Mobile Phones: Student Discounts!

Saving money and getting the best deals are important to a student on a tight budget. The following review summarises what offers are available to students from all the major UK mobile phone networks.

Orange

Website: www.orange.co.uk

Student website: LINK

Offers:

Orange currently have mobile deals and offers exclusive to existing customers alongside the famous orange Wednesdays; when upgrading to the Nokia Lumia 800, Orange are offering a free Xbox 360 for completely free. Current customers can also benefit from early upgrades plus 33% discount on remaining payments. Orange are offering a new Dolphin SIM package for just £7 a month which comes with 150 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of internet. All home delivery or in store collections cost just 1p.

Student feedback:

“Very reliable network with good signal and great student offers” Kate, Sheffield University student

Vodafone

Website: www.vodafone.co.uk

Student website: LINK

Offers:

Vodafone are offering students 10% discount on contracts and 10 free music tracks a month for 3 months with Vodafone music. A NUS card is not needed to obtain the offer as your name and institution will be taken instead. For international students, Vodafone gives free UK to home calls for 30 days when you top up £10.

Vodafone is rather affordable, offering Smartphone contract plans that start from as little as £9.45 and sim-only plans for the same cost that offer 300 minutes and 3000 texts.

Student feedback:

“A good network with excellent customer service and helpful staff. Always get good signal” Sarah, Manchester Metropolitan University student

Website: www.O2.co.uk

Website for students: LINK

Offers:

O2 offer £50 discount or credit on contract phones and £25 on pay-as-you-go phones for students with the use of an NUS card in store or even over the phone. Alongside student offers, O2 customers can gain from extras such as O2 priority moments to gain exclusive offers, O2 priority tickets for 48 hour priority for academy event tickets and O2 rewards which may come in the form of extra credit or even high street vouchers.

O2 contracts with a free phone start from as little as £10.50 which can occasionally offer gifts, such as a take that tour DVD too!

Student feedback:

“O2 is definitely the best network especially taking into account priority moments! Good customer service and student friendly staff” Niall, Loughborough University

T-Mobile

Website: www.t-mobile.co.uk

Offers:

T-Mobile currently do not seem to have any student exclusive offers but have other offers running presently such as free delivery on online orders. With selected new contracts, T-Mobile is offering a free month alongside a free £20 android app pack. You can also gain 100 free UK minutes, unlimited free texts or 60 free international minutes, just for topping up £10 each month on any pay as you go phone.

T-Mobile’s website offers an online advisor feature, so you can discuss offers and contracts online rather than phoning customer services or visiting the shop.

Student feedback:

“T-Mobile is a really good network with good pay-as-you go deals and helpful, friendly staff” Faye, University of Lincoln student

Virgin

Website: www.virginmobile.com

Student / Offer site: LINK

Offers:

Although Virgin offers a less varied selections of phones and doesn’t retail the Iphone, Virgin offers 15% student discount each month on contracts with a valid NUS card and gives exclusive deals to virgin media customers such as the Blackberry curve 8520 for £9.99 per month. When purchasing a pay-as-you-go phone, most prices include £10 airtime even with some £19.99 phones! For every £100 pound spent on calls, messages or bundles, £10 will be given towards your next phone up to £100 which may be used in conjunction to student discount.

Student feedback:

“Surprisingly good signal, excellent customer service that cannot be faulted. Really pleased with my Virgin mobile experience” Emily, Sheffield University student

Three

Website: www.three.co.uk

Offers:

Compared with other network deals, Three generally offers the greatest number of minute, text and internet bundles for the cheapest prices. The one plan is monthly contract bundle that can be applied to a wide variety of phones including the Iphone 4S and a selection of Blackberrys , costing between £25 to £40 depending on the phone. The One plan gives customers 2000 minutes, 5000 three-to-three calls, 5000 texts and ‘all-you-can-eat data’. Sim only plans start from as little as £5.11 a month which is a great price for students!

Student feedback:

“Amazing offers and great deals, really happy with my choice of network provider” Lauren, Sheffield University student

Comparable Offers

To conclude this review, we have an example of the deals available for the Iphone 4 8GB from each of the networks.

Iphone 4 8GB

24 month contracts

Lowest prices / tariffs from each provider:

PROVIDER	MONTHLY COST	HANDSET COST	MINUTES	TEXTS	DATA ALLOWANCE
02	£21.50	£169.99	100	500	500MB
Vodafone	£26.00	£129	100	500	250MB
T-Mobile	£25.54	£99	100	100	500MB
Orange	£36.00	FREE	300	Unlimited	1GB
Virgin	–	–	–	–	–
3	£30	£99	2000	5000	Unlimited