University living costs

[Tevion28]

Hi posting here for traffic but do any of you have dc going off to university this year and will be subsidising them or leaving them to it.
Have found that my ds will have £179 a month left for first 3 months after he has paid his rent. This is supposed to cover food, travel clothes. Whats your experience of any dc you already have at uni.

Limewise off the top of my head its roughly £640 a month

Many universities in the arse end of nowhere with not much going on

But many universities are also in the middle of large cities full of restaurants, bars, cinemas and convenience stores etc that are currently crying out for staff.

This is definitely one of those issues where what is 'typical for MN' is not necessarily typical for the wider UK population.

Its very tough, your dc won't survive on the amount left after paying rent. I think they really need around the full maintenance loan amount to survive, so living costs of about 9 k a year if living away from home.
Its unfair that the maintenance loan they can get is based on their parents income, unwritten expectation parents can and will top up to max loan loan amount.
we paid DDs rent and she lived off loan she got (minimum amount) its been tough , during covid she was unable to find traditional student jobs of bar work, retail etc. There is a lot of competition for jobs in student towns they are not easy to come by. She has now managed to work through summer so has a bit of a buffer. From September she us doing an unpaid placement/sandwich year so still supporting her financially.

@TractorAndHeadphones why are they in the arse end of nowhere though that's odd?! Surely it's beneficial for everyone to have university's in central city/town locations.

Most students in Ireland actually travel home every weekend anyway to work in their hometown as they usually stay in their previous summer job and work weekends only in term time.

Even on the full amount its barely doable

Limewise how much is your dc rent

As I said before when dd ws studying in Chester she couldn't get a job for (admittedly in a pandermic) as all the retail wanted people who were fully flexible over 7 days.

In London however she got the first job she applied for.

Ds (at college) is currently having the same issue in Staffordshire. Everywhere either wants over 18's or hours when he is not available due to being at college.

I think the government should be looking at household outgoings not just the household income.

Ds had difficulty fitting around college before but I think his uni city should have plenty of jobs hopefully although it has 2 University so competition could be tough

I certainly think a London weighting for parents accommodation costs should be taken into consideration

DS's Hall fees in year 1 were £84 a week. He is now year 3 and the same same room is £140.
The unis are obviously trying to claw back lost revenue from last year but really?
His course has also had 6 months added onto it, due to covid, so we will have to pay out for longer as well.

@qualitygirl because so many jobs don't have regular hours. They want flexibility, which many students, especially those with very full on courses with lots of contact hours, aren't able to do.

There are jobs of course, but they aren't as plentiful in 2021 covid UK.

The funding system under the Tories is a joke considering they had it all paid for them the rich stay rich.

No, even in our day, parents were assessed on how much they earned, for a parental contribution. I remember a friend of mine always struggled financially, because his father was a self employed professional and his accounts for the year were produced much later, than the year in question - so the assessment was always later, and he never got his parental contribution on time.

One of my friend's parents refused to pay their contribution for him, as they wanted him to go to college to do a sandwich course, not a degree at Oxford, which they thought was a waste of time.

I was lucky, my father had a relatively low income, and my parents only had to pay £40 a term (compared to the grant of £300 a term), and they paid it.

I don't want to hear about how we got tuition fees for free - DH has paid more in tax a year and some, than our tuition fees combined for three years would have been.

@RampantIvy yes I suppose that's a part of my question? Why is it students in Ireland can do it but U.K. students can't?

Why is it students in Ireland can do it but U.K. students can't? It's been explained lots of times on this thread, part time jobs with regular hours are like hen's teeth where I live,too many people going for them or zero contract hours. Ds was going to stay in his student house over summer to work and despite everyone on here saying the hospitality business are crying out for staff it wasn't his experience. Fortunately he found some work at home instead.

[quote qualitygirl]@RampantIvy yes I suppose that's a part of my question? Why is it students in Ireland can do it but U.K. students can't? [/quote]
Because employers, especially in hospitality where most of the jobs are right now, plan shifts a week or two in advance, and want complete flexibility from their student employees, which many of them aren't able to provide during term time because they have lectures, seminars, lab sessions, other academic commitments.

DD's course, for example has several hours of lectures a week, seminars and in normal times at least 6 hours of labs a week with all the associated prep work and writing up work. Not all university courses have the same levels of work.

I don't know why you are struggling to understand this.

Thank you @MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Why is it students in Ireland can do it but U.K. students can't? It's been explained lots of times on this thread, part time jobs with regular hours are like hen's teeth where I live,too many people going for them or zero contract hours. Ds was going to stay in his student house over summer to work and despite everyone on here saying the hospitality business are crying out for staff it wasn't his experience. Fortunately he found some work at home instead.

Ask the employers. They won't employ anyone round here unless you guarantee you are available 24/7 at a couple of week's notice even if you are only contracted to do 16 hours per week.

Student can't guarantee that in term time.

The other thing is timing of getting a job too. Places are opening up now and need staff now. Dd got the first job she applied for in London, but they needed her to start (and complete the full time training week) at the end of July. The job won't be available in Sept/Oct to students arriving then. So we have had to finance almost 2 months of accommodation for her in a new, expensive city when she won't get her first pay until the end of this month.

I think employers are having to be a bit more flexible at the moment - they aren't finding the staff.
The issue my dcs will have is only being around to work term time - I would not expect them to stay at Uni year round if this was the only way they could get a job to fund themselves especially in first year. Also term time is hard to find the time if you have a lab based course, with lectures in the morning and labs in the afternoon - I want them to socialise and make friends, I want them to go out - not in an extravagant way but they should have fun too! Both are working over the summer and will get summer jobs, I think that's as much as I expect.

Yes people scream out to students get a job get a job but its not that easy to work around thier studies. I'm sure its no walk in the park to study work and have a life.

@Limewine

I think employers are having to be a bit more flexible at the moment - they aren't finding the staff. The issue my dcs will have is only being around to work term time - I would not expect them to stay at Uni year round if this was the only way they could get a job to fund themselves especially in first year. Also term time is hard to find the time if you have a lab based course, with lectures in the morning and labs in the afternoon - I want them to socialise and make friends, I want them to go out - not in an extravagant way but they should have fun too! Both are working over the summer and will get summer jobs, I think that's as much as I expect.

It's very likely dd won't be home for Christmas as she will most likely have to work Xmas Eve. In order to get a job compatable with her studies it's year round. She can request holiday, but not for the entire summer.

I know alot of posters won't agree with me but I'm happy for ds to focus on just his studies and enjoy free time chilling even if it costs me he has so many working years ahead of him

I did a stem degree and worked mainly in the holidays as the course was really full time. I did 2 eve a week waitressing in my 2nd year but found it impossible in my 3rd. £100 a week is quite a bit of free cash! Get him to do a budget. He might also like to go travelling/ sking etc during the holidays- how will he pay for it? You can’t force him into a job but maybe sow the seeds?