Students avoid debt by staying at home

One in three students wants to live at home while studying because they cannot afford to move away, a survey reveals. Researchers also found a quarter of students thought the cost of living was the most important factor in choosing a university.

The research comes as the Government presses ahead with plans to implement £3,000-a-year top-up tuition fees. The proportion of students planning to stay at home has leaped to 35 per cent from 19 per cent a little less than a decade ago, according to Hertfordshire University.

Dr Stephen Boffey, dean of interdisciplinary studies at the university, said many students wanted to stay at home for financial reasons, and once £3,000 top-up fees were introduced in 2006, many more students were likely to stay at home to minimise the build-up of debts they would have to pay back after graduating.

He added: "It does seem to have risen with the introduction of fees. There's also the social thing. Nowadays more students expect to carry on with the same social life they've been having before university. If their friends are commuting to university, that can continue."

But he added: "I would suspect that finance is the main reason. You could say that is a pity, because an important part of university is making that big step towards independence."

Hertfordshire University's research showed that:

In separate findings, based on comments from thousands of students around Britain on the virginstudent.com website, showed London had many of the highest-rated universities for nightlife.

Goldsmiths College, part of the University of London, was awarded five stars out of five for pubs and clubs, while nine other London universities won four stars. James Layfield of virginstudent.com said: "There's much more to student life than a degree."