Living Cost in UK for International Students per Month, in PKR

A single student in the UK spends roughly £1,300 to £1,400 a month outside London (about Rs 4.9 to 5.1 lakh) and about £1,800 a month in London (about Rs 6.7 lakh), going by the universities' own estimates. For the visa, UK Visas and Immigration asks you to show £1,171 a month outside London or £1,529 a month in London, for up to nine months.

This guide breaks those numbers down the way a Pakistani family thinks about money: in rupees, item by item, with everyday comparisons. Then it shows what is left over, or what is short, on the scholarships in our catalogue. We read every figure on 26 October 2026 on GOV.UK, the universities' and funders' own pages and the Save the Student survey. Prices and stipends change every year, so the official pages are always the final word.

The exchange rate we used

Every rupee figure here uses £1 = Rs 370, the mid-market rate shown by Wise on 26 October 2026 (Rs 370.5, rounded down). Banks and exchange companies in Pakistan sell pounds at a higher rate than mid-market, and the rate moves every day. If the rupee weakens, every rupee figure below goes up. Work out your own numbers with today's rate before you transfer money, or use our cost calculator.

What a month costs, item by item

The two universities below publish their own cost estimates. UCL's covers London; Manchester's is a good guide for a large city outside London. Both are for one student, with no family.

Monthly cost	London (UCL's estimate)	Outside London (Manchester's estimate)
Rent	£1,387 (Rs 5.1 lakh), UCL self-catered halls	£645 to £710 (Rs 2.4 to 2.6 lakh), a room in a shared house, bills included
Food and groceries	£229 (Rs 85 thousand)	£250 groceries plus £51 takeaways (Rs 1.1 lakh)
Transport	£119.90 (Rs 44 thousand), student travelcard zones 1 and 2	£70 (Rs 26 thousand)
Mobile phone	£26 (Rs 9.6 thousand)	£35 (Rs 13 thousand)
Other (course materials, health, clothes, going out)	£52 (Rs 19 thousand), course materials and health only	£268 (Rs 99 thousand)
Total	About £1,813 (Rs 6.7 lakh)	About £1,319 to £1,384 (Rs 4.9 to 5.1 lakh)

Where these come from:

London: UCL gives an average of £320 a week for its self-catered undergraduate halls over a 39-week year. We turned that into a monthly figure (£320 × 52 ÷ 12). Its other costs come to £426 a month, which UCL says are based on the Save the Student 2025 survey plus 10% for rising prices. UCL's "other" list is short, so a real London budget will usually be higher than this total once clothes and going out are added.
Outside London: the University of Manchester lists £674 a month for everything except rent, for a 41-week year, and £645 to £710 a month for a room in a privately rented house share with bills. Its own halls range from £487 to £1,060 a month self-catered. Manchester notes its monthly column is a guide only.
The national picture: the Save the Student National Student Money Survey 2026, of over 1,000 students, found an average spend of £1,146 a month (Rs 4.2 lakh), including £551 rent, £155 groceries, £73 transport, £68 household bills and £15 for a phone. That is an average across all UK students, many of them home students who share cheaper housing, so treat it as the low end for a new international student.

Rent is the biggest line by far. In London it is more than half the budget, and the choice of hall or room decides whether a month costs Rs 5 lakh or Rs 7 lakh. Our UK accommodation guide explains halls, private rooms and real 2026-27 prices.

What everyday things cost

A few prices that help a family picture daily life:

A weekly grocery shop: Manchester's grocery budget is based on a weekly shop priced in April 2026 and comes to about £61 a week (about Rs 22.5 thousand). Halal meat and Pakistani groceries are easy to find in big cities, and cooking at home is the single biggest saving.
A bus ride in London: £1.75 (about Rs 650) on TfL, with unlimited bus changes within an hour. However many buses you take in a day, you pay at most £5.25 (about Rs 1,940).
A bus ride elsewhere in England: single fares on most routes are capped at £3 (about Rs 1,110) until the end of 2026, falling to £2 (about Rs 740) from 1 January 2027, the government says.
Eating out: the Save the Student survey found students spend £45 a month on takeaways and eating out (about Rs 16.7 thousand). That is a few meals, not a daily habit, which surprises many students used to cheap dhabas.

Costs that surprise Pakistani students

Council tax: a local tax on homes. GOV.UK says a household where everyone is a full-time student doesn't pay it. If you share with someone who isn't a full-time student, a bill can come. If you get one, apply to your council for the exemption.
TV licence: you need one to watch live TV or BBC iPlayer, on any device. It costs £180 a year from 1 April 2026 (about Rs 67 thousand). TV Licensing says a room in halls needs its own cover, and students can claim back unused months at the end of the year. If you don't watch live TV or iPlayer, you don't need one.
Bills: most halls include electricity, heating and Wi-Fi. A private house often doesn't, and the survey's average for household bills is £68 a month (about Rs 25 thousand). Ask what is included before you sign.
Deposits and advance rent: halls and landlords usually take a deposit or advance payment before you move in. Our accommodation guide explains the deposit protection rules and England's new limits on rent in advance.
The health surcharge: with your visa you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge of £776 a year (about Rs 2.9 lakh), all at once. It lets you use the NHS, so you don't pay a monthly health bill.
Winter: a proper coat and shoes are a one-off cost in the first month, and heating matters more than students from Karachi or Lahore expect.

The UKVI figure: what the visa asks you to show

The GOV.UK money page asks for £1,529 a month for courses in London (the City of London and the 32 London boroughs) and £1,171 a month elsewhere, for up to nine months, on top of any unpaid first-year tuition. That is:

	Per month	For nine months
London	£1,529 (Rs 5.7 lakh)	£13,761 (Rs 51 lakh)
Outside London	£1,171 (Rs 4.3 lakh)	£10,539 (Rs 39 lakh)

The money must be held for 28 days in a row, ending within 31 days of your application. Notice that the visa figure is below the universities' own estimates. It is the minimum you must prove, not a budget to live on. Our UK country guide covers the visa steps and fees.

How far your scholarship goes

Here is each scholarship's living money set against the estimates above. "Left" means what remains after the monthly estimate; it is not a promise of savings.

Scholarship	Living money each month	London: left or short	Outside London: left or short
Commonwealth Master's (via HEC)	£2,000 in the London area, £1,712 elsewhere	About £187 left (Rs 69 thousand)	About £328 to £393 left (Rs 1.2 to 1.45 lakh)
Chevening	A monthly stipend, set each year; Chevening's terms don't publish the amount	Ask Chevening	Ask Chevening
GREAT Scholarships	None: £10,000 off tuition only	Short by the full £1,813 a month (Rs 6.7 lakh)	Short by the full £1,319 to £1,384 a month (Rs 4.9 to 5.1 lakh)

Commonwealth: the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission lists £1,712 a month, or £2,000 at universities in the London metropolitan area, "at current levels", alongside full tuition, a return airfare and a study travel grant. On these estimates the stipend covers a single student's living costs with a modest margin, which is thinner in London. Commonwealth PhD scholarships also pay a monthly stipend at CSC rates, higher in London; see the PhD page.
Chevening: its terms and conditions cover full tuition, a monthly stipend that differs inside and outside London, arrival and departure allowances, flights and one visa application, but don't state the stipend amount, so we don't quote one.
GREAT: the British Council says it is £10,000 towards tuition for 2026-27. All living costs fall on the family, and you still need the full UKVI amount for the visa.

For more UK awards, including university scholarships for Pakistani students, see our UK scholarships roundup and the Chevening vs Commonwealth comparison.

Can part-time work fill the gap?

The Immigration Rules (Appendix Student) limit students at degree level or above, at a university, to 20 hours a week during term time, with full-time work allowed outside term. Students below degree level are limited to 10 hours, and part-time students can't work at all. Students can't be self-employed. Working beyond these limits breaks your visa conditions. Your scholarship may also have its own rules on paid work. Chevening's terms, for example, cap scholars at 20 hours a week in term time and 40 hours a week in vacations. Check your own award's terms. Plan your budget so that it works without a job, and treat any earnings as extra.

Your next step

Pick your city, take the matching estimate above, and put your own rent and today's exchange rate into our cost calculator so the whole family sees the yearly total in rupees. Then check your scholarship's current stipend on its official page and your university's own cost-of-living page, because both change every year. This page is general information, not financial advice; for your own case, ask your university's international student office.