Transport · Leeds
Getting Around Leeds on a Student Budget
Most of student Leeds is walkable. For everything else, here’s the cheapest way to pay, depending on how often you ride. Prices are from First, MCard, Northern and the railcard’s own pages, read on 7 October 2026.
Checked 07 Oct 2026Research-led5 min read
The £2 bus into town
First runs a £2 University Single from Hyde Park and Headingley into town or to campus, on the app or on the bus. Paying on the bus, have photo ID from your Leeds university or college ready.
First’s own pages disagree about exactly which routes it covers, so check yours on First’s site before you rely on it.
If you ride most days
First’s student tickets cover First buses across West Yorkshire: £72 for a calendar month, £240 for the first term (1 September to 18 December 2026), £490 for all three terms (to 18 July 2027), or £530 for the year. They’re app-only, and you confirm your student email within 30 days.
The MCard 19–25 and student tickets work on every operator in West Yorkshire, and cost more for it: £20.80 a week, £74.40 a month, or £711 for the academic year. Add trains in zones 1–5 and it’s £31 a week.
At £2 a ride, the £72 Student Month pays for itself after 36 single journeys.
Trains from Burley Park and Headingley
Northern is trialling app-based pay-as-you-go on the Leeds–Harrogate line: Leeds to Burley Park is £2.30 at peak and £1.90 off-peak, Leeds to Headingley £2.50 and £2.10. You sign up to the trial in the app.
Burley Park station is unstaffed, with a ticket machine.
The railcard
A 16–25 Railcard is £35 for a year or £80 for three, and takes a third off most fares. On weekday mornings before 10am there’s a £12 minimum fare. Mature full-time students can get one too. Older postgraduates: the 26–30 Railcard is also £35.
Commuting by train every day? Northern’s University Season Ticket is half the price of an annual season between two stations you choose, for full-time students, with a Railway Photocard.
Northern’s student page still says the 16–25 Railcard costs £30. The railcard’s own site says £35, and that’s what you’ll pay.
Spot something out of date? Tell us — corrections are logged in public, with dates. hello@yuniversity.co.uk