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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:
PattyPan · 09/01/2022 10:15

I went to Oxbridge (graduated 5 years ago) and my loan didn’t even always cover my rent so yes YABU it definitely depends on area/university and I would expect your DS’s experience to be unusual.

Abraxan · 09/01/2022 10:21

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.

Only know one in a studio flat and she went a couple of years later than her school friends, so 20y rather than 18y. Rest are in halls (albeit en-suite rooms in flats of 4-6 with a shared kitchen, or shared houses (in years 2/3).

Latest phones - yes, many seem to. Usually nights and paid for my parents, often as Christmas or birthday gifts. Same as before they went to university.

Subscriptions - usually a family account in my experience., so they aren't paying for it.

Run a car - I know very small number with cars, but those that do it's often paid for by a parent, often bought before they went to university, or by an older student who was earning before they went.

Eat out/deliveroo - more the take away option for those I know, often paid for using birthday/Christmas gift cards. Dd and a number of friends all got Just Eat vouchers this Christmas, as well as Costa ones. A fair few tend to enjoy the odd meal out rather than spending it on a big night out drinking, mainly due to covid restrictions on that in last couple of years though.

Umbongoumbongo999 · 09/01/2022 10:21

My DS is first year, not London. He gets the minimum loan and we match the parental contribution to equivalent to max loan. His loan is about 2k short of his accommodation cost and we give him the balance which is 200 per month and also pay phone, xbox, spotify and his driving lessons.

He doesn't have a job (combination of lazy and not having luxury lifestyle aspirations). He rarely drinks and doesn't go clubbing, so the £200 covers travel, groceries, laundry, study supplies, and lunches out, or the odd takeaway.

I'm encouraging him to get a job as I think it would really bring him along socially, not just for the money, hut he is super introverted and struggles to spend hours in the company of others. I think something fairly solitary like shelf stacking would work for him.

RollaCola84 · 09/01/2022 10:25

@user313213521 You've never recruited an Oxford or Cambridge graduate then ? We weren't allowed to work in term time and as far as I know that hasn't changed.

Original poster
Mickeyx0x0 · 09/01/2022 10:27

@PattyPan

I went to Oxbridge (graduated 5 years ago) and my loan didn’t even always cover my rent so yes YABU it definitely depends on area/university and I would expect your DS’s experience to be unusual.
Did you receive full loan? If not, did your parents pay you the parental contribution?
OP posts:
OrangeShark27 · 09/01/2022 10:30

With subscriptions Spotify is half the price for students

Not everyone needs every subscription, one person in the house prime, one Netflix. A takeaway is between 5 and 10. Again delivery costs shared between the whole house.

Also a lot of students work the majority of at least latter year students will have a job at least sometimes and this enables them to afford nice things, why shouldn't they?

I know a couple of students who had studio flats. Mature students with reasonably well paying Saturday jobs. They weren't paying for it out of their student loan

Theonewiththecandles · 09/01/2022 10:37

I got the full amount due to my mum being a lone parent and only earning around 16k a year and it was enough. I learnt to budget and calculate how much money I had each week, one year I got an Xmas temp job at Primark for some extra money but other than that it covered everything and more to be honest as my flatmate in my final year didn't get much I would buy most of the food for the both of us, particularly for breakfast/evening meal, she sorted out her own lunches. We cooked everything from scratch so it was cheaper but I usually ended up with about £60-80 a week after food shopping which was enough for me. Not London of course, but one of the big northern cities.

BurningTheClocks · 09/01/2022 10:38

DS received the full loan and the maintenance part was £4 short of his rent. Which left less than nothing to live on without a top up.

Sandinmyknickers · 09/01/2022 10:40

Not recent but I graduated coming up to 10 years ago, received full loan, was in Leeds and I had enough to not require any support from parents. However unless you were a medical student and had loads of contact hours, everyone got a job because why not make some more money to fund summer and other things? Plus,you're technically an adult...therefore in my mind you need to have some form of income from work and loans are there to support you to study. But if you want anything more than the bare minimum, want to go on holiday etc, that comes out your own earnings

Ashard20 · 09/01/2022 10:45

It also depends massively on the subject studied. For example, a music conservatoire student in London is looking at a starting price of £189 per week, for 41 weeks, to live in halls. It's also very difficult for them to work as they are often involved in performances in the evenings or at weekends. They also need to devote a huge amount of time to practising, outside teaching hours.
If they don't receive the full loan, or parents are unable to top it up to the amount for London weighting, I can imagine that they will struggle.

Sandinmyknickers · 09/01/2022 10:50

@darkNlovely

Nope. I'm in London and get the max, about £12k, plus £2.5k grants

I can only afford to live because I saved up almost £20k living at home beforehand.

Even outside of London, I don't think you can

That's enough to live on in London though. Honestly, sometimes people on MN act like there aren't poor people in London. It's a frugal existence but not by any stretch if the imagination impossible for a typical student (young single person without dependents). I would still get a part time job in that situation but more for comfort...14.5k annually is definitely enough to live on in London. I would recommend finding cheaper areas to live and accommodation.
Idontknowlondon · 09/01/2022 15:01

@Neverforgetwhothisisfor

Cambridge Uni students aren’t allowed to work during term time, so they have to find a way to manage on their student loans.
By working a fuck tonne in the holidays! Or at least I did, and lots of my friends. I saved £4k in my summer break (and wasn't living rent free at home either). Which in 2006 was a fair whack (more than my loan).
vickyc90 · 09/01/2022 15:14

@Mickeyx0x0

My son's self catering hall costs £4278 for this academic year (about £109 per week). His full student loan is £9706, so he seems to be fine to live on the amount he is getting.
So based on our household income we would be expected to give our son 5k a year. His loan wouldn't even cover halls at our local universities. I was in the same situation with my parents having to give me £300 a month back in 2008. It's not fair on those who parents can't or won't contribute. It would be better if the maximum amount was reduced but everyone else got more.
Redlocks28 · 09/01/2022 16:28

So, in summary of the replies here…

Students who get the full loan have much more money than those who don’t and may well survive on this very comfortably without getting a term-time job.

Students who get half the amount of loan will probably find it really hard, especially if they are living in an expensive area or are doing particular courses. Just because they don’t get the full loan doesn’t mean their parents are able to give them £4500 a year due to numerous other reasons. These students are not just bad at budgeting.

ElephantOfRisk · 09/01/2022 16:39

Yep, in Scotland if the household income is £34k (pre tax) or over then the maximum loan is £4750. That takes no account of any other DC also studying, any other children in the house who need supported, how high your outgoings are and whether you live at home. Below this you can borrow up to £5750 and there are bursaries available at a few levels with the maximum being £2k for the very poorest households. So, that would make the maximum £7750 for those households. That to me means that the students from the higher income families are meant to make the £4750 up to £7750 at least. So basically £3k out of £34k pre tax per student.

PattyPan · 09/01/2022 16:43

@Mickeyx0x0 no I didn’t get the full loan, it was around £5k I think? My parents paid for my food (requirement to eat in college a certain amount) but they didn’t top me up to the full amount.

@RollaCola84 at some colleges you can get paid to work for the library, obviously there’s working at balls as well, but overall the rule hasn’t changed. I had a secret job during my masters due to lack of postgrad funding and no one noticed though!

Original poster
Mickeyx0x0 · 09/01/2022 16:59

@Redlocks28

So, in summary of the replies here…

Students who get the full loan have much more money than those who don’t and may well survive on this very comfortably without getting a term-time job.

Students who get half the amount of loan will probably find it really hard, especially if they are living in an expensive area or are doing particular courses. Just because they don’t get the full loan doesn’t mean their parents are able to give them £4500 a year due to numerous other reasons. These students are not just bad at budgeting.

One thing I would add is that some parents don't even realise they are supposed to be financially supporting their student DC because up until this year Student Finance England has not made it explicit. Martin Lewis has campaigned to change this. I understand that this will be clearer in future.
OP posts:
lakeswimmer · 09/01/2022 17:09

It's not correct that there are always cheaper halls available. DS is applying for uni for this year and one of the ones we visited (which is very good for the course he wants to do) only has ensuite rooms which are very expensive. His maintenance loan will be £4000/£5000 pa and wouldn't even cover the rent.

We will be expected to top up by thousands each year and we don't have the money to do that due to our housing costs. He's the eldest of three and I've got no idea how we're going to manage if the others want to go too. DS has taken a year out to work and save money so he can make a contribution himself. He is also getting the benefit of gaining work experience so it's not a bad thing.

AvocadoPlant · 09/01/2022 17:10

Doesn’t matter how much you raise awareness there will always be students whose parents genuinely can’t, or don’t, support them to the same levels as those on a full loan.

IDontKnow00 · 09/01/2022 17:10

Completely depends on the area. When I was at uni in the midlands I got the full student loan and no help from parents and got by fine. One of my friends who went uni in London on the other hand and was in the same financial position had no chance of getting by without a job.

RedHot22 · 09/01/2022 17:13

At Cambridge, they’re not allowed to work

AvocadoPlant · 09/01/2022 17:14

And it’s pretty insulting to say that students can just stay in cheaper halls, these are the ones which sell out first or are the most over selected.
Students don’t generally get to choose where to stay, they get to select their favourites but can be allocated any hall.

Original poster
Mickeyx0x0 · 09/01/2022 17:19

@AvocadoPlant

And it’s pretty insulting to say that students can just stay in cheaper halls, these are the ones which sell out first or are the most over selected. Students don’t generally get to choose where to stay, they get to select their favourites but can be allocated any hall.
Not necessarily the case. Many students prefer en-suite facilities meaning that accommodation without can be less popular and easier to get.
OP posts:
Onaloop · 09/01/2022 17:21

If you are studying something creative where you have to buy materials alongside other normal uni costs then no it's not enough

KatieB55 · 09/01/2022 17:25

Also strongly agree with this