Student finance and UC

[Wingingit202122]

Need some balanced opinions here!
Single parent of 3 and I have just started a undergrad degree course at University. Just had my Universal Credit statement come through and they are deducting all of my student finance from my monthly payment (Gone from £1300 to £600) as they class it as an income
Im pretty p’d off to say the least for 2 reasons

1. I was only being deducted £280 a month when I was working and making more money a month than the student finance pays
2. STUDENT FINANCE IS A LOAN! We have to pay the student finance back WITH INTEREST so I am majorly p’d at effectively having to pay it back twice. (Once through UC deduction and again back to SF)

Isn't UC in lieu of earnings, for people who haven't got a job, but are presumably looking for a job? But if you're a student you can't get a job because you're studying. So instead you get a government loan.
I can't think of a situation in which someone would get both? Otherwise all students would claim UC as well as their loan wouldn't they?

And disabled students can still continue to get a significant amount of UC whilst studying especially if getting PIP and the LCWRA element of UC.

Also the thing that makes a student loan unique is that it's a government loan, with very generous Ts&Cs, so it's not the same as a normal loan (which obviously wouldn't affect your UC)

Yes exactly and it's likely op will continue to get a significant amount of Uc still as she has 3 kids. Someone who is disabled would be able to still get UC, a young person who is single and disabled would likely still get some UC. Child maintenance is also not counted or deducted from UC in any way so many lone parents would also have that on top and yes I appreciate not all get it but many do.

Yes absolutely. And realistically many don't start paying back their student loan for years until they meet the earnings threshold.

I am very much hoping your degree doesn’t involve finances (or anything related to numbers)

or requires any kind of research

That doesn't necessarily apply to housing benefit, which is now lumped in with UC. They can end up worse off. For smaller courses the funding much beyond the course costs aren't covered The new style UC isn't just for job seekers, it's an overall benefit. Not getting that benefit means that you aren't automatically entitled to other add ons. As asked why is student finance the only loan that stops the payment of benefits? You haven't had extra income because you have to pay it back. Why can you lend money to buy a car/house and still get UC/Carers allowance, but take out a loan for education and you can't?

Because if you are taking a loan to buy a car, then you buy the care- you don't have the loan available to you to live off each month ?

If people are not eligible for a student maintenance loan then they wouldn't have anything deducted ? Your post doesn't make sense at all ?

UC is a benefit used mostly to prop up your earnings and I would assume (not that I agree witht this) that it would be the opinion of HMRC that if you have the time to do a degree you have the time to work more hours.

Also any student finance counts as non taxable income therefore is fully deductible, £ for £, from you UC claim.

Why can you lend money to buy a car/house and still get UC/Carers allowance, but take out a loan for education and you can't

You won't get housing benefit / UC to pay off your mortgage.

And buying a car via a bank/ credit institution loan isn't the same as getting a government loan for student living. The nature of the loan is different, the T&C's are very different and the way you pay it back is very different.

Hello, I'm a single mum claiming uc and at full time uni too. I had a heart attack when I saw my statement but uc had got it wrong. You need to make sure they are only taking the basic element of your student loan into account when doing the calculations. Ask that this is the case in your uc journal, get the childcare grant too. Well done with your
studies, it's amazing, completely changing my life for the better and I'm managing financially just! So much happier now though x

I really agree with this.

In a current society and era of constant reminders we don't have enough people working in health and education and a low older workforce etc you'd think they'd be doing their utmost to get people into education and into those sparse roles.

In some cases they are and there are bursaries etc for teaching roles in areas of large vacancies. But you need the degree first - and there's of course the added problem of retention because of constant budget cuts and increased workload.

Your post is really spot on but the problem is also far bigger and wider

That is my point - people can still afford them as they are no worse off by claiming student loan than claiming UC. It's not like they are facing a sudden drop in income that makes them at a disadvantage ?

Thing is they are in many cases. When they can work they lose 55p in the £ for that earned income.

When you are studying you lose £ for £. And many courses don't allow for you to be able to work much.

Think this stopped because a lot of people claimed tax credits then started a course at uni and got finance for that but then never actually complete the courses, it was used as another way of getting money and not working. There was a case of a single mum on tax credits who applied for uni got accepted and got the loan which she used for a boob job!

Why should the government incentives young people to go and have kids before getting an education by making it more financially beneficial to do so?

You've chosen to have 3 children first. Nothing wrong with it but why should you be rewarded for doing so compared to those who wait to have children? Its great that there is an option to return to education at any age, but there should be no benefit to do so.

I think it’s very fair. They not taking anything off you. They’re just expecting you to pay your own way . Did you think you would get to keep the same UC and the student loan ? That would be a very comfortable 3 years paid for by tax payers.

Or makes people plan to get an education before having children ??

They will deduct it over summer as you will still be classed as a student during that time.

They won't deduct SF for the whole summer period when you're off, just till the end of term date.

You are making the mistake of seeing UC as yours, being paid to you in installments. It isn't yours, so you're not paying anything back twice.

Why on earth would you think you could have both? I understand its frustrating as you want to further your career and earning prospects however just because you chose to do this after you'd had children rather than before doesn't mean the tax payer should financially support you.

Of course it's fair. You should have looked into this first.

That’s not paying it back twice, UC isn’t your money, it’s paying it back once.

There is plenty of info out there that could have told you this would happen, I new about it and I’m not a student, but I agree it’s a pain OP and an annoying fact of the system.

I am a student Midwife and knew exactly what was going to be deducted as I did lots of research and spoke at length with a very helpful UC advisor.
mine is deducted over 10 months and the summer month I get the full amount.

I am so grateful for the £315 a month I get extra from UC and don’t resent what they deduct at all.

what are you studying?