Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Poland and Portugal head-up top-five most affordable destinations outside the UK to study for a university degree

UK students would be over £5,000 better-off each year at the country's University of Warsaw

Aftab Ali
Friday 31 July 2015 08:09 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Thinking of studying abroad after George Osborne announced plans to scrap the student maintenance grant and raise tuition fees? There’s only one place to go: Poland.

The eastern European country has come out on top as being the most affordable place in the world to study per year, according to research undertaken by HSBC.

Total costs for a year at the University of Warsaw – including accommodation, cost of living, three return flights to the UK, and the cost of return travel to the nearest country comes to a grand total of £4,119.16.

With a sizeable funding amount of £9,353.27 up for grabs, a UK student would be left with a spare £5,234.11 to spend as they wished on travelling around the country, visiting home, books, or other expenses.

Portugal’s University of Lisbon came in second. A total cost of £5,640.35, plus a funding sum of £9,459.27, would leave a UK student better-off by £3,818.92.

Head of foreign exchange at HSBC UK, Oliver Cook, described how spending a year abroad whilst at university has become more and more popular amongst students.

He added: “As students begin to look at options for studying abroad for the 2015/2016 academic year, it is worth researching all the available grants and exchange rates, to give them a better idea about how they might manage their money at home and abroad.”

Here are the top-five most affordable destinations to study in outside of the UK:

1) Poland – University of Warsaw

Cost of accommodation: £828.81

Cost of living for an academic year: £1,675.35

Cost of three return flights to UK: £189.00

Cost of language course (if applicable/one-off): Free

Cost of return travel to nearest country: £76

TOTAL: £4,119.16

Total funding available: £9,353.27

Money left over: £5,234.11

2) Portugal: University of Lisbon

Cost of accommodation: £2,038.23

Cost of living for an academic year: £1,914.12

Cost of three return flights to UK: £258.00

Cost of language course (if applicable/one-off): Free

Cost of return travel to nearest country: £80

TOTAL: £5,640.35

Total funding available: £9,459.27

Money left over: £3,818.92

3) Turkey: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, Istanbul

Cost of accommodation: £1,878.75

Cost of living for an academic year: £1,957.77

Cost of three return flights to UK: £579.00

Cost of language course (if applicable/one-off): Free

Cost of return travel to nearest country: £140

TOTAL: £5,905.52

Total funding available: £9,629.27

Money left over: £3,723.75

4) Germany: Freie Universitat, Berlin

(Facebook)

Cost of accommodation: £1,399.05

Cost of living for an academic year: £3,008.88

Cost of three return flights to UK: £170.64

Cost of language course (if applicable/one-off): £233.37

Cost of return travel to nearest country: £76

TOTAL: £6,237.94

Total funding available: £9,459.27

Money left over: £3,221.33

5) Spain: University of Granada

(Elliott Brown via Flickr
(Elliott Brown via Flickr (Elliott Brown via Flickr)

Cost of accommodation: £1,748.79

Cost of living for an academic year: £2,798.91

Cost of three return flights to UK: £176.94

Cost of language course (if applicable/one-off): £690.77

Cost of return travel to nearest country: £190

TOTAL: £6,955.41

Total funding available: £9,459.27

Money left over: £2,503.86

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in