Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

186 replies

Mickeyx0x0 · 08/01/2022 23:10

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?

OP posts:
fluffythedragonslayer · 09/01/2022 08:10

My son won't be eligible for the full loan but we can't afford to to up the payments to the full amount. If he wants to go to uni he will have to get a job! It all feels very out of our reach to be honest, I've been doing some of the costings and I don't know how it can be managed as the course DS will want to do is very full on, I don't know if he will manage a job as well but it's the only way it will happen. I'm quite stressed about it!!

Hillary17 · 09/01/2022 08:13

I received full student loan, around £8000. Lived in halls of residence for my first year (in the Midlands) with a shared bathroom to save money at around £3.5k. It’s hard honestly and not easily done when you take into account transport, books, food, clothing, socialising… it’s a big list! The cheaper the halls the further you are from campus for one thing. I worked part time jobs throughout my whole degree; bars, supermarket, waitressing etc. it helped me have a more comfortable time and I don’t think I’d have had the same experience if I’d scraped by on just my student loan. Probably can be done but also didn’t want to just live on beans on toast.

ffscovid · 09/01/2022 08:17

It depends. Back in the day of the grant, students generally lived a very frugal life. They usually had a single room in a shared house, bought secondhand clothes, used the coach to travel home in the holidays and ate beans on toast for tea most nights (generalising but you get the gist).
Now, most students I know live in their own studio flats, have the latest iPhones, run a car, eat out and / or use Deliveroo several times a week, have subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Price etc., and so on.
If living a genuine frugal life, yes I do think most could manage. If living the lifestyle that most young people seem to want then no.

hugr · 09/01/2022 08:18

@Mickeyx0x0

DD is currently looking at going to Bath uni later this year. Although some accommodation is very expensive (about £8000), there is cheaper accommodation of £74 per week (sharing a bedroom) . It is her first experience of making sensible life decisions to realise that she won't be able to choose the more expensive accommodation (with en-suite showers and double beds) because it won't leave her enough to live on.
I think what you're trying to imply through yours posts is that students should make choices based on their circumstances. Why isn't working alongside study the same as choosing a cheaper accommodation. I honestly can't imagine sharing a room at uni, that would have been my worst nightmare. I didn't even realise accommodation like that was available in the UK.
Darbs76 · 09/01/2022 08:21

DS2 goes this Autumn, thankfully for him his dads been working overseas for the last 2yrs and has saved enough cash so that he doesn’t need a loan. He will however be expected to work in the holidays. As others have said students really need actual work experience as this is essential when applying for jobs post graduation.
I went to Uni and had 2 jobs (and a 4yr old DS1 when I started) and I got a lot of skills doing those jobs. DS2 will also look for some intern opportunities when at Uni, he’s looked for post A level but not been able to find anything at that level so he will get some paid work.

pumpkinpie01 · 09/01/2022 08:31

My Dd is in her 3rd year . She had already paid this terms rent which leaves her with £66 a week , her dad gives her £30 a week and I pay her bills . She works in a restaurant and earns minimum £250 a month plus she does gel nails. So this term she will be absolutely fine and will hopefully leave Uni without an overdraft to pay off

FindingMeno · 09/01/2022 08:39

What would be more interesting is knowing the range of accommodation costs or else it's 'how long is a piece of string'.
Another factor is cost of fares and incidental materials ( eg cost of books for various courses)

Whatayear81 · 09/01/2022 08:41

It is so dependent on location and, even more importantly, the student him or herself.

Would just the loan have been enough for me…. Not a chance!
For your son, it is

FindingMeno · 09/01/2022 08:43

@fluffythedragonslayer I feel the same.
It makes you really see the advantage that students with very well off parents have.

Whatayear81 · 09/01/2022 08:45

As for my approach for my children

I don’t want them to work during their uni years (unless they want to!) because I can support them so I want them to have three years for studying and enjoying themselves. They have decades ahead of them of work. Decade upon decade. For three years I want them to let their hair down properly and truly! Like I did and now a very sensible, highly professional single parent!

Whatayear81 · 09/01/2022 08:47

* Now, most students I know live in their own studio flats, *

Sounds awful! House shares when our a student are part of he experience for many

Balanced12 · 09/01/2022 08:50

Some students will start with nothing, if they haven't been helped with household items, and additional equipment for courses + accommodation all year round it's going to be exceptionally difficult

Abraxan · 09/01/2022 08:53

Dd only gets the base level student loan. It doesn't cover her rent.

Those not receiving the full loan should have it topped up to the full amount by parents. That's the expectation, and why it's based on parents income. Unfortunately too many parents don't fulfil this expectation. Even then though, in some areas the full loan (or base loan with parent top up) isn't going to be enough because of living costs being dearer in those areas.

We add to DD's loan. Her course required her to do work experience and placements, so having a part time job isn't really possible for a lot of the time. Not many part time jobs will be happy with an employee not being able to work for 6-8 weeks at a time, for example. However, in the summer holidays when back there is an expectation from us that she will pursue relevant work experience, which is usually voluntary and unpaid. The relevant work experience will actually be more beneficial to her than part time work in a shop/cafe etc and we are fortunate enough to be in a position to do that. I (and she) know she is very lucky in being able to do that.

lljkk · 09/01/2022 08:54

It is apparent that all of the unis offer cheaper accommodation if you are prepared to share a room and share bathroom facilities

No Shared accommodation was offered at all when DD started Uni (autumn 2020 Covid precaution).

2nd year we had to scramble (last minute collapse of other plans) & take what was on offer, DD had nice housemates lined up we didn't want to lose them & she was very averse to living with strangers (all her friends had their own places organised by then). Neither nice flatmate wanted to live in far-flung suburbs, they can walk to class/work/shops which has saved commuting stress & cost.

So yeah, other options may exist, but they aren't necessarily simple ones.

DD will be sofa surfing &/or flat hunting again soon, oh joy...

pinkstinks · 09/01/2022 08:54

Also now unis can charge so much they have so many more students. There isn’t enough uni accom and often you don’t get a choice. Look at the controversy with Bristol housing students in wales!!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-49672905.amp

user1471504747 · 09/01/2022 08:54

@ffscovid

It depends. Back in the day of the grant, students generally lived a very frugal life. They usually had a single room in a shared house, bought secondhand clothes, used the coach to travel home in the holidays and ate beans on toast for tea most nights (generalising but you get the gist). Now, most students I know live in their own studio flats, have the latest iPhones, run a car, eat out and / or use Deliveroo several times a week, have subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Price etc., and so on. If living a genuine frugal life, yes I do think most could manage. If living the lifestyle that most young people seem to want then no.
Most of the students you know live in studio flats? I’d suggest you know a very specific minority of students and this can not be used to generalise to students as a whole.

Do you genuinely believe this is how students and young people are living? You sound very out of touch.

JustLyra · 09/01/2022 08:55

Unfortunately too many parents don't fulfil this expectation.

Unfortunately too many parents can’t fulfil this expectation.

Abraxan · 09/01/2022 08:55

@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.
But most of these en-suite rooms, and some halls only have them available, are usually grouped together. So 4-6 en-suite bedrooms but all within one flat with shared kitchen and sitting areas.

Or do you mean the en-suite studios which have their own kitchen space too?

I don't think the en-suite rooms are particularly isolating. It's not like students will gather together round a shared bathroom, in my experience,

user1487194234 · 09/01/2022 09:00

The system is predicated on parents making up the loans,and that really should be done

Abraxan · 09/01/2022 09:01

@JustLyra

Unfortunately too many parents don't fulfil this expectation.

Unfortunately too many parents can’t fulfil this expectation.

Oh I know there are issues for many families who genuinely aren't able. There is definitely some issues with the way the student loans are calculated and they don't take into account all the outgoings a family may still have.

Sadly, some just don't either, despite being able to afford to do so. We've seen this from a couple of DD's friends - the parents definitely could afford to, but choose not to.

It's also often not made very clear to families that this is an expectation. One of my own friends had no idea when were supposed to top up the loan. They knew little about the way the loans etc worked.

DebIr · 09/01/2022 09:01

Loughborough is cheap both for halls and private. Whether full loan is enough depends on uni and year.
Parents are supposed to make up maintenance loan although many don’t. And when you fill in forms you are asked about siblings.
London unis differ. Eg Royal Holloway counts as London so students get higher loans and yet much cheaper than centre.
Warwick is an excellent uni for many subjects where cost of living is cheap. Bristol is an excellent uni where cost of living is very high.
I shared a room at uni years ago and advised mine not to chose a uni if that was the only way they could afford it. Got on with my room mate but many didn’t and I would have liked my own space. Completely agree re no reason for an en-suite. Many unis also hiking prices by including catering cards, Birmingham is an example of this.
Also agree with working but it should not be at the expense of the degree and won’t be possible in term time for everyone.
Those who say pick you uni off the course only are naive. The full package impacts on the experience and the degree the student will achieve.

BeyondMyWits · 09/01/2022 09:01

Good luck with getting first choice accomodation at Bath.

Dd is there, and even with taking a gap year to earn some money before going, so she had a confirmed place at uni, and was allocated accommodation earlier than some, she got her 3rd choice... (out of 10 that they have to rank in order of preference) which was more expensive than her first choice.

The cost of off campus accommodation (plus travel) is high too for future years. She has found a share which is "only" £130 per week, thankfully including bills, but also has to spend 40 min on the bus each way, each day.

FindingMeno · 09/01/2022 09:03

@JustLyra you beat me too it.
And wtf happens when you have 2 or even 3 at Uni at the same time?

Whatayear81 · 09/01/2022 09:06

* Sadly, some just don't either, despite being able to afford to do so. We've seen this from a couple of DD's friends - the parents definitely could afford to, but choose not to. *

What are you basing that on?

Paq · 09/01/2022 09:09

OP, excluding rent your son has £104 per week to live off, and pay for:

Food
Toiletries
Transport and travel
Phone
Insurance for personal possessions
Clothes
Laundry
Study materials (including laptop?)
Leisure and social including subscriptions, gifts for family, sports equipment etc.

It's doable but it's a very frugal existence. I presume you do subside him in some ways, e.g. don't charge home board at home?