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Original poster

Uni weekly allowance

67 replies

Alwayswonderedwhy · 18/08/2024 19:15

DD will be going to uni in September and just wondering how much people give their DC to live on at a Midlands Uni? Excluding accommodation how much do you give your DC to live on? She'll be on campus so shouldn't need too much for travel costs.

OP posts:
Neurodiversitydoctor · 19/08/2024 10:03

mrsm43s · 18/08/2024 21:57

We give ours £100/week September to June plus pay for their accommodation. Summer holidays they live at home for free and work for spends.

This what we do

Newbie232 · 19/08/2024 10:04

MissTrip82 · 19/08/2024 09:16

I worked whilst studying medicine. So did many of my peers. There’s a massive difference in work ethic and professionalism between those who don’t work prior to starting their career and those who do.

If you’re paying accommodation OP that’s very generous - I’d expect a job to cover the rest.

I’m not sure exactly what we’ll cover (I don’t want them to work as many hours as I had to, I still got a first but had to cut back very very severely on socialising and I think that’s important) but we will certainly expect them to work as well.

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Did you actually study medicine because you don't get "firsts" in medicine.

anonhop · 19/08/2024 10:06

My parents paid my rent while at university + I lived off my loan (minimum maintenance, which back then was about £4k/ year, or £1300/ term). This was a decent amount. After train tickets to & from home, it left me about £100/ week for food, buses, nights out etc. I was able to join in sports & societies, meet friends for coffee etc but wasn't rolling in it.

I think my rent was usually in the region of £600/ month including bills (so this is what parents paid) but that will have gone up significantly. This was at a northern but expensive uni.

Finding a job at my uni was near impossible. Just not enough term time jobs for the tens of thousands of students that wanted them! Online tutoring was quite popular I remember

user746016 · 19/08/2024 11:20

Alwayswonderedwhy · 19/08/2024 08:50

Yes of course we thought about it and planned but circumstances change. We will get by but I'm just interested to know what others live on.

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Ok well the answer is that typically kids live off the minimum maintenance loan and then their parents pay for the accommodation.

you can then break that down however you like but in the simplest form it’s roughly 4500/ 30 weeks which is 150 a week to live on after accommodation.

Comefromaway · 19/08/2024 12:09

I'd say most have far less than £150 per week to live on.

user746016 · 19/08/2024 12:13

Comefromaway · 19/08/2024 12:09

I'd say most have far less than £150 per week to live on.

Not in our experience. Ds has been in an on campus Hall of 12. The vast majority get minimum loan and use that to live on after accommodation is paid separately. A couple get max loan and so end up with roughly the same (one has more since also has a university bursary)

Comefromaway · 19/08/2024 12:21

A lot depends on rent costs but my son's friend on maximum loan (he has cheaper rent £4,800 per year) ends up with around £100 per week to live on term time only.

My son with more expensive rent (£7,600 per year) ends up with £68 per week to live on.

Some parents may be able to pay the rent and leave their child with the minimum loan to live on but most I know simply top up the minimum to the maximum.

caringcarer · 19/08/2024 14:07

user746016 · 19/08/2024 11:20

Ok well the answer is that typically kids live off the minimum maintenance loan and then their parents pay for the accommodation.

you can then break that down however you like but in the simplest form it’s roughly 4500/ 30 weeks which is 150 a week to live on after accommodation.

Show quote history

One of my neighbours has twins going in September and remortgaged because they also have an older DC in their third year of a four year course and she has to now pay 3 lots of money. They had planned but she's self employed and her hours dried up during the CoL crisis. She told me that they added 5 years on to their mortgage. They are hoping for mortgage rates to come down. They will get accommodation paid for by parents and about £80 a week to live on but they did work over the summer and have some money saved to take back with them. She says they will have to work waitressing over Xmas and NY to top their money back up.

SwedishEdith · 19/08/2024 16:13

Comefromaway · 19/08/2024 09:46

My son gets the minimum loan. He uses that to pay for his accommodation (we have to top it up) and we then give him £45 per week to live on. We gave him more £68 per week) last year but this year he asked for it all year round rather than term time only.

It all works out to the amount he would get if he were on maximum loan.

That's how we did it with my eldest and what I've assumed we'll do this time. My eldest worked as well.

Original poster
Alwayswonderedwhy · 19/08/2024 16:18

Ratherbeaspoonthanafork · 19/08/2024 09:07

OP if your circs have changed and your household income has gone up or down by more than 15% in any academic year then funding can be reassessed.

Sorry but it sounds like you want it always don’t want your YP to work, don’t want to contribute or contribute less than than the max loan in total etc. See Martin Lewis.

If they understand the value of money (by earning money before they go and understand how much it costs to go to Uni) and know how to budget and how to cook some basic meals before they go this will help. Also how to shop frugally at Aldi/Lidl and cooking mainly from scratch money can be saved by avoiding ready meals, eating out and takeaways. Buying own drinks when out and having a drink in halls before going out helps save money etc. Please note washing clothes is extortionate in halls etc.

Some students they meet will have a silly and almost unlimited amount of money available to them each month and other students will be really struggling and barely able to afford rent never mind eat or go out (so will have a miserable time). The latter lot of students are more likely to drop out and or fail course.

I haven't said I don't want them to work or that we don't want to top up to match full loan. As I said the loan does not take info consideration specific circumstances, only family income. I'm not expecting it always at all. I'm simply asking for real life examples of what uni students live on.

OP posts:
Lily999888 · 19/08/2024 16:20

DustyLee123 · 18/08/2024 21:01

We paid for accommodation, that was it. Mine worked PT as well.

This is what we did. Dd lived off minimum loan, which was fine and that was living in a relatively expensive northern city.

2AND2GC · 19/08/2024 16:55

GettingLaterAndLater · 18/08/2024 21:40

If you are paying for accommodation then they can very easily live off their loan

This is what we did.

We paid for the accommodation. Our kids took the maintenance loan and lived off that during term time. They lived at home and worked in retail/ bars and saved this money for holidays/festivals etc .

LucyVanPeltz · 19/08/2024 17:02

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NewName24 · 19/08/2024 21:20

@Motheranddaughter , @kitchenplans , and @caringcarer That isn't what the OP is asking.

She's clearly asked about how much a student needs to spend every week AFTER accommodation.
For many parents, "making up the difference between the minimum and full loan" would leave the student without enough to live on once accommodation was paid from the total.
The OP hasn't said she isn't going to make it up, she is clearly asking what sort of amounts are realistic and fair.

Motheranddaughter · 19/08/2024 21:43

Already said what mine get

aramox1 · 19/08/2024 22:01

Expecting mine to live off the min loan (90 pw year round) while we fund the accomodation. That brings it to way over the max loan but it's fallen so far behind living costs I don't see a way round it. V few jobs in his uni city either and students shouldn't be working more than 8 hrs a week.
The system expects parents to make up to at least 10k and with inflation it would be 12k plus.

LucyVanPeltz · 20/08/2024 23:12

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