When do DCs start to be means tested on their own income?

[Tantalisingduck]

I understand and accept that my DCs entitlement to a maintenance grant at uni for an undergraduate course is means tested with respect to our ( i.e. us parents) income. DD1 then went on to do a postgraduate one year course and we paid for that. DS1 is now at law college, but having got a training contract his tuition fees are paid by the firm he will work for together with a flat rate maintenance grant, so not really an issue for him.

DD1, having worked and done internships for the last 18 months is now thinking of applying for a more vocational course, open only to graduates. She is now 24. Will we still be expected to pay the fees for this? Or is she now means tested on her own (very minimal) earnings?

[WhyBeHappyWhenYouCouldBeNormal]

I think it might be that she needs to be entirely financially independent of you for 3 years or married to be considered on her own - but that's only for undergraduate student loan purposes?

Other than that, it is entirely up to you. If you want to pay her fees you can, but you would never have been expected to pay the fees??

[Figmentofmyimagination]

What sort of loan are you talking about? If it's a professional development loan (Barclays/coop bank) they will be more concerned about her ability to repay than her means. And there will be no expectation of a contribution from you, as it is arms length commercial funding - just that there is no obligation in her to start repaying while on the course. Repayment obligation starts something like 6 weeks (don't quote me) after the end of the masters, whether or not she has found a job.

[titchy]

Only SLC loans to under 21s are means tested against parental household income. Your means testing stopped the moment she graduated. You have never been expected to pay her fees, even as an undergraduate.

How is she planning to fund this further course?

[Tantalisingduck]

Sorry, a badly written initial post.
We paid her maintenance costs while she was an undergraduate at Oxford and the same (plus also her tuition fees for the year) on her UCL postgrad course (both English Literature), in an attempt to keep her student loan to "undergraduate tuition only" levels, since we were fortunately able to do this for her.

We are not however still in a position to fund any further professional courses and as yet I haven't done the research about what happens for funding of post undergraduate courses, since my son's employer has met the cost of these for him as part of his (future) employment benefits. DD1 however will be investigating this herself - she is basically interning in her chosen career, supplemented by fees from working evenings and weekends as an English tutor. She intends to apply for a loan for the fees, and support her living expenses by continued tutoring.

Thanks everyone.

[titchy]

Good luck to her, but loans for Post grad course fees are hard to come by. (Unless for PGCE.)

[Figmentofmyimagination]

She probably needs a professional development loan - see my post above. She should be able to get one, provided she has an absolutely perfect credit history. I have one - I borrowed £8700 ( the maximum available in 2010) to fund a taught masters. With interest spread over 6 years, the cost was around £10,200 - £177 per month - you also have to put down a percentage of the fees yourself.