This is a difficult question to answer! It depends on many things:

How much income you will have during your stay?

If you are from Europe, you are able to work. Several of our European students get part-time jobs during their stay in London, although it is more difficult to get a job if you are going to be in London for a very short time (e.g. less than 4 weeks)

How much do you want to spend?

Many students say to us that “London is very expensive!”

We say to them “Yes, it can be if you want it to be, but if you plan carefully you can control your costs!”

Yes, London is expensive, but it is home to more than 90,000 international students from more than 200 different nations, more than any other city in the world, so it cannot be so expensive that nobody wants to study here!

Also, the weakness of the British Pound against other world currencies, including currencies from some of our main student markets like Brazil, Japan, Korea and the Eurozone, means that now is a good time for international students to come to London. You can see what we mean by looking at the Economist’s Big Mac Index here

What are the typical costs that I will have?

Here is some information on the typical costs international students in London might have. Please remember that this is just an indication: depending on your lifestyle you might spend more or less than these amounts.

  If you wish to check how much these costs are in your own currency, please go to www.xe.com

If you are from outside Europe and need a study visa to study at LSC, the UK Border Agency will look to see that you have enough money to support yourself during your stay in the UK. They use a figure of £800 per month for students studying in London. So, if you are planning to study at LSC for 12 weeks (3 months), you will need to show that you have £800 x 3 = £2,400, or the equivalent of this amount in your currency, that is available to you to support yourself. You can do this by showing bank statements that show that you have this amount of money.

How can I save money in the UK?

Here are some examples of how our students have saved money:

-          Use Skype or Discount telephone companies (e.g. Telediscount) to make international calls.

-          Choose where you shop: it is well known that supermarkets like Asda and Tesco are less expensive than supermarkets such as Sainsbury, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer

-          Students studying for longer than 14 weeks receive a 30% discount on their travel costs

The best way of saving money is to talk to other students when you are here! Students always know about the best deals!