Starting uni? Learn lessons from these famous faces

More than half a million new undergraduates will be entering the hallowed halls of Britain’s universities as freshers’ week begins this month.

With students facing tuition fee costs of more than £9,000 a year and rampant inflation driving up living costs, Harry Brennan quizzed three TV personalities on their top money tips for students and asked whether it was still worth the cost after a year when some were forced to pay for rooms they never slept in and lectures they could not attend in person.

‘GET A JOB WHILE YOU STUDY’ Gabby Logan, the television presenter and former international gymnast, who studied law at Durham University, said working while studying gave her both cash and vital experience.

“I was unusual as I was working at least two night shifts and early mornings at a local radio station in Newcastle, earning about £60 a week, which back in 1992 was a pretty decent income for a student,” she said.

“But I still didn’t have that much money as I was commuting to the job and driving a car, so it was an opportunity cost. It was like getting an apprenticeship while getting a law degree at the same time and it meant I never had to ask my parents for money. I also worked through my summer holidays doing personal training.”

She also warned about rogue student landlords. “Durham is collegiate and I stayed in halls during almost all of my studies,” she said. “I did at one point sign a lease on a house, but backed out when I found out it had no central heating. I was very naive and did not question how cheap it was, until November when I was practically dying of hypothermia.”

She added: “I could write my name in the condensation in the mirror on the wall. I had to go back to my college begging for a room. The landlord really had sold us a kipper.”

Ms Logan is the host of Interactive Investor’s The ii Family Money Show.

‘SCRIMP TO SPEND ON FUN’ The broadcaster Angellica Bell, who co- hosts the Martin Lewis Money Show, studied politics at the University of West England, Bristol. She said she made use of her interest-free student bank account overdraft to help fund “the best years of her life”.

“I had no support from my family and was living off student loans,” she said. “I was the first in my family to go and I was not flush at all. I didn’t have a job because I wanted the full experience. This meant I had to scrimp.”

Ms Bell said that most of her money was spent on accommodation. “I got cheap trips back home to London on Bakers Dolphin coaches,” she said. “Tesco value meals were my staple. Baked beans on pasta was a favourite, and I never bought lunch on campus.

“The money I saved from my scrimping was spent on clubbing, where I would try and get people to buy me drinks on student nights early in the week – Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays – when you could get cheap deals.”

Ms Bell admitted she used to go into her overdraft regularly. “But I would do summer jobs – like working in McDonald’s, which I did before my studies – to pay back the debt,” she said.

‘A landlord rented me a room in a house with no central heating’ Gabby Logan ‘I lived off ready meals – baked beans on pasta was my favourite’ Angellica Bell ‘It’s only worth paying if you are going to get something out of it’ Sharon Gaffka

‘ IS IT GOOD VALUE?’ Sharon Gaffka, 25, star of the reality TV show Love Island, is in her final year of a part-time law degree at Birbeck, University of London.

Given the high fees now charged, she advised would- be students to think about whether the degrees they were interested in were value for money.

“I have been studying law part-time alongside a full-time job working as a civil servant in the Department for Transport, a job I have been doing since I was 18,” she said.

“My fees are slightly lower because of this, but it is not value for money for everyone. You have to consider whether the less practical degrees are going to be worthwhile financially, unlike with a degree in law or medicine.”

Ms Gaffka said it was “hard to see” where the fees had been spent on some courses. “I’ve been in some lecture halls that don’t have basic internet connections. And you have to pay for things such as your own printing,” she added.

“I took a year out of studying during the pandemic as I couldn’t see the value for money in learning from a distance over a laptop. I really felt for all those 18-year-olds paying for accommodation only to sit in rooms and learn online.”

She also felt that not everyone should go to university at 18, saying it was not necessarily a mark of success and that other options, such as apprenticeships, may be better value for many.