2425Rent paid for accommodation per monthAlthough a significant proportion of students (15%) pay no rent, mainly because they live with their parents, the most common rental bracket is between £301 and £400 a month, the sum paid by one in four (26%) of respondents to the survey. A further 19% pay from £201-£300, and 14% from £401-£500, with a further one in ten (11%) paying over £500. When the findings are broken down by type of accommodation, it becomes clear that of those who live with their parents or other family members 67% pay no rent at all, but 23% do pay rent, while the remainder failed to answer the question. The proportion who do make a financial contribution is up slightly on 2010 levels, when 20% paid rent to their parents, a shift that is in line with the significant number of students who undertake paid work. As in the last survey, students who live in catered halls pay the most, with 27% paying from £401-£500 a month and the same proportion paying between £501 and £600. Self-catered accommodation is usually cheaper, with most paying between £301 and £400 (28% did) or from £401-£500 (also 28%). The typical cost of accommodation was lower still for those living in rented flats or houses off campus, with 68% paying between £201 and £400 for accommodation of this sort. A small minority of students have much higher rental costs, with 1% saying they pay over £2,000 a month.Monthly outgoings related to your accommodationOne of the many other living costs faced by students is monthly utilities, such as gas, electricity and water. For many, however, these bills are included in their monthly rent (41% said they were), with the second largest group (14%) saying that they did not pay anything for utilities. Most of these (64%) were living with their parents or other family members. For those who did pay for utilities separately, the charges ranged from under £10 a month (paid by 1%) to over £100 (paid by 5%). Another common living expense is internet and cable/satellite TV, though again the largest proportion of students (36%) said this was included in their rent, a situation that was particularly common for those living in catered halls (72% of whom said it was covered) or self-catered university accommodation (for whom the figure was 75%). Those living in privately rented flats or houses were less likely to have rental deals that included TV and internet (27% did), with the largest proportion of these paying under £10 per month (37%). The findings for expenditure on a landline telephone suggest that many students do not have one - overall 47% said they spent nothing at all on this. A further 22% of respondents said the cost of their landline was included in their rent. When the costs of rent and other outgoings are added together, 12% pay nothing, 48% between £101 and £500 a month, and 12% between £501 and £1,000. A very small minority pay between £1,001 and £2,000 (1% do) or more than £2,001 (1%), with the remaining 22% failing to give enough information to calculate their overall costs.12% of students pay over £500 in a months rent and utilities

2425Spend per week If they ever existed, the days when students spent all their time and money partying appear to be long gone, with many living remarkably frugal lives.Three quarters of respondents (75%) said they spend less than £20 a week, compared with 67% in 2010 and 62% in 2008. The proportion who claimed they spent nothing at all on socialising, including on cigarettes and alcohol, has also increased, up from 11% in 2010 to 14% today. Those studying at modern universities were more likely to report cost-free social lives (17% did) than those at traditional universities (11%), as were international students, with a quarter (24%) of those from outside Europe saying they spent nothing on socialising (up from 22% in 2010). Not everyone is living a monastic existence, however, with 8% of respondents admitting that they spent over £41 a week on social activities, including smoking and drinking.Other results highlight the importance of mobile phones in modern society, with a minority of just 14% of students now spending nothing on a mobile. However, as they have become commonplace, so the costs have come down, and half of today's students (50%) say they pay less than £5 a week on their mobile, with most of the rest (26%) paying between £6 and £10. Another area of expenditure in which students are failing to live up to the stereotypes is music, with over three quarters (81%) not spending a penny on CDs or music downloads in a typical week. This is slightly up on 2010, when the corresponding figure was 79%. More surprising, however, is the finding that over half of students (58%) claim not to spend anything on books, an increase of nine percentage points on the last survey. Of those who do buy books, most (21% of all respondents) spend less than £5 in an average week, while just 3% said they spend over £21 a week on a regular basis. £0£1-20£21-40£41 or moreSpend on socialising a week61%17%56%22%52%24%11%11%11%10%8%14%2008201220102008201220102008201220102008201220102008£18.70 is the average spend a week on socialising - down from £24 in 2010