More than half of British students have to take the cost of accommodation into account when they decide which university to go to, according to new research.

It shows St Andrews is the UK's third-most expensive university city or town for accommodation, at £82.56 per week, 36% above average.

The figures are published by the flat-hunting site Accommodation for Students in advance of the A-level results in England and Wales and following the Highers results in Scotland, both of which will help determine the choice of university.

However, a survey by the sponsored search-engine shows that 57% regarded the cost of accommodation as quite important or very important in determining their choice of university.

The average weekly rent paid by students in the UK is £60.58, up 4% on last year, with London highest at £102.33 per week, 69% above the UK average.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are 15% and 14% higher than respectively, at £69.76 and £68.96. Aberdeen, at £57.15, and Dundee, a £53.87, are both below average at 94% and 89% respectively.

Accommodation for Students says rent is a student's single biggest outlay, now accounting for 40% of weekly expenditure for half of all students. The average weekly student rent in the UK is now £60.58, over 4% higher than last year's figure of £58.19.

Simon Thomson, co-founder and director of Accommodation for Students, said: "Now that students are accumulating large borrowings to subsidise their study, the cost of accommodation has become a critical factor in their choice of university."