Cambridge has come out poorly in a new study examining which university town has the cheapest living costs, finding itself firmly in the bottom half of towns.

The study, by credit card company Marbles, compiled a list of the living costs of the 50 top university towns, from cheapest to most expensive, based on the estimated cost of weekly rent, travel, a pint, kebab and social activities such as the cinema and gym.

Cambridge ranked 40th, ahead of only Oxford Brookes and the London-based universities. The city ranked particularly poorly on the cost of rent, with the average price estimated to be £150 per week. Outside of London, only Southampton was more expensive, at £158 per week.

Universities in the capital make up the final nine on the list, with SOAS – which is based in Bloomsbury, central London – the most expensive of all.

Historical rivals at the University of Oxford faired slightly better, coming in at number 32 on the list. A Cantab who moves to ‘The Other Place’ could expect to save 13 pence on every kebab bought in the city of dreaming spires.

The cheapest town overall was revealed to be Keele, home to Keele University, which boasted the cheapest pint of the fifty.

Cambridge gym bunnies may be disappointed to see that their average price of working out is over two times that of the cheapest, costing £18 compared to £6.60 at the University of Essex in Colchester. However, the analysis by Marbles appears to have discounted the fact that many Cambridge colleges have gym fees embedded in other bills.

Cantab film buffs also seem to have picked the wrong university, with cinema tickets costing £5.50 more than in Loughborough, and only cheaper than London and the University of Kent in Canterbury.

Thomas Cross from Marbles.com said: “Towns in the North and Midlands offer great value for money to people who not only won’t have that much spare cash, but will leave their university with quite a lot of debt”

“Those little treats, like a kebab or trip to the cinema, are really important to students, so it is definitely worth checking out our list to see where their money could go further”

The study also estimated that the average price of a pint in Cambridge was £3.50, 50 pence cheaper than a tipple in London, but a whole pound over Keele.