Student and Universal Credit Woes

[Kefte123]

I'm currently a full-time university student and a single mum with two children. I ended up splitting up with my partner of over a decade, partly because he didn't want to move closer to university with us.

So I found my own house to rent and I sorted my student finance and applied for universal credit. I thought I'd be okay, because I had someone do an assessment of my entitlements from a charity prior to moving in and I've had single friends who have done the same and I spoke to them about finances (they were on tax credits). I really felt I'd be okay.

Today after several weeks of waiting I got my Universal credits award of £88. If my eldest child wasn't disabled it would have been £0.

Basically, I'm now living on student finance, child benefit and £88....and my son's DLA. I don't get much more than a single mother out of work or student without dependents, except I have books, transport (fuel, parking, insurance, upkeep), school dinners and 15% childcare costs (approx £500 per month , that's if my car doesn't need major repairs). So I'm worse off than them. I've searched for help with bursaries and financial aid, and I don't know where to turn.

It doesn't help that student finance isn't paid in a regular sum. It is paid in smaller increments at the start of the two semesters (get just over half in that period), then a larger sum towards the end of the second semester. Which means my actual time at university for 9 months is only about £700 month. How is a mother with 2 children supposed to live off that?

So now I feel terrible: I've broken my relationship down, I've moved my children into a different home and new schools and I'm now just poor and verging on quitting everything. I don't think I have enough money to survive over the course of the Christmas period, I have just around £600 - that's for rent/car payments/fuel/food/electricity. On top of that my house was rented with no carpets or flooring. I have barely any furniture. This is poverty.

I have a very intensive degree on a foundation programme for medicine, which means there is no time to work around the degree as a single parent and I could only work Sundays (and I would have to rely on my partner for childcare). My ex-partner does give some support, but it's not enough to fill that gap as he doesn't earn much more than minimum wage himself and has a mortgage to pay.

I'm desperately trying all avenues for help, checking if the universal credits is correct. The helpline was unsympathetic and saying I should just budget and how I get £10,000 a year in student finance and anyone can survive fine on just that. I keep breaking down my basic outgoings and how they don't cover my income, they don't care. I'm losing the will to live and I have two summative essays of 2000 words to hand in by Thursday and I can't concentrate. I'm so close to failure.

Do you claim child maintenance from the father of the children via the CSA ? He should be paying you money

8dayweek, thanks for the breakdown and I logged in to check on UC website several times to examine the payment.

Those amounts are correct. Then I have 'Other Income' which is around £1200 removed pound for pound. I also have an advanced payment of £300 that got me through the weeks of waiting, so about £40 is removed for that too. Most of my friends with children on the same course are getting £0 because they don't have a carer or disabled element, I cannot even begin to imagine how they're coping. It feels sickening that I should even be thankful for my son's disorder. I'm having a conversation with someone because she thinks the other income taken off from the loan is wrong, that is should only be around £6,000 for the 9 months, I'm trying desperately find guidance of how student finance other income is calculated. There is no clarity anywhere - different sites say different things.

Strangely, Universal Credits would have also been higher 2 years ago, because the higher threshold maintenance loan was split into basic maintenance loan and a special support element which the latter would have been discounted. I would have been £200/300 month better off, which would have made everything okay. Now it's just the overall maintenance loan which is all taken to account.

Looking at student forums and speaking to my friends about their experiences with tax credits only a few years ago, students are £1000s a year off to all the changes the government has implemented for student finance and benefits system.

Have you applied for student parent allowance? It's seperate to benefits I think. Talk to your university, their hardship fumds will help if you have to have a car to be able to reasonably do your course. Have a look at any and every bursary for your university, you will probably be eligible for one of them, even if it's something wierd like a vegetarian society one. Good luck.

Please don't give up. I don't know what to suggest. You're actually an inspiration. There's a book you can probably borrow from the library called something like "a guide to grants for individuals in need" it's by the DSC (directory of social change) try that - some grants are made because of your surname (if it's a qualifying surname) do you live in a wind farm area? They might have a community benefit fund which may support education for individuals. Check out your local community foundation - they might also do grants or scholarships for individuals.
Contact the uni about accommodation - they often have flats for PhD students, maybe they'd rent one to you instead?
What about your local authority? Do they have funds? Most do and are sat on! My local authority has hundreds of thousands restricted to help with dental work for poor people (it can't spend it in modern circumstances!)
Good luck. I hope you find a way through this.

You've probably considered most of the things on here but just in case

www.gingerbread.org.uk/information/benefits-tax-credits-and-universal-credit/if-youre-planning-to-study/money-for-higher-education-students/

In a year or so would one of your children be able to start going home alone after school to cut down on childcare costs (I see that one of your sons is disabled so I understand that he probably wouldn't be able to).

I don't think that your selfish at all, it's a long course but your circumstances will change (hopefully improve) over that time. If you give up now you will regret it in the long term.

"Do you claim child maintenance from the father of the children via the CSA ? He should be paying you money"

Yes and No. We haven't come to an agreement of any monthly payment. He does help me out financially when able.

Last week his van (for work) broke down and cost around £1,000, so I know he's struggling significantly too. He also has a mortgage and only just earns above minimum wage. We'll have a face-to-face chat and breakdown what he can afford soon, he's working away atm.

My son's disability means I cannot live in student accommodation supplied by the university. He sometimes requires emergency treatment and his SEN school location needed to take into account that both myself and his dad would be an emergency contact. Then his SEN school needed to be in the catchment area of where I live. So I do commute several miles to university. Also, SEN school taxi will only drop off at a childcare on the same street, so I had to find a house to rent with childcare on that street.

Sounds so difficult OP. I’m a LP and graduated last year, luckily I was still on tax credits, which weren’t affected at all by student finance income. With my tax credits, housing benefit, child benefit, DLA, scholarship, student finance and self employed earnings I got about £40k a year, which made life so much easier (although I now owe student finance £50k!). I just can’t fathom how UC can justify removing benefits money pound for pound because you have a student LOAN. It’s so wrong, and basically makes it nigh on impossible for single parents to study.

Definitely speak to the uni about a hardship grant.

The crazy thing is, even if you don't take the loan they still calculate it in as if you have.

No, the don’t

And even if they did. You ring up hmrc and update then accurately

I receive benefits. No judgement here. I think UC gets a bashing but a lot of it is down to adults not taking ownership of their finances and filling in forms fully and in good time; ringing hmrc if they have queetions (rather than posting on mum she); providing info requested etc

Have you check your university website to see if they have a bursary for low income students?

just can’t fathom how UC can justify removing benefits money pound for pound because you have a student LOAN.

But you only pay back the loan when you are in employment

Makes total sense

They will look at the maximum grants you could get. Tuition fees ignored. Make sure you are claiming every grant or bursarie you are entitled to

They will look at the maximum grants you could get. Tuition fees ignored. Make sure you are claiming every grant or bursarie you are entitled to

Wrong.

They will bar calculations on what you tell them. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The official line is they take it all into account whether you claim it or not and some are disregarded. If they are only looking at what you are claiming not what your entitled to i would be wary

@Shepherdspieisminging

Yes I know UC factors it in.

But they don’t assume you have taken out all loans available. They base it in what you tell them

The official line is they take it all into account whether you claim it or not and some are disregarded.

Simply not true

Hmrc have nothing to do with UC.

What????!

Hang on, OP. If your kids are 11 and 12, do they need childcare? What childcare do you use?

Also, you have a partner but the kids dad (violent?) has them sometimes?

Good on you for leaving ex and doing further education.

I worry that your universal credit claim has not been calculated correctly.

How student income is treated for those claiming Universal Credits:

1. www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Student-income-Universal-Credit 2)www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/618965/admh6.pdf

And for completeness - How student income is treated for those claiming tax credits: revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/what-is-income/student-income/

From official government guidance that benefit advisors use.

This is from my universal claim when I was a single parent student:

‘The figure for calculation we take into account is £6043 of your loans disregarding the figures you receive for childcare and tuition etc.
This figure is then divided by 11 which is the amount of Assessment periods your course covers minus £110 per AP.
So £6043/11-110=£439.39.
I then need to put the figure of £439.39 as other income and a start date of September when your course started.’

think going back to study medicine at university is a luxury that most parents would struggle to finance, and one that seems absolute lunacy to be considering in your position with two children to support. It all seems very selfish

Me too. Given the ages of the children they will be almost adults when you qualify so even if you get a job they won't benefit from it for long so will have been raised on benefits for most of their childhood.

The time for eductaion at this level is pre children. Following your dreams should never come at the expense of others.

Also agree that student loans should be counted as income given how many see them as free money and never pay them back.