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 |  | Report by Claire Foss, a local student
As another round of A level results are out, thousands of British teenagers start excitedly packing their pots and pans for their first year of the rest of their lives, but are they prepared for the financial strain they’re about to face?
ÌýHarder than you ever imagined
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| Ìý |  | Claire drowning her sorrows with friend Helen
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Most university prospectuses have a small section on finance where they tell you it is perfectly possible to live within the boundaries of your loan, and perhaps even have a drink or two in the process. But what exactly are the realities of living on a loan?
I'm afraid all I can tell you is it’s harder than they ever imagined. I heard a Manchester student was last year left with jut £5 per week in her first term, thanks to a crippling rent cheque of over £1200 for the term.
 Never mind a social life, it’s a wonder we students ever venture further than the library.
 | Ìý | Claire Foss
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It’s almost impossible to imagine a situation where this would not be demoralising, yet the end of your first term is time to put down a deposit on a shared house. This amount can vary, but this student found the damage was at the upper end of the scale – £250 to be precise.
Of course, over the next two terms, her loan allowance balanced out somewhat, and the mean amount left per week was £47 - around £6.70 per day.
This is the money left over to buy food and soap, to pay bills, to buy books and to pay for transport. Never mind a social life, it’s a wonder we students ever venture further than the library.
ÌýThings you can't live without
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| Ìý |  | Students at the Warwick University Christmas Party - you've got to party at least once in the year!
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While it’s fine for the students of yesteryear to constantly remind us that we plead poverty while playing computer games, the simple truth is that today there are now many things that students simply cannot manage without.
Every university now demands that all essays and reports are word processed and set out to certain specifications. Irrelevant of the computer provisions of even the best university, without a reliable computer and printer you’re going to find yourself stuck when essay deadlines roll around.
If you live off campus or out of the city then a bus pass is going to set you back around £60 - £70 per term. Contrary to popular belief, very few of us have cars.
Ìý| Ìý |  | OK, so this wasn't Christmas, but birthdays count too!
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The obvious answer to all of this is to get a job. And indeed, many students do. But this also has its problems.
The way to gain skills, to make friends and to really get the most out of university is to join, and possibly even manage, one of many university societies or sports clubs. Couple this with a job and a degree and you have a lot on your plate.
It’s little wonder, that a recent survey showed 43% of current students admitted that they had missed lectures in order to do more shifts at work and 18% of students reported that they had considered dropping out of university altogether.
ÌýJust be warned that the best years of your life could also be the most stressful.
| Ìý | Claire Foss
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Levels of stress (and by that I mean real, clinically diagnosed stress) are rising by the year.
The burden of debt on graduation means that many people encounter problems with gaining credit for many years, and parents all over the country (whose incomes lie somewhere between rich and poor) are forced to take out loans they can scare afford.
This means a big helping of guilt and financial worry all round really. And yet many of us manage and you will too. Just be warned that the best years of your life could also be the most stressful.
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