Tom Ellwood is in his first year of a three-year course in Economics and Development at the University of Sussex. Finding his feet and making friends as a new starter is taking time – and some preparation when it comes to sorting out his finances.

Financial support

To help pay his way through university, Tom applied online for tuition and maintenance loans from the Government’s Student Loans Company. "The process can be very bureaucratic and takes a while to complete, but seems relatively simple for those who are not entitled to bursaries, like myself," he says. "It often involves answering quite a long list of questions to calculate the amount that you are entitled too." Other sources of finance are also available to students, including bank loans.

Yet this was just one step in the process of arranging his student finances. Turning to opening a student bank account, he found that "every bank is battling over students, throwing discounts and special offers wherever you look."

With so many incentives potentially colouring students' decisions, Tom decided to dig a bit deeper and talk to friends about their banking experiences, uncovering "endless stories of appalling customer service". He checked out banks' customer service records, as well as the online and mobile banking services they offered.

In the end, Tom decided to take out an account with a bank that has a branch on his campus to make life a bit easier.

Extra income

Tom decided against working in the summer holiday before starting university, choosing instead to get the most out of the long break. As debts are already mounting, this is a decision he regrets.

"Sacrificing some of the endless supply of free time available between leaving school and starting at university is insignificant in the face of the financial cushion that summer work would provide once there,” he admits.

He now intends to find a part-time job to supplement his maintenance loan which will see him live on a budget of just over £90 a week in his first year after accommodation costs. The hardest financial adjustment students face at university, Tom reckons, is watching what they spend on food.

"Most young adults will have developed some understanding of how to keep the costs of their clothes or nightlife down, having experienced this without the supervision of their parents - but at home the refrigerator seems to fill itself,” he says.

"I think many new students will be surprised by how eating branded and packaged food can cut through their budgets."