News unit - my part of the report/ story - Staying vs Going

My role in the group for this unit is to pursue a story that we may possibly use for our live broadcast or You Tube channel. We decided to target students as an audience so we can focus on problems that not only we but others we know can relate to. Not only this but "Students" as an audience are a guaranteed demographic due to the nature of education (one year moves on as a new one arrives - continuous flow of people for an audience). The subject i will  be focusing on is Students deciding to stay at home while they study or move into accommodation, which for many is a big step in their life and in some people's opinions the first step to adulthood.

Doing your own washing

   The average rent for a room in purpose-built accommodation has gone up by 25%o over the past three years to just under 1£23.96 a week, according to the latest figures from the National Union of Students (NUS). That is £5,244 a year, 95% of the maximum available student maintenance loan. So of course students will need to take up a part time job along-side studying to supplement their living cost etc. However, with the number of university attendees swelling each year bar jobs and waiting staff vacancies are becoming few and far between.

 Rents tend to vary depending on where in the country a student is studying. As you would expect, London is the area with the most expensive rents overall, averaging £157.48 a week. This is largely attributable to the increasing number of privately run student flats in the capital, some of which can cost £300 a week. The East of England has the second highest rents for purpose built accommodation overall at £134.18 a week and Northern Ireland the cheapest at £83.01.    















Ensuite self-catered rooms, the most common type of accommodation accounting for 55% of the purpose-built market, cost an average of £121.71 per week for a single room, compared with an average of £97.48 for a single room with shared bathroom facilities. Unfortunately not all universities supply this type of "affordable" accommodation which leads to my next section, why people stay at home when studying at university.








Mum still doing your washing


Now with all the points above about money its not hard to be dissuaded from considering the option of upping sticks and relocating closer to uni. For some it is a freedom thing, they rejoice in knowing they are free to do whatever they want with no parental shackles binding them. But for some it is a necessity, for some students pursuing their dream job and furthering their education not only cost them thousands a year on tuition fees, but also thousands in accommodation. So if you're reading this and live within commutable distance ask yourself whether living closer to uni is a need or a want. I'm not saying moving to accommodation just because you want to is a bad thing or isn't a good enough reason, simply that you should really think through you're options before jumping at the first opportunity to get a taste of what it feels like to live on your own. For example if your train fair was less expensive than accommodation and you also don't have to buy your own food and wash your own clothes, then you might consider staying at home. However staying at home isn't everyone's cup of tea and with student finance always available all you need to be set up for a year is to fill out some criteria checks online. Yet i think here is where the problem lies. It is so easy to sign yourself up for debt as a student now that you don't think twice about it, quite often it's advertised between students as "free money". If only that were true.












There are downsides to living at home too though. Annual rail tickets that cover the whole rail network cost roughly £6000! Now there are ways around things like this and being a student you are often given some kind of price reduction HOWEVER remember that this is at home so this will be without the maintenance loan, meaning if you live at home, you will definitely need to work more.


With these decisions more often than not it's just a case of weighing up the pros and cons and choosing the option with the less cons. So my advice for you as students would be to not rush into things, especially not on impulse. Let your decision brew for a little while and then when you're sure (and have spoken to your family about it as well) by all means take the path you choose.