Which newspapers offer a student discount?
Reading online news is great, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned newspaper – especially at a knockdown price.
Credit: Lenscap Photography – Shutterstock
Staying on top of the latest news stories is an essential part of uni life. After all, if you're studying a subject in-depth, it's wise to be familiar with the latest happenings.
A lot of information is available for free online and in your university student newspaper. But, if you want the good stuff, you'll probably have to pay for it.
Thankfully, newspapers know that students are a bit strapped for cash and can't always afford to pay full price to get their latest dose of current affairs. Here are the newspapers with the best deals for students...
Newspapers with student discounts
These are the best newspaper subscription deals for students:
-
The Financial Times
Essential for those studying business and accountancy-related degrees, the Financial Times (FT) covers everything your lecturers will expect you to know.
Subscription offers for students change regularly. But, at the time of writing, you can get a digital subscription for £165 per year. That's around 50% off the usual cost.
To save a bit more cash, you can also get a four week trial for £1.
-
The Times and The Sunday Times
Another big title, another huge student discount.
Similar to the Financial Times, almost all of The Times' content is behind a paywall. If you want to read what they've got to say, you'll have to pay up.
Standard digital subscriptions cost around £26 per month. But, as a student, you can get it for a fraction of the full price by paying just £9.99 per year for three years. You will have to commit to at least 12 months for the student discount.
Your subscription will also include access to Perlego's online library for six months.
-
The Economist
It's not a newspaper in the traditional sense, but The Economist is hard to beat when it comes to summarising and analysing the goings-on of the past seven days.
As the name suggests, The Economist is one for business and finance students to consider. However, it's no one-trick pony. Anyone with an interest in politics, the environment or any kind of social issue should give it a read.
The publication usually has some offers on the go, often with a freebie included. At the time of writing, there is a 75% off The Economist student discount, bringing the price down to £49.75 a year for a digital subscription.
There's also the option to get The Economist Espresso subscription for £19.75 a year (the full price is £79 a year). This subscription includes five short articles and a global news briefing each day, four personalised longer stories each week as well as access to narrated articles and a daily podcast.
You can cancel your subscription at any time.
-
The Guardian and The Observer
As The Guardian doesn't have a paywall on its site, you can access the articles online for free. But, to save money on paper copies of The Guardian and The Observer (the Sunday edition of the paper), it could be worth subscribing.
A couple of their subscription options will be outside of a lot of students' budgets. Subscribing to every issue of The Guardian and The Observer costs £60.99 a month, while it's £53.99 a month for six days of The Guardian papers.
But, subscribing to the weekend papers costs £24.99 a month (24% less than the retail price). It's £13.99 a month to just subscribe to The Guardian on Saturdays or The Observer papers on Sundays (15% cheaper). If you're already regularly buying these newspapers, a subscription could help you save money.
-
The Telegraph
One of Britain's largest daily newspapers, The Telegraph also offers a great deal for students.
If you want to stay up to date with what's happening in the world and read interesting commentary and analysis, you may want to check it out.
As a student, you can get the Digital Plus subscription for a whole year for £49. Normally, this would set you back £329, so that's quite a big saving.
-
i
i delivers the latest news and current affairs in a concise and intelligent format. Its articles tend to get straight to the point, making it a good choice for students.
At the time of writing, inews is offering a 67% discount to students for unlimited digital access.
For just £9.99 for a whole year (normally around £60), you'll get access to the digital edition, along with the app, puzzles and newsletters.
-
The Week
As the name suggests, The Week is a weekly magazine. It offers a digest of all the main stories reported by the media (here and abroad) over the past seven days.
It's delivered in a concise booklet. This makes it a great choice for students who need to know what's going on in the world without reading every newspaper available.
The Week doesn't offer a student discount (apart from the occasional special offer, which we'll feature on the link below). However, the savings on a general subscription are massive anyway. Plus, you can get six issues of The Week with their free trial.
You can also change your delivery address as many times as you like. This makes it easy to change it if you want to visit home for a few weeks during the holidays.
-
The Spectator
The Spectator is the oldest weekly magazine in the world. It dates back to 1828 and covers topics such as politics, culture and current affairs.
Unfortunately, you can only read a limited number of articles for free before you have to pay for a subscription.
Luckily students can get a special deal for The Spectator with one month for free and a digital subscription for just £1 a week afterwards. The print and digital subscription will set you back £2 a week as a student.
-
New Scientist
The New Scientist isn't technically a newspaper. Instead, it's a weekly magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. If there are any exciting revelations surrounding the environment, space, technology or health, you'll find them here.
Their articles are clear and concise, without too much complex language, making them easy to digest.
If you're studying a science subject at university, this may be a great read for you. At the time of writing, students can get digital access to New Scientist for £7.99 a month. That's a big saving on their usual price of £117 a year.
You can also get 10 issues for £10, and you can cancel at any time. Keep in mind that after these 10 issues, your subscription is automatically rolled onto the quarterly or annual subscription with a 25% discount. So if you're planning on continuing your subscription, swap to the student deal.
Alternative newspapers for students
If you don't want to take out a subscription, you have other options.
You'll almost certainly have a local newspaper in your area. It might not cover big world issues, but it'll certainly keep you informed about important news that wouldn't otherwise get the attention it deserves.
You can also check out your university's student newspaper(s). These are often home to students' takes on world affairs, as well as coverage of the issues affecting your very own uni.
If you're interested in journalism, you could even start writing for the university paper to boost your CV.
Avid reader? If you're thinking about selling your old, used books online, our guide will show you how.
