Is studying in London possible on basic loans?

[GoldfinchesInTheTree]

My daughter is really keen to apply to a London uni - probably KCL.

We don't have a great income and have had a patchwork of disability and jobs so no savings at all. There is an access scheme for lower incomes but it's at 42k which combined we are just over 😬.

We will struggle to top her loan up but we think we can do that.

Is it possible to survive in London on London loan??? She's autistic so working isn't a given although she's keen. She is very bright and capable but really needs down time so I'm wary of relying on her managing a job and study 😬.

Should we encourage her not to do this.

Is it even more expensive after the first year (presumably you find your own accommodation then). She would struggle I think with commuting a long way in and out each day.

She is so taken with London and with a graduate scheme she wants to do after but I'm worried we don't have the financial backing.

Edit: This doesn't make sense, I tried to quote Come From Away who was talking about Liverpool and Sheffield

Yes, DD managed reasonably easily on full loan ( topped up to full) in Liverpool, with tutoring an hour a week in term time and working as much as she could in holidays. We live in Sheffield and students we know are OK on full loan, and rent in 2nd and 3rd Yr can be as little as £125 per week bills included.

OP you mentioned Cardiff, I think that's the cheapest of the places you suggested. Exeter and Southampton are pretty pricey without the extra loan for London

Good luck working it out OP!
FWIW DD1 (graduated 2024) managed fine at a Uni of London institution slightly outside London with about 12k per year. Her rent in Y2 and Y3 was around £500 pcm. I appreciate that London proper may well be more.

Wow well done! I got a "top" degree myself but compeltely crashed and burned and am just in the middle of autism/adhd assessments now. I am gutted things didn't turn out differently in my own story and that knock on effect for my daughter.

What did you go on to do?

Living at home and going to London wouldn't be possible here unfortunately so it is looking very unlikely we can make that work but I've loved hearing your "success story"

Our daughter is at KCL. She wasn't keen on living out, and as we live in London she just commutes in. Lots on her course do the same.

The few she knows who live in accommodation are in Canada Water as its cheaper halls, but not sure it works out much less in the long run as they still have to commute in.. perhaps the more central halls are better as walking to uni is an option.

Ah yes amazing opportunity if you live in London ❤️.

She saw one that was cheaper nearer guys Hospital and was hoping to walk but I think from what everyone's said uni might be impossible

https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa

dsa isn’t just a laptop etc there is lots of money you can access.

I think she will need a job. My friend and a great gig in a small supermarket bakery for 6 hours on a Saturday.

I used to do silver service waitressing and kitchen portering for events. It’s a great one in London as there are loads of events but you can choose which ones to work at so no need to work around deadlines or when you’re burnt out/ overwhelmed. You can also go to some really cool places too.

Would she consider a course at Imperial? They offer grants of £5K not repayable each year if parental income is under £60K on top of the maximum loan. They have halls accommodation en suite for around £6,800 in N Acton only a few tube stops away and the halls are sociable. I think in exceptional cases there is halls accommodation for other years too.

you don’t get actual cash though. You get items or services. So travel exirjsesxeouod usually be a designated taxi firm if the student had a reason related to their disability why they can’t get normal public transport.

Of course she can go to uni OP. I am sure you can make it work.

I understand what you mean about work though because my dd is ND and would struggle to combine a demanding course with work during term time.

i think taking a year out to work and save could be a good option.

Wow! We will look into that. She might count as exceptional given disabilities but possibly not.. Thankyou!!!

@GoldfinchesInTheTree @Turmerictolly
I was coming on to say exactly the same.
DD looked at imperial and UCL. 4k bursary available at imperial, 1k at UCL.
She'll need top grades to get into imperial but might as well apply.
What degree course does she actually want to study? Previous posts were vague.
What job does she eventually want?

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/undergraduate/bursaries-grants-scholarships/imperial-bursary/

Currently looking at biochemistry or biomedical type courses and then clinical scientist training which is at Cardiff or KCL (paid 3years at band 6 and then enter at band 7) is her current choice.

Honestly … she would be so much better off in a cheaper city, my autistic dd rented a studio as she struggled with shared accommodation, doable on her student loan in Cardiff, not possible in London. Southampton accommodation in year 2+ is a lot cheaper than London and nicer, but far more than Cardiff (I had one at each)

Ah, it’s on a sliding scale, sorry. Still a small amount available and doesn’t have to be repaid and their accommodation in Acton is as cheap as Southampton.

Correct. DSA does not give you any money, just a small subsidy for a basic laptop, printer, assistive tech and mentor, support.

She's also still half considering medicine and is doing some work experience in the hospital after her gcses.

Thanks for sharing that about imperial! She's spent this evening looking at accommodation costs at exeter/southampton/cardiff/reading and also trying to work out how much more she'd need for London.

Oooh really. Cardiff and Southampton are her (as of today anyway) top 2 choices!

Thankyou I do think that will be important. Cardiff a bit further from us but yes money is rather useful....

But that won't help day to day living I don't think? It's for special equipment, transport in special circumstances etx

I think it's the year after halls where the differences are so apparent. £100 a week or £250 a week in rent. It adds up, particularly for longer courses.

From second year, private landlords in London will generally only rent for 52 weeks whereas outside London they would allow 40 weeks. Obviously 52 weeks is much more costly than 40 weeks. My dd is in her final year. Her course ends in April but she is paid up rent until September.

The rental market is brutal. Your dd is not likely to be able to afford on her own. So she will need to find at least one friend to flatshare with probably a larger group of friends to keep the cost down. Will her autism affect her ability to find flatmates? My dd, also autistic, did not look into the cost of renting a room, so maybe that is an option.

Landlords often don't like to rent to students. Those that do will require a guarantee from parents, guaranteeing not just their child's rent but other tenants'. There are threads on this. There is a financial test for guarantors. My dd's friends whose parents did not meet the financial test were forced to continue to rent from student accommodation blocks like Unite which did not require guarantees but weren't particularly cheap either. The further out you go, the cheaper it is.

What we have learned is that finding a hall that's affordable doesn't mean you can secure a place in that hall. The cheaper ones will likely be very oversubscribed.

With an official autism dx she should be able to get DSA. One of the adaptations this can pay for is topping up hall fees eg if she needs an en suite to help her cope in halls. Basically she pays the full cost of a cheaper hall and gets a "free upgrade" to an ensuite room. She needs to talk to the specific unis though and I emphasise, while her diagnosis might help her secure a suitable hall, she can't assume she will be offered a hall at the price she prefers.

My daughter is also autistic. Working a zero hours contract in holidays only has been the making of her and she would thoroughly recommend it. It's built her self esteem, perspective and social skills so much. She needs all these for uni just as much as she needs the grades. It's a really strong building block in her education, part of it and very much not a waste of time.

@Antonania you are right that halls or student accommodation are generally only for first years. Majority get turfed out in their second year into the private rental market. My dd had a room in a student accommodation block but found they would not let her stay for the second year. Those that managed to stay on made 'friends' with the staff to try and wrangle another year.

Can I ask what zero hours contract work your dd managed to find in the holidays? Dd never succeeded in even getting an interview for anything.

I was just going to ask the same question! She would be keen to work holidays (and is keen to work after she finishes gcses) but is unlikely to manage it during term time - particularly if away from home. All the jobs we can think of are saturday/Sunday jobs where they do extra in the holidays.

I was at a uni where I wasn't allowed to work during term time and I did a lot of tempting to fund things but thigns were different then...