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Further education

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Original poster

What are you funding at uni?

29 replies

Blushah · 16/08/2018 16:25

And how much??

DS is off to uni in Sept, he will have the minimum maintenance loan.

His Halls will cost £5800 pa. I admit I haven't done the maths but I don't think his loan will cover Halls and living expenses, so my question is- how much are you subbing your DC?

I don't want him to make a profit out of us but I don't want him to struggle!

He's not a party animal and doesn't buy fashion clothes or big tech, btw.

Tia.

OP posts:
Hizz · 16/08/2018 17:10

You are expected to make up the difference to the maximum loan which is about £8700 so that seems to be a reasonable starting point.

Lots of threads every year on this in Higher Education.

Furrycushion · 16/08/2018 17:12

Minimum loan won't even cover his halls (lost track a bit but think it's about £4000). Often parents pay the accommodation & the student lives off the loan.

TheThirdOfHerName · 16/08/2018 17:17

We've agreed to pay the accommodation fees.
He will be getting the minimum maintenance loan and will use that for living expenses.

Chopchopbusybusy · 16/08/2018 17:18

We pay rent and she lives on the minimum maintenance loan. She has a part time job too.

TheThirdOfHerName · 16/08/2018 17:21

He hasn't had his accommodation confirmed yet, but the ones he put as preferences cost £4000-£4200 for the year. It's not an overly expensive city and he doesn't need an ensuite.

legolimb · 16/08/2018 17:25

My DS will be in year 3 next term.

He gets the minimum maintenance loan. This covers his rent - when in halls and then in private rented. It isn't an expensive city.

I send him about £220 per month ( not when he's home for the holidays though;) )
His dad also gives him a monthly allowance but I don't know how much ..

He seems manage just fine. Has a boy of a social life and goes out but isn't a party animal.

Trumpodious · 16/08/2018 17:47

We paid accommodation and they used the minimum maintenance loan that they received for living expenses. They earned some more with holiday jobs. This seemed a very common arrangement amongst their friends.

enidblyton33 · 16/08/2018 20:02

Dd - just completed 1st year- we pay her accommodation. She lives on the minimum loan and a bit of well paid part time work. She also has a fair amount saved from working last year - which has allowed her to enjoy the holidays.

Will do the same with ds. Although he’s looking to find regular part time work as his course isn’t so full on as dd’s and he has expensive hobbies to fund.
Dd says you could easily live off the minimum loan if you budget.
Obviously it also comes down to what you are able and willing to contribute. We are going to have a few lean years but felt we needed to ensure it was fair.

Original poster
Blushah · 16/08/2018 20:47

Thanks, all! Now realise this should be in Higher, not Further Education! But we all seem to be on the same page!

OP posts:
OhYouBadBadKitten · 17/08/2018 12:06

We are covering accomodation, dd isn't quite on the minimum loan but fairly close to it. She's not 'allowed' to work in term time, so definitely needs our help.

BackforGood · 20/08/2018 00:09

dc1's loan was about £90 more than his accommodation across the whole year. He also really struggled with budgeting / saving money for things he'd need later, so we said to use his loan to pay his accommodation (as the accommodation is due a day or two after his loan arrived each term, and the 'split' in amounts matched), then we sent him money weekly for food / other costs.

dc2's accommodation was quite a bit more than her loan, and she is FAR better at budgeting / managing money than him, so, at the start of the year I just gave her the difference (for the year) and we give her money weekly for food / other expenses too.

Both of them understood they could choose how hard they tried to get jobs, but we weren't subsidising lots of socialising / holidays / spending, we'd pay food and other necessities and enough to cover some "luxuries, up to them to earn if they wanted more than that.

We give her £35 per week, which she says is plenty to live on.
She has worked during the 6th form, and works in the holidays, but hadn't got a job in her first year. She manages to run a car, including insurance and all costs, from her holiday earnings. She has got a bar job now to start her 2nd year.

Mamaryllis · 20/08/2018 00:22

In first year we covered halls and tuition. She’s just going into second year and is covering the first semester’s fees and rent herself from her summer earnings. We’ll be covering the second semester’s fees and rent. I imagine the same will happen in yr 3 as we will also have dc2’s fees and halls to pay. Hopefully he will settle into the same routine as then dc3 will start ShockShockShock

ShanghaiDiva · 20/08/2018 15:26

Ds is not eligible for a maintenance loan (not UK residents) so we are paying for everything. We will cover expenses in Xmas and Easter holidays, but he will need to find a job in the summer. We don't expect him to find a job during term time.
I think his accommodation is around 6K but waiting for confirmation.

PostNotInHaste · 20/08/2018 15:31

DD’s loan should cover accommodation and bills and we’re giving her £200 a month.

Original poster
Blushah · 25/08/2018 16:31

DS's Halls cost £6014 pa!! Not catered, either!! His loan is £4055.

OP posts:
AtiaoftheJulii · 26/08/2018 10:02

We have said to our 4 that we will pay for their accommodation (which is likely to vary quite a bit according to where each of them ends up), and then they get the minimum maintenance loan to live on. Currently have the first two at university, and this is working for us, so we'll carry on.

There is a cost of living variation too, but it seems smaller, and is counterbalanced by the cost of travel from the far north Wink

Rufustheyawningreindeer · 27/08/2018 18:24

Dh pays for his accommodation which is about 5/6k

And then 1.5k in living expenses, he pays for his petrol, train money...maybe a tenner here and there

ifonly4 · 04/09/2018 16:02

DD won't be going until next year. Her maintenance loan should cover her halls with food and I think we'll be giving her an amount on top to make it up to the full maintenance grant, so around £200pm. We're hoping she'll get a small job/casual work to subsidence the lifestyle she'd like, which we don't have!!

Xenia · 06/09/2018 12:48

I pay the university fees and the rent direct to hall and then £150 a week plus a shared car (and food in the holidays). I think that is extremely generous and is only done on the basis they get in no kind of debt of any kind and do not take out a student loan.

titchy · 06/09/2018 13:07

Loan pays for accommodation, with us topping up if necessary. Then we give £400 a month for ten months for living costs.

whiteroseredrose · 06/09/2018 19:59

We're going to pay for accommodation and food in catered halls. DS will get the minimum loan to pay for everything else.

Teenageromance · 07/09/2018 21:59

It’s quite a bit extra to find each month - especially if you have more than one at university. Do you all feel skint a lot of the time?

titchy · 08/09/2018 00:01

It’s quite a bit extra to find each month - especially if you have more than one at university. Do you all feel skint a lot of the time?

lol - yes!!!!!! Tbh next year we have two at uni and that will kill us. Although I do need to lose three stone.....

Babyroobs · 16/09/2018 22:46

My DS has gone today. He also is taking minimal maintenance loan. We are paying for his accommodation and he will need to make the loan last for food/ entertainment/ travel etc. He has been working for a year so has some wages saved and is hoping to return to one of the jobs he has been doing in the Christmas holidays.

3catsandcounting · 17/09/2018 11:40

DDs maintenance loan pays for accommodation and we top up about £1400 per year.
We pay £50 into her account every Monday for food/toiletries (apart from holidays) and she manages fine on that. So basically, we pay out £3,400 per year for everything.

I told her at the beginning, we're happy to fund her education but we're not paying for her social life!😬

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