AIBU to say that a student loan can be enough to survive on at uni without having to get a job?

[Mickeyx0x0]

My son is in second year of uni. Due to a drop in our income due to pandemic, he has received full student loan last year and this year. If he had not got full loan, we would otherwise have made it up to the same amount with our parental contribution.

He has found the amount he has been awarded more than enough to live on, without needing to get a part time job. Perhaps it is the area his uni is in (Loughborough where costs are cheaper than some places). Maybe my son is more frugal than the average student (quite possibly; not sure about this one). I am just curious as to whether other people find that their student DC is can manage on their student loan without needing to work as well?

I couldn’t have survived on just my student loan. I got the minimum amount and no additional help from my parents so needed to work.

Yes, but OP was talking about the full loan. The amount every student should end up with. Not the student loan less the parental contribution. I wouldn't expect students to be able to get by on 1/2 the amount that has been calculated to be the amount needed.

Nope. I'm in London and get the max, about £12k, plus £2.5k grants
but many students choose not to apply to London for that reason. Everyone makes choices. Everyone knows cost of Living in London is considerably more than elsewhere.

Even outside of London, I don't think you can and yet hundreds of thousands of students do manage every year.

Cambridge Uni students aren’t allowed to work during term time, so they have to find a way to manage on their student loans.

But they also have far shorter terms than everyone else so far more weeks to work in the holidays. Also hugely subsidised (catered) accommodation in many colleges so accommodation is cheaper than in so many other Universities.

@Neverforgetwhothisisfor but the holidays are longer. I saved up in my gap year and also worked during the long holidays.

I couldn't live on a student loan alone 15 years ago very much doubt the majority of students can these days!
All of my housemates including myself worked, any friends who didn't were given extra cash by their parents.

It's also not a bad thing at preparing young people for work life and hard work balancing - I did a 30 hr a week course plus a part time job of 20 hours.

Agree with the advice to ensure they do some paid work before looking for graduate jobs. I think it makes an enormous difference.

I’m sure you can understand though that kids qualifying for £9000+ will be able to cope better without getting part time work than those only getting £4200!

The full student loan sounds tolerable but most students won't get the full loan. So I think you may be right but only in cheaper parts of the country and if the student gets the full loan.

well yeah obviously if he gets the full loan! i got about 4k a year at uni and my rent was over 5k for the year

@elelel Scottish funding is abysmal! £6750 MAX is shocking

It absolutely depends on the circumstances. My student loan was enough for me but I lived at home. My friends who needed to pay for accommodation, for the most part, had jobs.

Both my DDs get full student loans.The oldest one who graduated last year saved £5k from her loans. The other is in central London on £12k pa and has already saved £1k in her first term. They both know how to cook from basics and buy most of their clothes in charity shops (you'd never know). They have good social lives - pubs, clubs, theatre etc. But again they are sensible and 'pre-load' before nights out so they only need to buy one drink at pub/club prices. So it's more than possible to live comfortably on a full student loan.

I started university in 2008 on the full whack of student loan because I was a mature student by one year and classed as financially dependent thanks to x number of p60s (and because I'd been working in bar jobs and childcare my p60s were woeful!) As soon as my first lot of rent went out for my halls I was into my overdraft. So there was no way I would have survived without working. I was at Nottingham Uni so not a million miles from Loughborough and of course, 2008 was right when everything went crash.

I left in a lot of overdraft and credit card debt. I didn't want a credit card but had to in the end just to get food. I didn't go out that much, super clubs not being my thing. I was more of a house party and pub kind of girl.

Our DS is also at Loughborough. He can borrow about£4300 and we make it up to about £9500 and he manages on that plus summer and Christmas Tesco shifts. He’s on a stem course and I’d rather he didn’t do paid work term time as he has about 25 contact hours plus own study.
But - Loughborough halls were much more affordable than those at some Russell group unis. Hard to see how you can make £9500 stretch if your hall fees are £8k.

I would say in most areas not possible

@adviceneeded300385

well yeah obviously if he gets the full loan! i got about 4k a year at uni and my rent was over 5k for the year

The shortfall between the full loan and the amount awarded is the amount intended to be the parental contribution. In theory, all students would recieve the same amount comprising student maintenance loan and top up from parents.

[quote YerAWizardHarry]@elelel Scottish funding is abysmal! £6750 MAX is shocking[/quote]
Northern Ireland’s is less than that! It’s awful!
I think when people talk about large student loans it’s those who apply to student finance England. I really do feel for these students who get thousands less every term than their English counterparts.

Due to redundancy my DS gets full student loan. He can manage very easily as he’s a miser. He could only eat the most expensive brands when I was paying, he’s miraculously cured now he’s paying.

DS got maximum grant due to my low income as a lone parent - it only just covered accommodation (Manchester) he worked pt and I did occasional food shop - paid mobile etc
DD got full grant and lived at home but still needed a pt job to cover extra costs

It's also worth saying that most students opt for halls accommodation with private ensuites these days - which are much more expensive. Cheaper and better for mental health to go for the shared bathrooms - students with the ensuites can become much more isolated as they have less reason to leave their room.

Due to various circumstances dd only has £6500 this year and is managing fine, she's not a party animal thankfully and bulk buys chick peas and rice basically

@sessell

It's also worth saying that most students opt for halls accommodation with private ensuites these days - which are much more expensive. Cheaper and better for mental health to go for the shared bathrooms - students with the ensuites can become much more isolated as they have less reason to leave their room.

Agree with this. DS reduced accommodation costs dramatically by opting for shared bathroom facilities.

My dcs get the minimum, but with our contribution they end up with about the same as the loan the op is referring to. I’ve got three dcs at Uni, two have part time jobs and one doesn’t. The two who work like to socialise more, so work to give themselves more spending money. They’ve also spent the Christmas break trying to convince their sibling to get a job because they feel they’ve learned a lot from the experience and gained confidence.

The shortfall between the full loan and the amount awarded is the amount intended to be the parental contribution. In theory, all students would recieve the same amount comprising student maintenance loan and top up from parents

Right, but the ‘calculation’ doesn’t take into account anything else. You might just squeeze into the category meaning your eldest gets the minimum loan but you still have three younger children at home to pay for so can’t give the £4500 per year required!

But not all parents can pay the top up.

Our outgoings are much higher as we rent, which is about twice the cost of a mortgage where we live. Can’t afford to buy, can’t afford to move. And we’re in one of the cheapest properties not living the life of luxury.

The way DD looks at is that there are pros and cons to not having to work vs having to. Her friends who don’t work have more free time and more time to study, however she’ll have the benefits of work experience and references after uni. She also mentioned she feels quite satisfied with being able to support herself and not have to reply on us. I imagine it must feel very grown up at that age!

@Redlocks28

The shortfall between the full loan and the amount awarded is the amount intended to be the parental contribution. In theory, all students would recieve the same amount comprising student maintenance loan and top up from parents

Right, but the ‘calculation’ doesn’t take into account anything else. You might just squeeze into the category meaning your eldest gets the minimum loan but you still have three younger children at home to pay for so can’t give the £4500 per year required!

It doesn’t take into account when you have twins going at the same time either.