to think that £500 a month is enough for a child at uni

They're doing all that on £9.80 a day (£300 per month). Wow, impressive.

£500 is way more than generous. I think £300 should be ample then they can learn to budget and choose how to spend their money i.e. they can then decide if they have lots of expensive coffees and cocktails out, takeaways, restaurant meals out, expensive weekends away and travelling all summer in which case they could get through any amount of money.

Or do they do what most Uni students do take own coffee out with them to lectures (most of them time) and use a refillable water container. Cook from scratch to do more than one meal and or shop and eat with friends. Have pre sessions in halls before going out, go out on student nights out, have cheap nights in games night, watching footie, chatting etc. Have a weekend visiting Uni friends (save on accommodation costs) and plan a week or a fortnight away with Uni friends in summer either a cheap package or a fortnight's inter-railing etc and work during the rest of summer.

Yes of course, the £350 is just spending money, so food and drink

Travel
Toiletries
Prescriptions/dental appointment/glasses
Laundry
Club/society/sport membership
The occasional social activity?
Books/study materials
Phone

@Gensola
I agree, for 17k you can get a one bed flat in central Bristol. We pay 18k for a 3-bed house in the suburbs.

You can still get a studio flat in Hove for about 800-900 a month which is way less than 17k for a single room in halls, especially since students don't pay council tax.

That's pretty much what DS had from us. He graduated Summer 2022.

If he is clever, he can put 300 away in a bank account

If that is what you can afford, I personally would help as much as I could so if £500 is what I could afford £500 is what it would be.

If, I could afford £750 then I would give £750, or if I could afford £450 then that's what I would give.

No it's not! And it's similar in many other student towns/cities. The job market has changed. Zero hour contracts don't guarantee work and other part time jobs often require a minimum number of hours equivalent to over 2 full days. And set shifts. And they won't hold a job if students return home. In addition, both mine have timetables which are different from week to week which makes it even harder to do set shifts.

13% of take home doesn't seem crazy to me? I'm in a very different place - and generation - so I guess my expectations are different but since we currently spend 22% of our take home on childcare (and another 21% on the mortgage - 13% sounds like a dream!) it doesn't seem so wildly out of whack for supporting a child at university.

Yes of course, the £350 is just spending money, so food and drink.

@HeyLovee OP does not get a loan. Neither do we.

RTFT. You had a loan.

Wow my parents gave me nothing when I went to uni. I got a part time job and used my loan.

presumably you mean you'll pay the extra £3500 a month towards her rent plus give her £350 a month.

Otherwise she'll have a shortfall of £1000 before she even starts eating.

£350 a month is £11.50 a day to live on

I survived on what I ernt when I wasn't at uni.

I had to buy materials for my course as well as food, cleaning materials, clothes, bedding ect.

It depends what course it is. Art/design was expensive 😬

Is it only my feckless DC who have had trouble finding pub or waitressing jobs in London? They both ended up tutoring or working as TAs. Constantly told by restaurants they didn't want students and wanted people who would stay longer.

£500 sounds plenty. I think I'll give my eldest £350 a month - half in her bank and half on her uni payment card. We only qualify for minimum maintenance and halls are £8k pa. She has a holidays job for back home - just minimum wage, but its fine for spending money. I would prefer her not to work term time, unless it helps her mental health to work a little. We could afford to give her more, but have to remember that just because we can it doesn't mean we should - we want her to have financial responsibility. Her maintenance will go towards halls and we'll pay extras such as phone and car expenses. Its unlikely, but if she runs out of food money we can top up her uni card a little.

I find it hard to believe 17k for halls. my DSS is at Bristol and the most expensive halls there are £8.5k per year - Bristol
is one of the most expensive university towns in the UK and I can’t see Brighton being double the cost …

My ds is in his first year and we went to a lot of open days and looked into the accommodation costs of a lot of halls. 17k is way above anything we saw. Most are between 5k and 8k. Maybe more if catered but the 17k one is self catered. My ds is paying 6.2k for a very nice ensuite.
The problem is the OP's son is going somewhere without halls so they are having to look at private halls which are expensive.

With cider at £5.50 a bottle they can only get 90 bottles a month.
nowhere near enough

@FunnysInLaJardin we’re in Guernsey and our DD was in UK at Bath several years ago so fully appreciate the costs! She was in International halls as some of the UK students tended to go home at weekends so worth asking if this is a possibility. We transferred DD’s allowance weekly to help her manage her money and also paid phone contract, air fares etc on top. £500 should be enough but not enough to be out every night!

So he has 4 months he could work in the holidays? Does he have a job already? He could earn a lot in that time.

My son has £60 a week and I'm constantly asking him if he has enough money for food. He doesn't really drink so I think that makes a difference and he has a small tutoring job that he does weekly so that helps.

None of my children who went to uni had a part-time job, their courses are/were full on and I'd rather they focussed on their degree. I told all of my DC "your job is to get a job and to do that you need your (relevant) degree, so we will support you financially so you can focus on that".

£500 per month will be plenty OP and your son will be able to eat well on that budget. We always sent our money weekly (agreed with our DC) so that they only had to get to the beginning of the next week if they were running short.

Why is accommodation so expensive now - it's ridiculous! What do the get for the 17k?

More than enough. I’d imagine he’s living in student digs so travel shouldn’t be much of an issue? Food definitely does not cost £500 a month for one teenager. He’ll have a blast with that cash.