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Original poster

How much money do you send DC at uni?

122 replies

Scribbydigs · 15/01/2023 21:32

How much money do you send your kids at uni? If you send them any at all?

DD goes to uni later this year (UCL). She's currently doing a year out working to save, but we're all a bit worried about finances. She plans to get a part time job when she gets there too.

OP posts:
TimeToFlyNow · 16/01/2023 09:12

Mine took a year off and worked for the civil service to save up. Full maintenance loan and because its mainly wfh he was able to keep it on but drop to 20 hours a week so financially is fine.

He goes to Japan for his 3rd year though so needs to save for that.

I don't think there's any need to keep referring to them as the poor kids though!

MilkyYay · 16/01/2023 09:24

We are not UK but we pay their fees and their accommodation and board. The kids then work during the holidays in order to pay for the fun stuff. Our "gift" to them is letting them graduate without student debt.

My parents paid my rent plus an amount calculated to cover food/utility bills/required textbooks. I then paid my own fees and fun stuff from my earnings (it was when fees were only 1k), and it was a struggle - i left with a 2k overdraft. I didnt work term time but worked very long hours in two jobs all summer, plus a pub job over christmas and easter. I wouldn't have been able to afford to do it with fees at 9k a year.

Cathyandchris · 16/01/2023 13:39

I’m going to have 2 there at the same time as only 15 months between then.
Christ this is going to get expensive.

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brusselspout · 16/01/2023 13:50

We pay accommodation, mobile phone and I will occasionally do a Tesco grocery delivery with food for a week or so (mainly to make sure he is eating vegs !)
Also, when he first arrived and hadn't yet got a job he had my debit card set up for his Apple Pay in case he needed it, he was sensible though.

Suprima · 16/01/2023 13:51

I’m 17 years away from this and will be doing what I can so DD doesn’t need to work. If she wants to do 6 hours at the SU for the social life and some beer money- fine, but not out of necessity.

I received minimum maintenance loan and had to work my way through uni. Parents sent me a bit but barely covered my bus pass. I had my phone through my dad’s work, which was something.

Was hard juggling everything, I missed my paid-for meals at my student accommodation due to shifts in my first year. Couldn’t join any clubs due to no choice over my shifts either and couldn’t commit to sports fixtures. I was a pretty awkward teen/young adult so I left university with no strong group of friends as I had spent most of my time with Janet on the tills. It was throughly miserable. My uni was very posh and very few students worked as much as I had to. Really felt like the odd one out.

I didn’t ever get to do any summer internships or work experience because I had to work to save to top up my maintenance loan.

I flunked my language modules because I didn’t have the time or energy to drill my grammar, and had to work so hard with so many all nighters to get a 2:1 in the end. I could have easily fucked it.

Really not trying to make people feel bad- but if you trust your kid, they are going to work hard, do what you can to make their lives easier. My parents were obsessed with ‘life lessons’ and the ‘school of hard knocks’ and I can honestly say that I am no better off or no kinder than the kids who didn’t spend 24 hours a week sat at a till.

Suprima · 16/01/2023 13:53

(To those who will question why I didn’t take a year out and save, that was the plan. But then I found out I was the last cohort to go on £3k fees. Go figure.)

mast0650 · 16/01/2023 13:54

They get the minimum loan. We make it up to the maximum loan amount. On top of that we still pay for their mobile phones and we provide transport (either drive or pay for train) at start and end of term. They both have relatively low rent. If they were at the more expensive end I think would want to give more.

mast0650 · 16/01/2023 13:57

I don't think it costs any more than having them at home really. The only additional cost is rent, which is not much more than the minimum student loan in our case. Other costs: food, phone, toiletries, activities, clothes, transport, socializing etc etc were all being paid for before, either by the parents or by teens working. So nothing changes very much. Obviously this is not true if rent is signficantly higher.

mast0650 · 16/01/2023 13:59

Do you send a food order every so often so they are eating/washing etc

No, they are perfectly capable of organizing their own food shop and laundry (despite having been asked to do very little when they were at home)

Qualculator · 16/01/2023 14:04

I don't understand the big deal about paying for phones. A generous Giffgaff package costs £8 a month.

Qualculator · 16/01/2023 14:09

University vacations are very long. I think that working for e.g half the vacation time is a good idea. During term time - only if in control of workload and not missing out too much on other things going on. Eg a couple of evenings a week, or half a day at the weekend. Working is really helpful for gaining skills and independence, some understanding of the real world, and demonstrating that on a CV.

elephantsings · 16/01/2023 14:10

I graduated in 2018 and my mum couldn't afford to give me any money, but I got the full loan which was enough to live on.

I didn't work part time either so it's definitely manageable as long as the current loan amount reflects the increased cost of living!

My mum did send me cooked meals from time to time though which I could freeze and take out when needed. I loved cooking and even cooked for my housemates but sometimes I was just too bloody tired.

What I'd do to be student tired rather than mum tired 😭

UsingChangeofName · 16/01/2023 15:59

@Hadtochangeforthisone Grants were means tested back in the 80s and 90s.
I, and all my siblings and many of my friends worked evenings and weekends and during the holidays back then too.

I agree with all those saying it isn't the students from low income families who struggle financially. All my dc have had flat mates on the full maintenance loan and all commented how much more cash they have to spend each week / month / term.

Qualculator · 16/01/2023 18:32

The students on full loans will be in far greater debt after they leave university. Assuming you don't stay on very low wages permanently, you have to pay back, and rates of interest are extremely high in England. I certainly wouldn't envy them. Better to have a push now to work in the vacations and to leave university with less debt.

Original poster
Scribbydigs · 16/01/2023 18:55

Thanks for all your replies so far, very interesting.

DD only qualifies for the minumum loan amount, but it might not be enough to cover her halls for the first year, depending on where she's placed. We're not hard up but certainly not wealthy either - we have two younger teens, rising mortgage costs, and the family business has taken a hit recently. Just not sure what to expect she might need financially. I'm also acutely aware she's going to a uni that's frequented with quite wealthy students on the whole, and don't want her to be at any disadvantage. A lot of her friends won't need to have jobs at uni, and that makes me feel a bit sad and guilty. She enjoys her job, and I know it's good work experience, but still.

OP posts:
GoldilockMom · 16/01/2023 19:28

She will gain a lot of skills working in low paid jobs, customer care, money, cleaning what ever and make her more determined to do well - looks good on her CV as well.

RhinestoneCowgirl · 16/01/2023 19:35

I'm at uni at the moment (mature student) and many of my cohort have part-time jobs. We are advised not to do more than 16 hrs a week during term time in order to balance study and paid work.

CeriB82 · 16/01/2023 21:56

We send her £80 pw.

rent paid from loan /grant.

also has a p/t job.

123woop · 16/01/2023 22:13

Most people I know pay their child's accommodation and then their loan is theirs to get by, plus any extra cash they get from working etc. They don't do food shops or anything like that.

Neverknowinglysensible · 16/01/2023 22:26

We aren’t at all wealthy but gave DSD, during term time, the same amount as we’d been paying her mother in maintenance, in holiday periods she was living full time with us at that stage. We also paid her shockingly expensive bus pass, and did a big shop for her at the start of every term.
DSD didn’t have a term-time job but worked hard during holidays and also used a £10k inheritance from her grandmother.

2021mumma · 16/01/2023 22:30

Paid for accommodation plus £50 per week for food

TheChosenTwo · 16/01/2023 23:10

Dd gets the minimum loan so we top up what she gets for the accommodation obviously as that’s not even half covered by the loan and then we send her £100 a week. We have a family phone plan so that’s covered anyway, has been for years.

DillDanding · 16/01/2023 23:12

Ours gets the minimum maintenance loan and we pay all his rent and other expenses.

Redsquirrel5 · 16/01/2023 23:20

I wanted DD to get apart time job so I paid her rent and we set up a weekly veggie box for her. She was in Uni 9-4/5pm. She learnt a lot in that first year and I don't mean at Uni!😁

londonmummy1966 · 16/01/2023 23:49

@Scribbydigs I can promise you that the minimum loan will NOT be enough for halls at UCL. Mine is at RCM and the halls there are nearly £200 a week. We decided not to take the loan as she is on nearly full scholarship so there are no fees. We pay rent, £500 in living expenses and have continued to pay her club bills which includes a gym and her phone and musical instrument insurance/maintenance etc. Las year she spent an evening teaching music at £35 an hour but has given it up. She also earns quite well on an ad hoc basis with various music and babysitting gigs. If she pops home I might take her round the supermarket but she is pretty good at only asking for things she needs if I do.

She didn't do a lot of work over the summer as she needed to go into college to practice and there were a number of musical opportunities she waned to do to get experience. In most cases she worked as pastoral/accompanist so that her travel etc was paid.