Budgeting is an undeniably important skill for all students to have; this importance is not lost when you scale up from a household to the national level and understanding what the national budget entails can help predict upcoming expenses or breaks for your personal budget. That being said, here is Concourses guide to the UK’s November budget.
Wages and income:
Both minimum (18-20 years old) and living wage (21+ years old) will be increased from £10 to £10.85 and £12.21 to £12.71 per hour respectively, as of April 2026. This means that if you can get work, you will be making good money per hour, as this comes off the back of employer national insurance contributions increasing in April 2025, putting more pressure on business.
Income tax thresholds have been frozen. This combined with the aforementioned increases in wages means that you will be effectively taxed sooner on your earnings (fiscal drag). Additionally, if you do have savings, from April 2027 there is planned increase to tax on interest, increasing by 2%. For those long-term savers or those planning savings for after university, the £20,000 tax free permitted by cash ISA’s will be reduced to £12,000 (Stocks and shares ISA’s are unaffected, remaining at £20,000) which may hurt your saving plans in the long term. However, as of December 1st the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) has increased its protection to £120,000 making it safer to store larger amounts within one bank/banking chain without risking losing much should the bank fail.
Consumables:
Taxes on tabaco have risen 2% above the higher retail price index (RPI) and in February alcohol taxes will increase by RPI. (The RPI as of October 2025 was 3.8% according to the Office for National Statistics) This will probably increase the cost of cigarettes, vapes and most importantly your favourite drinks for a good night out.
The ‘milkshake tax’ is also being imposed from January 2028, this will see previously exempt pre-packaged drinks like milkshakes and coffee being subjected to a tax of (if the previous tax rates don’t change) of 19.4p per Liter of drinks sold which contain 4.5-8g of sugar per 100mL. This tax will not affect the cost of drinks made fresh like at chapters café, the food court café and Greggs.
The cost of prescriptions is also being frozen for one year at £9.90 for a single charge.
Transport and Housing:
The 5p cut on fuel duties is being extended until September 2026, this means that (global supply chains blessing) fuel prices shouldn’t increase much or at all. For those with electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids will, from 2028, must pay 3p and 1.5p per mile respectively. This will be calculated when the milage is recorded during your annual MOT, the government has acknowledged that it will be easy to evade by simply clocking back the odometer. (This is illegal – don’t do it)
Regulated rail fairs for journeys in England will be frozen for a year, aiming to save train commuters some money from some of the highest-priced rail fairs in Europe. (As found by a 2024 study by T&E)
Taxes charged on rental income is due to increase by 2% from April 2027, this is likely to make it less attractive for new time landlords to start renting and possibly driving up the cost of rent.
