Budgeting my Student Finance Entitlement

Not all students receive enough Student Finance to cover their essential living costs, and most students will either work part time, and/or receive support from family to help boost their income during university.

We strongly advise you work out a budget before you arrive at university, to help you plan whether your expected income (including Student Finance, pay from part-time work, parental/partner support etc.) will cover your expected expenses (see below).

This will help empower you to progress through your studies confidently knowing that you will have enough money to live on without falling into difficulties.

We have student budget templates to help with this and will be offering webinars and one-to-one sessions for new students over the summer and during term time.

Email us at moneyadvice@cardiffmet.ac.uk for more details.

Expenses

This will depend on whether you are in Halls of Residence or are renting privately.

Essential costs will include rent, bills, food, toiletries/medication, transport, phone contracts, subscriptions, insurance and money for your social life. If you are renting from a private landlord, you will also need to factor in utilities (gas, electricity and water). If you are bringing a car to university, you will incur additional costs for fuel, maintenance, insurance, parking and tax, etc.

If you are a full-time undergraduate student, you should be eligible to apply for Council Tax exemption.

Make your budget work

If your planned budget shows you won’t have enough money to get by based on your expected income and expenses, there may be a number of options open to you to make your budget work:

• have a conversation with your family before you arrive, to see if they will be able to help you, and if so, how much and when. It may be useful to share this Save the Student article with them to start the conversation.
• start planning for what part time work you may be able to do, either during term time, and/or during breaks. Cardiff Met has a Careers service who will be able to help with tips on finding part time work.
• review your budget again – are you able to cut down your planned expenses for non-essential items? If you need help with reviewing your budget, please get in touch and we can help.

Student bank accounts

You don’t need one, but most students find the features available with student bank accounts can be beneficial.

This can include interest-free overdrafts and other incentives such as free rail cards.

You can find out more about student bank accounts from Save the Student.

Other financial help

UCAS has a dedicated page with details of external scholarships, grants and bursaries that may be available. Cardiff Met also has a dedicated bursaries and scholarships page for incentives offered by the university. For enquiries on bursaries and scholarships, contact admissions@cardiffmet.ac.uk.

If you live in Wales and have young dependant children, you may be able to access up to 30 hours a week of early education and childcare for 3 to 4 year olds with the Childcare Offer.

Cardiff Met also has a Financial Hardship Fund for those students who face an unexpected financial crisis while they are at university. Terms and conditions apply, and the fund is means-tested.