Panicking about sending twins to uni next year

Ah that’ll be why. Didn’t even clock that. How annoying 🤦🏼‍♀️

It's a zombie thread from last Autumn (2020) which is why OP said there were no jobs to be had. The situation has turned on its head now and hopefully the twins have by now worked out what they're doing.

I would also agree with that. There are masses of jobs in hospitality. In the past week ds1 has seen notices up in KFC, our local pub, the theatre in the nearest city, the local cinema and the bistro in the village.

I’d agree with that. All of DD’s upper sixth friends have jobs, DD has two - one is more seasonal so hasn’t got much in the way of work for her right now. But it hasn’t been difficult for any of them to find work at all. And if they secure a job with a company that is a chain they are often happy to transfer between branches.

with the shortage of working opportunities currently I am worried for them

I know this isn't AIBU but have you been living under a noise-cancelling rock OP? There are loads of jobs around at the moment. Your twins will be fine, they will have to work to supplement their loans and will find work to do so. Lots of students do.

And I agree some cities are much cheaper to live in than others and if they can do the course they want in those cities they could consider prioritising them. Liverpool and Hull spring to mind.

I think you need to speak to them asap.

They need to consider:

-Working during a gap year (or two)
-Staggering so that they don't go at the same time
-Attending a local university so that they can live at home at least after the first year.

• picking their potential universities based on cost of accommodation and general cost of living
• applying for scholarships

I feel for you. The twin thing makes it so much harder.
I don't know where you live but DD and ask her friends found it really easy to get jobs last year (lots in waitressing/bar work, some in admin, others in retail) over the summer. They need to be proactive and understand that they will need to work hard to earn for uni. (Exams usually finish in June and uni starts mid/late September so they can do lots). For example our local Tesco employs a lot of students and then transfers them onto a zero hour contract at their uni city as well. I know someone who was working 40-50 hours a week over the summer and is doing a few hours a week at uni.
It's definitely possible but I imagine much harder if you're in a rural area without public transport.

@Lkinnard3 I know families with multiple births whose parents separated so they would get full maintenance loan. Drastic but effective!

1stly are you sure you will only get the bare minimum loan of around 4K per year per child?

We funded one DC for a year then 2 of them for 3 years and now having a year off before starting again for 3 years. So it will be a minimum of 8 years in total.

@Lkinnard3 basically the maximum loan they can take, a job and an overdraft. Choose the cheapest accommodation or live at home and commute to a uni. Take a gap year and work to bank some money. You can compare the cost of uni accommodation before they apply. Somewhere like Durham has a set amount for catered and self-catered whereas Warwick or Loughborough have much cheaper options.

It is totally shit and I think this should be told to parents when their children start secondary school. I also think it is appalling that there is no discounted rate for those with twins. It is the reason we planned a 3 plus year gap between our children as both Dh and I went to uni when grants were being phased out.

It’s madness really that a parents income (with no information or care really for their outgoings) dictates how much a student is able to borrow. It’s not like this is free money! They will be paying it back forever and a day. We’re lucky that we have a decent age gap between children and have a good income and can afford to top them up, but even so, in doing that it’s unlikely we’ll get on holiday etc as the money we’d ordinarily use for that will go to DD. Which is a sacrifice we’re willing and able to make. But only because despite our income we’ve kept our mortgage low (because we’ve had the option to do so - this is luck in the first instance being able to buy a house that suited our family when we did) and our other outgoings aren’t too horrific - not that any of that is taken into account!

Another option is to look into degree apprenticeships. You get paid apprentice wage, but your university tuition is free/all paid for. Frequently this also means FT employment post degree as well.

Here is one in Economics that is available every year and leads to good civil service job:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-government-economic-service-degree-level-apprenticeship

For textiles/fashion degree isn’t only pathway. They have own qualifications as well so an apprenticeship with industry qualifications instead of degree might be a good pathway too:

www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/BFC-Initiatives/Education/Apprenticeships

www.ukft.org/skills-and-training/apprenticeships/

I feel like I have just wrote this message only a year on. My twin daughters will not be going to university until 2023. Last night we had an open evening at the school where I discovered that the maintenance loan will not even cover the accommodate cost. Loosing my twins child benefit will also add to the pressure. How did you get round this? What help is there out there when trying to send twins to university? They both work now whilst also doing their A levels and will of course get job when they are at uni. We will try to give something each month but also don’t really have spare money each month. We are not classed as low earners and I am not a single parent so there doesn’t seem to be extra help for your average working class families. How did you get around this? Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide

My DD has a friend whose mum and dad are separated and very well off. He lived with his mum when applying for a student loan. His mum doesn’t work because she doesn’t need to (she’s has a house that she doesn’t have a mortgage on and her ex still pays for everything) so DDs friend got the full maintenance loan and lots of other help. His dad has a very well paid job and gives him an allowance but this doesn’t count as he didn’t live with his dad. I am a single parent on an okay wage (though not by MN standards) but pay a huge private rent (on a tiny house) which is not taken into account at all. It is definitely very unfair.

It's just not fair, is it. I know two families who get full contribution and both families go on holiday all the time (4 or so holidays for one family, 6 or so for the other). I hope it works out OP.

What's this parental bit? Genuinely interested as I was at uni 10+ years ago and I got a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan (for accomodation and living).

I was in a similar situation to you, but with only one DD. I didn’t have any spare money each month to help her out, as much as I wanted to. I posted about it on here at the time and had some unhelpful replies saying that I should have saved up! Some people have no idea what it’s like to struggle financially. I think there are some grants available if your DCs get outstanding grades at A Level. A friend of my DDs got £2000 for getting all A grades. Otherwise grants tend to those with parents on a very low income. My DD got a job on campus as soon as she started which helped and when she was struggling in her first year she went to student services and they were helpful. She was given the meal plan for free for about a month which was much appreciated. I do understand how you feel. You don’t want your financial situation to affect your DCs choices and ultimately their future.

Student finance calculator ive found useful. Or you could phone them up, tell them you have twins and ask them to give you a rough idea on how much it would be and have them work it out for you.

Also look at unis where they have good bursaries and low accommodation fees. My daughter was torn between Lancaster and York and Lancaster was more cheaper in accommodation. Newcastle also is quite reasonable as well as Leeds and Leicester. Even Oxford we found was cheap because of the less time spent there meant less in rent.

I have two girls, one is 15 years old. based on our outgoings combined my eldest was awarded with £6400 maintenance loan. Her accommodation she chose was £5300 (which was more of the pricier ones as we saw other standard for about £4300 and even they were pretty decent) for the year leaving about 1k to play with.
So I said to her, use that on books, going out, clothes, printing costs, freshers week etc, and we would just pay for her upkeep. We estimate from (from speaking with students in the student room forums) its going to cost about £50 per week and that would be self catering basis + phone bill + 2-3 bus fares into town per week. that works out on a 40 week term at £2000 per child.

If they want more income to blow on other things then they can get a weekend job.

There will obviously be a limit on how much they can borrow from Student Finance based in your income, and parents are expected to top it up. All you can do is save, save, save until they go, and let them know how much you will be able to give them per month/term when they start.

They can also try to get jobs, of course, until they go.

But there's no way that hasn't already been mentioned of reducing the cost. This is the system.

I feel your pain I really feel the maintenance loan shouldn't be paid according to parental income and / or if you have more than one DC at uni it should be considered when looking at parental income, its a rubbish system.
Do encourage them to look at unis where living costs are lower, or if there is a suitable uni within commuting distance get them to go there. A gap year to work and earn money is a good idea but jobs sadly are currently hard to come by , also look at bursaries.
Are there any savings you can make? I went from part time hours to full time hours to help support DD at uni, she gets lowest amount of maintenance loan which didnt even cover her rent, she applied for lowest price accommodation but was allocated second cheapest.
She has tried to find work at uni but jobs are hard to find in a uni town, most of her uni friends that have work transferred existing jobs at home to a local branch near uni.
The other option is apprenticeships, some are at degree level but degree level apprenticeships are few and far between and often concentrated around cities, there is a lot of competition for them but certainly something to look out for.

Lots of uni's are hosting online applicant visit days so maybe you can visit virtually and ask questions?

Do either of them already have a part-time job and any savings? Have they not mentioned how THEY will be contributing to costs? I agree, that you need to be honest about costs and what you can/can't help with.

I see where you are coming from. If they were singleton siblings, you would stand a fighting chance of being able to contribute to both in a much more staggered way. Whereas, as is the nature of twins, everything has to be stumped up at the same time if they both choose to attend uni starting the same year - it would be unfair to ask one to wait while you pay for the other and so on.

Have you contacted twins trust? (Formerly tamba) and asked them if they know of any support or ways in which you parental contribution can be reduced as you would be funding two? They may know of ways in which this can be achieved or might be able to help you access funding to support them.

As others have said, just be up front and honest.
It’ll be a great reason for them to learn budgeting

Agree, be honest with them. They could look at degree apprenticeships too. Look at notgoingtouni.com