Everybody knows having a child doesn’t come cheap — but if you think you’re off the hook once they turn 18, think again.

In the latest edition of his newsletter, Martin Lewis shared a series of ‘back to reality’ September savings tips.

The first of these is targeted directly towards parents, particularly those whose child is in or just starting secondary school.

‘Each new school year means your children are a year closer to university age,’ wrote the Money Saving Expert (MSE) founder.

‘Many parents are unaware that, for most, the living loan or grant your child gets is effectively means-tested based on parental income.

‘In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (not Wales), this reduces the total they receive, sometimes by many £1,000s, and the gap is effectively an unspoken expected “parental contribution“.’

As such, Martin recommends checking how much you’ll likely have to put towards your child’s living costs in the event they go on to higher education — ideally sooner rather than later.

‘It may be a shock, but at least early prep may mitigate the problem,’ he added.

Thankfully, it’s easy enough to find out using MSE’s calculator; just input which UK nation you’re in and your rough income, and it’ll tell you what you need to save.

For example, if you’re living in England and bringing in the mean gross household income of £55,200, your first child starting a three-year course outside London (but not living at home) in 2027 would require a total of £14,010 in savings.

But if your annual household income increases to £80,000 and your kid will be living away from home in London, the amount you’d have to have put away for your kid’s education increases too, jumping to £21,300 in total or £7,100 a year.

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Bear in mind, this has nothing to do with tuition fees. The parental contribution is solely to cover an under-25’s living costs while they’re studying, subtracting the loan they will receive after means-testing.

Martin previously warned this element of student finance ‘isn’t made explicit’ enough in the literature, meaning ‘parents are expected to fill the gap, without being told.’

‘The lack of transparency and clear guidance causes friction between students and parents,’ he explained. ‘It also leaves some students in a dire position, with the risk of unmanageable debts or dropping out of university over cash flow issues.’

MSE also stressed that its calculator provides an estimate based on current money and loan terms, so while predicting future costs is never easy, it’s likely to be ‘in the right ballpark’ providing the system doesn’t change dramatically any time soon.

‘See this more as help to understand the scales of magnitude of the money you’ll need,’ it added. ‘We hope… it at least gets you thinking about how to prepare your finances for this possible future cost.’

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