TRUE COST OF GETTING THROUGH UNIVERSITY UNCOVERED

- £123,000 for children born in 2012 - 

Children born in Olympic year will have to fork out £123,000 to get through university when they hit 18 - as one in four parents (26%) are gearing up to the prospect of having to support their children financially during higher education - according to new research from rplan.co.uk the financial planning website.

Following news earlier today from UCAS, the university admissions service, which gives the first indication that university applications have fallen by 8.7% in the face of rising tuition fees for autumn 2012, financial planning site rplan.co.uk today launches a university fees calculator to help students and parents prepare themselves for the true cost of getting through university.

The new planning tool helps people to assess what the future, inflation-linked cost of going to university will be, taking account of the level of  fees and likely living costs. People can make regular savings, lump sum payments or transfer existing assets against this plan and check how they are doing against their target.

Andy Creak, Director at rplan.co.uk commented: “As a parent of two children myself, the thought of looming education costs does make one want to put one’s head in the sand. The tough reality, though, is that getting through university is a big financial issue and if one is going to face up to it and put a savings plan in place, it’s really important to be realistic about the true costs. Our savings calculator doesn’t give out happy news but it does help people get realistic about the plan they may need to support their kids through higher education. Our research suggests parents plan to save around £9,000 to give their child what they think will be a good start in life when they reach 18, but this won't go far when it comes to getting through higher education.”

rplan.co.uk’s research among more than 2,000 adults revealed that whilst 35% of parents with children currently in higher education said the issue of financially supporting their undergraduate children was a big issue, only 5% of parents whose children where at primary school had given any thought to the cost of university. In mostinstances, planning needs to start early.

Further, whilst 26% of parents had accepted that the ‘bank of mum & dad’ would take on the burden of university costs, 32% of parents said they would advise their children to go to a local university and live at home while studying (see table in related material below).

llustration: Investing for a University Plan for a child currently aged 1 with a 5% fee inflation, 5% inflation and a 4% annual fund growth 

For more information, more regional findings or to arrange interviews with rplan.co.uk contact Guy Bellamy:

guy@elephantcommunications.co.uk   Tel: 07766 775216

Methodology

The research was conducted by YouGov among a GB representative sample of 2,077 people on 12 December 2011

About rplan.co.uk

A new market entrant, rplan.co.uk is a financial planning business. rplan.co.uk helps the 38% of Britons that have no financial plan in place to get back in control of their finances and, for the financially savvy, it connects like-minded people. At rplan.co.uk everyone saves money on commissions that many don't even know they are paying and nobody pays more than £15 per month.rplan.co.uk brings together four essential elements:

• Plan. For each life goal, people can put together a financial plan and keep track of how close they are to achieving it.
• Save money: rplan refunds at least 50% of the ongoing commissions people pay for the investments they hold through the site – a typical saving of £6,334 over 10 years for ISA investors. With rplan people can also check for free the charges they are already paying (www.rplan.co.uk/charges ).
• Analyse: Simple tools and free mobile apps to keep people up to date on their savings.
• Share: In addition to expert commentary, people can share insights and experiences with like-minded people.

rplan.co.uk of 2 Frederick Place, London N8 8AF is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority ("FSA") under reference number 529879. This can be verified by visiting the FSA website www.fsa.gov.uk or by calling 0845 606 1234. 

ENDS