Leaving home to go to university was once considered a rite of passage.

But university student Kirsty Holpin, who lives with her grandmother and drives to lectures each day, says only two of her course mates actually live on campus.

“The rest of us travel in,” says the 23-year-old, who is one of a growing number of students choosing to live at home with family instead of moving into student digs.

UCAS figures suggest the number of students intending to live at home has doubled in the last 20 years, with rising rent cited as a major factor. Other reasons include shifting priorities towards academic study, rather than drinking and socialising.

Now in her third year studying psychology and criminology at the University of South Wales, Kirsty drives 35 minutes from her home in Fochriw, Caerphilly county, to the campus in Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, to attend lectures.

“When we were pricing it up [for halls] it was extortionate,” she said.

“So as a family it was, ‘would you rather stay home, or go and basically work your butt off to make rent?'”

Kirsty admits that the decision did leave her more “isolated” when it came to social opportunities, but doesn’t regret her choice.

Kirsty admits living on campus would have given her a better social life.

“But I’m not much of a social drinker anyway,” she said.

“And I can always travel down to university if I need to for events, and make time for that.

“At home I have a brilliant, supportive environment, so I can get everything done like assignments – if I was at uni halls, I probably wouldn’t have achieved as much as I have.”

She says blended learning has made things easier for her and others, with more lectures now having the option of being attended remotely.

And without the need to be on campus every day, some students are going to extreme lengths.

“There’s a girl I met last year who was travelling from the West Midlands,” says Kirsty.

“She said it’s much easier to book a hotel room and spend £90 a night when she needs to come down, than spend £600 on rent.”

A recent survey by campaign group Save The Student found that 15% of students in the UK now live with parents or guardians – an increase from 12% in 2020 – with average travel times to campus also rising from 21 to 26 minutes.

“It doesn’t sound like a huge change, but if you look at it in terms of the number of students across the UK, that is quite a significant movement,” said spokesperson Tom Allingham.

In Wales, students now spend an average of £473 a month on rent, while in England the average figure is £556 and in Scotland it is £663, according to Save The Student.

“It’s no surprise that we’re seeing this change, because of factors like the availability and cost of housing, and bills,” says Deio Owen, president of the National Union of Students (NUS) in Wales.

“And stories we see all the time about problems in student housing doesn’t help the narrative, it doesn’t entice people to move to student accommodation.”

But priorities may also have shifted, says Mr Owen, with many students not feeling that a campus lifestyle is key to their university experience any more.

“The traditional idea of people going to university to go out drinking and stuff, that’s not necessarily the de facto behaviour of students anymore,” he says.

“People are deciding to stay in, do sober socials, and students’ unions are key for that to work.

“So it’s crucial that any students who decide not to move to a campus-based university, or close by, don’t miss out on that socialising.”

Isaac Williams, 20, is studying for a Culinary Arts degree at Coleg Llandrillo in Conwy, and says living at his family home and travelling 15 minutes to campus each day “just made sense”.

For him, academic and financial considerations are more important factors than socialising.

“I just want to go to uni so I can get my degree, and have a more successful career,” he says.

“I’ve got a group of friends from other aspects of my life.

“And I have an older brother who’s also staying at home while doing a uni degree. So it just works out well money-wise.”

But at the University of South Wales’ freshers event in Cardiff, many students were still keen to embrace the chance to move out of their parents’ house while studying.

“It was just to get the taste of independence, a sort of practice run for living on your own,” said Sophie Davies, 20, from Neath.

Her friend Morgan Lees, 18, from Merthyr Tydfil, added: “Staying at home while being at uni takes away some of the social aspects of it, and that was really important for me.”

Sophie Evans, 20, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, started off living at home – but only took a month to change her mind and move into university accommodation.

“Everyone else was going out and stuff, I was getting crazy fomo [fear of missing out], and I was booking hotels or staying with people,” she said.

“So I thought it was better if I move away and have that sense of independence, and I did – having to budget by myself and live like a functioning person.”

Joe Williams, 20, from Swansea said the social life had been a key factor in choosing to live on campus.

“Just being around everyone, it was easy,” he said.

“I go back [home] often enough. The costs aren’t too bad, and I was going back home on weekends to work, so it was OK.”