their studies because it's the best course or institution for them, or because of caring or family responsibilities, of course that's the right thing, but more needs to be done to ensure the cost of living doesn't become a limit on young people's ambition.
'This picture varies hugely across the country, and I've seen that myself from my time as a school leader in both inner London and coastal Kent.'
Glasgow Caledonian University, for example, has the highest rate of home-dwelling students in the UK, accounting for 45 per cent of its intake, according to Ucas. By comparison, just one per cent live at home while studying at Oxford and Cambridge. Oxbridge students benefit from the ease of living in colleges which offer three meals a day, room cleaning and famously, at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a free laundry service.
'Mum made my meals — it was fantastic'
Gabrielle Williamson, 26, lived at home in the town of Blantyre while studying a five-year degree at Glasgow University, which was extended to six years due to Covid-related disruption.
'It was the cost but also about the home comforts. I am a home bird and my mum still made all of my meals, washed my clothes. It was fantastic,' said Williamson, who graduated in 2023 and now works as a dentist. 'I did consider moving to Dundee for university but my mum and dad were quite upset about that. A lot of my friends had their own student digs and I often stayed there on weekends, so I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything.'
Ben Jordan, director of strategy at Ucas, said: 'If you drive along any motorway in September, you will see car after car full of duvets, pots and pans, and clothes as students head off to university for the first time. I remember my own drive to university, crossing the Severn Bridge [to Cardiff University] with the bedding on the front seat of my Fiesta muffling Oasis's Definitely Maybe.
'However, this stereotypical view of a literal journey into higher education isn't the case for everyone and far more students now live at home during their studies than you may think.'
In 1984-85, only about 8 per cent of young first degree entrants were living at home, according to a report released in 2020 by the now-defunct Higher Education Funding Council for England. The proportion of stay-at-home students began rising in the 1990s, which coincided with the introduction of tuition fees in 1998.
The most common reasons students cited for staying at home while at university include saving money (64 per cent) and to be near family (46 per cent), according to a new survey of 1,000 UK students commissioned by Leeds Beckett University.
More than half (53 per cent) said staying at home encouraged them to attend more lectures and seminars, perhaps under the watchful eye of parents.
'My parents were initially quite upset'
Joel Gilvin, 23, lived at home with his parents in Mile End, east London, while he studied for a bachelor's degree in finance and accounting. He graduated this summer from Birkbeck University.
He said: 'My parents were initially quite upset [about me staying at home]. My dad wanted me to go and experience life away from home like he had done when he moved from Liverpool to Warwick University.
'I didn't want to get a maintenance loan because I would be in more debt in the future, or get stuck in a contract paying high rent, and live in discomfort or have issues with housemates.
'I might have built stronger friendships and had more fun times partying, but it spurred me on to make friends in my spare time through my music — I play the guitar, piano, cello and perform at open-mic nights. It seemed to me that what most people were going away to university for was the social aspect and that wasn't enough of a driver for me.'
'You want to party — but then Covid hit'
Karly Nuttall, 23, lived at home in Altrincham between 2020 and 2023 while studying a bachelor's at The School of Journalism, in Manchester, a collaboration between Plymouth Marjon University and News Associates.
She said: 'I had no intention of staying in Manchester but then Covid hit and I realised we were going to be locked down for months anyway. You go away to uni for your degree but also for the social elements — you want to party, you want your fresher's, and that was gone for two years. I don't think I regret it because I love living in Manchester anyway.'
'I could come back at 3am and they'd be fine'
Hari Gautama, 21, who is three years into a four-year master's degree in chemistry at King's College London, lives at home with his parents in northeast London. He was deterred from leaving home by the high rent paid by his older sister for student accommodation in the capital. 'It was a hell of a lot of money for a very small space right by some train tracks in Vauxhall.' He was also concerned that the basic maintenance loan he was eligible for would not cover his rent.
Gautama, who works part-time at KCL's libraries, applied to London universities because he plays in a band and wanted to stay close to the capital's music scene. He said: 'A lot of my friends stayed in London to study. My parents are lovely and I could go out and come back at like 3am and, as long as I was quiet, they'd be fine with it.'
A report from the student housing charity, Unipol, and the Higher Education Policy Institute, released in December, found the maximum maintenance student loan (£13,348) — which is only paid to those whose parents' household income is below £25,000 — is now less than the average annual student rent in London (£13,595).
The days of cramped rooms, mouldy bathrooms and dirty kitchens, made famous by BBC2's The Young Ones, are long gone. Garden Halls, a hall of residence shared by London universities such as King's College London, Goldsmith's and UCL, charges up to £1,675 a month for a large en-suite room with tennis courts, landscaped gardens and includes catering.
Other developments, such as Fusion Students in Brent Cross, charges up to £1,711 per month. Students get a private space which includes a kitchen, but also a shared gym, basketball court, boxing studio, cardio studio, meditation area, a karaoke room, recording studio, gaming zone, cinema and roof terrace.
Ucas said the idea of moving away for university could no longer be assumed. A recent Ucas survey found that, when choosing a university, students now rank being 'close to home' as their fourth biggest priority, up from ninth just a decade ago.
More than half of the most disadvantaged students plan to live at home during their studies compared with fewer than one in five of the least disadvantaged. Ucas is launching a new scholarships and bursaries tool next year to help students find the financial support available depending on the university and course.