Cost of books in the first year?

jopwo_87

I'm starting uni in September and was wondering the average cost of books for the first year. Obviously this will vary greatly from course to course but I'd like some ballpark figures so I can save/put away birthday money towards it so its less to worry about when the time comes.

Thanks.

Indie_Kid

I probably spend about £30. But - for one of the modules, I got told that I don't really need a book for it.

It does depend whether you get them second ahnd too.

triggerhappy_2

Really depends on course unfortunately. What are you doing aand we could probably give you a better guess?

If you're doing something like Computing Science it could be £200, whereas if you're doing something like English Lit, you can pick up all your books for about £50.

Your uni will probably have a second hand book shop where students sell their books from the previous year so you could probably get them from there - just check that you don't get out of date editions.

Indie_Kid

Amazon is also a good place. I paid £18 for a book that was £55 brand new.

Owain_Moneysaver

There should be a copy of all the standard reading list books in the uni library. Lock yourself into a carrel with a digital camera and a few hours ....

Or scan them into computer and convert to PDF, all your standard texts on the PC and searchable.

MrsManda

Don't buy any books straightaway unless considered absolutely necessary (I got an letter from my degree tutor suggesting we bought a book in the summer before we arrived because we were taking a second year course in our first year and needed to read up on the basics before starting uni so that book was considered necessary. Cost about £30).
Most books are a) in the library and b) are not necessary for the entirity of your course. As soon as I get any sort of reading list I go straight to the library and get it out. That way I can spend the next few weeks seeing if it's useful and plus you can keep renewing unless someone else requests it. Our course has links with the year above so its always worth asking them what books they think are necessary and whether any of that year are willing to sell theirs at a discount.
Think I spent £60 in my 1st year on books but they'll last me throughout the course. In my second year I spent the same but most people didn't - I needed it because I can't get to the library often enough due to my health and its only available on short loan/

jopwo_87

Im doing maths. Thanks for the help so far. I had budgeted about £150 to be on the safe side so thats great!

triggerhappy_2

Maths books are fairly cheap in comparison to other courses.

The_One_Who

There's this great place called the library, you can get books for free in there.

Unless your library is poorly stocked and poorly managed, there is really no need to buy books in first year, or any year. Academic books are expensive and you probably won't use them all that often.

For maths I would suggest 'Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering', but it costs more than £40, and any decent library should have it. Your course should also provide problem sheets.

doodygirl

I second Amazon for cheap books, also try https://www.find-book.co.uk you can compare prices on there. I'm also starting uni in September

triggerhappy_2

The_One_Who wrote: »

There's this great place called the library, you can get books for free in there.

Unless your library is poorly stocked and poorly managed, there is really no need to buy books in first year, or any year. Academic books are expensive and you probably won't use them all that often.

For maths I would suggest 'Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering', but it costs more than £40, and any decent library should have it. Your course should also provide problem sheets.

In my experience (at Glasgow University, which has a pretty good stock) things like maths books don't tend to be stocked in any great number. If you have a class of 200 students, all of whom are set the same examples to do after each class, your chances of picking up the book from the library are pretty slim. (My course never handed out problem sheets - this is university, not school!)

Maths books are pretty cheap in comparison to other subjects, e.g. this one that I used for Level 1 Calculus.