How do average families in the North fund a child who wants to study in London ?

[Thekatzenjammerkid]

DS 2 in Y12 is hoping to study Maths at Uni. He’s doing really well academically and looking at various universities all over the country, none of them in London. Asked him why knowing that UCL and LSE are amongst the best, and his answer was that London is just too expensive and out of reach.
Just wondered how kids from ordinary backgrounds outside of London and the S/E get to study there ? Obviously there must be some, most will max out their student loan and/or work but courses at these institutions are understandably intense with a big work load and getting a job might not be an option if you want good grades…Is London out or is there something I’m missing ?

Distance was a criteria when my dd was choosing unis and I think that it was a smart thing to consider because train travel isn’t cheap and she couldn’t take her car because her uni is in a city.

She wanted a campus uni in a city so London was out. She also wanted to end up with less student debt and knows London pretty well (I live an hour away on the slow train ) so picked other cities for the adventure aspect.

Presumably you are looking for some answer other than families start saving far in advance.

@Ponderingwindow I’m not paid amazingly tbh (nurse) and can’t save loads. Most of his child benefit has gone into a savings account for him but that’s not a huge amount.

My recommendation to ours was not to choose London or the South because it's a) too expensive and b) too far from home when they want to come back for a weekend.

No reason for choosing London over, say, Manchester. Or Durham. Or York.

All of which are far more accessible to us.

KCL gives generous bursaries to those on a maximum student loan and I expect others do the same. They also get a higher maintenance loans. Central halls are naturally pricier, but it gets cheaper the further out you go.

To be fair the concept of saving for Uni is a relatively new thing and even as parents of a 12 Yr old we are only just realising that's what we need to do.

@BoohooWoohoo agree, good idea. He’s probably going to apply to Manchester and Sheffield but I think it’s with some reserve as he really wanted to move away and get the genuine student experience (his older brother hasn’t moved out for uni, stayed local, and DS2 feels he’s missed out)….He’s off on a trip to Cambridge with school in July and weirdly I’ve heard that accommodation could be more reasonable there due to the huge wealth of individual colleges.

I was really relieved when ds ruled London unis out, at least partly because of cost, though not only that. My niece studied at UCL (not maths) and accommodation costs were eye-watering as it wasn't her first choice.

@PermanentTemporary yes I guess if you go via clearing you don’t get much choice.
@Dearover thanks for that. Interesting to know.

We told ours that London isn't an option. It's not fair, but that's life. We have saved but not to that extent. Health issues meant we really didn't want them burning themselves out working to pay for it, although they do have jobs.
Is Oxbridge an option? In the end it wasn't for us, but I was surprised at it being an economical choice and one of their friends found he got financial help.

OP has your DS actually done the sums to see how expensive it is?
Rents are high in London but everything else is the same, or cheaper. Depending on where in the NW you are. Pubs and restaurants in Manchester City Centre for example are the same price as Central London. Supermarkets are the same nationally.

LSE and Imperial are prestigious, UCL isn't better than any other more well-regarded uni for maths. The difference isn't THAT big. So if he's not interested in the London experience no point in going there.

Having said that there are more career events in London

Fellow northerner here. I think the main thing to consider is distance. DD isn't at that stage yet and while I would support her decision to go wherever she wants for uni (if she wants to go at all that is) I would encourage her to not go too far away for the logistics of getting back etc. Most people my age that went to uni went a max of 2/3 hours away

@twistyizzy I went to university in the early nineties and my parents funded all living costs, it's really not a new thing.

I just told mine we couldn't afford it 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Thekatzenjammerkid it wasn't clearing, it was her insurance choice. A lot of universities don't guarantee accommodation in those circumstances.

Ds is at Cambridge, it's pretty manageable financially.

I went to uni in 90s and my LA gave a grant + no course fees so my parents didn't pay anything

I live in the south east and London would have been too expensive for my dcs too.

30 years ago it was too expensive for me!

@twistyizzy because you qualified for a grant, my parents were both teachers and earned too much so I didn't. The system of means testing families is really old!

Oxbridge is a funny one as you need to pick the right college which can fund your interests. DD had most of her sporting activities funded which suited her as she was able to go on overseas training camps. Another friend's DC went to a college which paid for all their books and language courses on top. Another gets musical stuff subsidised. That type of funding isn't means tested.

Many colleges will automatically give bursaries to those on maximum maintenance loans without even having to apply.

It becomes more expensive if you go to a college which doesn't provide accommodation for each year. It also quickly adds up if you need to stay outside of the core term times.

We live in Norfolk - my kids didn't apply to any of the London universities because London is so expensive.

We can't afford London unis and have said so outright.

Id really love not to pay to go away for uni (our Australian relatives just choose one in their city and live at home...) or do a degree apprenticeship but it is the norm in their school.

We're in the south so "cheaper north" is out balanced by "so far away".

I'm getting anxious about it all already

I don’t know anyone who didn’t have a part time job at uni. We all did STEM subjects, lots of lecture hours, but still found time to work and socialise (lots of socialising!). Working part time gives you an appreciation of earning money and time management.

@Dearover that sounds really complicated. How does one get all this college info?

Warwick is vg for maths and Coventry is pretty reasonable for living costs.

We were upfront - we can't afford to cover London (or Bristol, or similar) accomodation costs, so if that's where they want, they'll need to take a year out first to work and save.

We give all we can, but can't magic up money that's not there.

You shortlist colleges which you like the look of and which do your subject and visit them at the open days. There's usually info available on what financial support is available. You apply to a college you think will be a good fit & tonight have a chance of getting an offer from.

The tricky bit is getting the offer, as you usually have to sit entrance exams before being selected for interview. Many courses only make offers to around 10% of applicants and even then you still need to get the grades. They don't make any contextual offers (despite the MN rumour mill).