You may be somewhat under-stating your relative wealth. I was better off than most of the first-generation students, but not dramatically so. Students today a

You may be somewhat under-stating your relative wealth. I was better off than most of the first-generation students, but not dramatically so. Students today are entitled to £478/month living expense (in 2015 money), which they get mostly as a student loan. The Oxford University website says that students typically spend between £951 and £1,405 per month on living expenses. When I arrived in Oxford (in 2001) I was told that students typically spent around £650/month (the scholarship administrator was very apologetic about the value of the living allowance). I haven't been in the UK for over a decade, so I'm not familiar with the state of student financial aid, but from what you've said I suspect that either the government bursaries/loans have gotten smaller or they were being supplemented by significant University and College awards.