Degrees that give you the most bang for your buck in the UK

University; what a place, what a time. Nowhere else can you unapologetically sleep most of the day and party all of the night; a cycle only punctuated by trips to a local convenience store in your PJs. You know, the one that existed solely to exchange your student loan with ridiculously overpriced frozen pizza and processed sandwiches.

Well, that’s what higher education was as far as I could see. But, then again, it was only two grand a year back then. That meant that more than a few people were attending just for a 3-year party in the student bubble of no responsibilities.

Although, this all changed in 2010 when the government voted to allow British universities to charge up to £9,000 per year which effectively priced much of the working class out of education. This, quite predictably, sparked violent protests in London and across the nation. Since then, we have seen an inflation-linked rise of the fees to £9,250 with experts warning that it could be as high as £10,000 in the next few years.

Now walking away from their graduations with around £50,000 worth of debt, students in the UK have seen a revolution of priorities. Cider is swapped for seminars, and bongs are exchanged for books, as they realise the financial implications of failing a year. The internet has therefore become awash with a tsunami of facts and figures and blogs and think pieces about how to make the most out of your time at university.

One thing that caught my attention this week was research commissioned by money saving website Voucherbox. They did a meta-analysis of university contact hours and costs for each specific course in order to ascertain which ones give you the best value for money. So, if you or someone you know is considering what course to enrol on next year, read on because here’s the top five.

Student House (Credit: Simon Doherty)

Law

Taking the number five spot was Law where undergrads pay £19.25 for 16 hours of seminars and lectures a week. Good news for people inspired by Legally Blonde.
 
Sports Science
 
Lads, lads, lads; sport, sport, sport. Is this your sort of thing? Do you love tying freshers to a table with duct tape and force feeding them alcohol at an alarmingly dangerous rate whilst feverishly refreshing UNILAD’s home page? Get yourself onto a Sports Science course where it will only cost you £18.10 per hour for 17 hours a week of contact time.
 
Maths
 
Maths, let’s face it, has got to be one of the most monumentally tedious subjects. But, if you know your Pythagoras theorem from your long division, it’s a pretty cheap degree (considering the context) costing £17.10 for your 18 hours per week teaching.

"Wipe our Debt" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Images_of_Money
 
Biology
 
If you’re a bit of a science geek a degree in Biology could be the way to go. You get 22 hours a week with staff for £14.00 per week and you’re sure to learn some stuff that is going to help you win the pub quiz in your student union.  
 
Nursing
 
Coming in at number one, with 26 hours contact time per week costing an average of £9.63, was Nursing. And that’s, quite frankly, fair enough – they have a reputation for being insanely hard and caring workers, they don’t get paid that much and they form the backbone of our NHS.
 
 

Main image: "Spring Graduation 2010" (CC BY 2.0) by Southeastern Seminary