Thread 29 - Covid Cohort - Whirlwinds and Waiting

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

previous thread 28

Thing is what choice do they have unless very wealthy parents who can bank role Uni? I do worry about their future in terms of money and housing etc, its shit it really is!

Just a quick question about student loans. The tuition fees of £9250 per year have to be paid back in full. Do the maintenance loans also have to be paid back and if you don't move away from home do you still qualify for maintenance loan? Also if you start the student loan application can you stop midway through it and come back to it or do you have to complete it in one go. Sorry about all the questions but this is all new to me.

I am confused. Martin Lewis made a very big point about none of the student loan changes being retrospective?

Surely they can’t change the terms of a loan retrospectively?! Then they are not the same terms those students signed up for?

The whole student loan thing is nuts. Years ago (90s) student loans were at a very low interest rate and the interest wasn’t started being applied until after you graduated.

The new system just announced penalises those on public sector salaries so teachers, allied health professionals like physios, dieticians and nurses etc Where their starting salary means that they will pay pack on first salary nit 2-3 years into their roles plus as their salaries mostly will be capped after 10 years they will paying back for 40 years and a much larger amount.

Interested is now applied when they get their loan so the debt has increased massively but they haven’t even started work.

All has to be paid back - tuition and maintenance. Before interest a child on a 3 year course with minimum maintenance loan and a standard 9250k tuition fee will have a debt of 40k - as parents your investment will be 25k.

So when you loo start uni make sure you think of this.

Yes you can get a maintenance loan fir living at home rather than away from home it’s less but still helpful

*look around - is what it should say

I mean think about value for money - this is an investment - ask tricky questions if they need asking don’t think your child is lucky to get a place - they need bums on seats to survive what makes them unique why are they the best choice - despite what some aspects of other parts of MN think - there are unis with prestige who offer little to undergraduates and others who are not prestige who will or already ate giving them something to get worried about

@Oblomov22

Sorry you've been Unwell Mummy. Accommodation booked. Cool that is so cool.

Ds had started finance application . But Dh and I haven't received email to confirm salary yet.

Do you know that if they are only eligible for the minimum loan you can state that and don't have to fill in details of income?

It’s a good point @Monkey2001 makes - if your salary is greater than the cut off for minimum loan you can just take the minimum without filling in salary details. Saves loads of time if you aren’t going to get more than the min either way.

@Fruitygal

Interested is now applied when they get their loan so the debt has increased massively but they haven’t even started work.

All has to be paid back - tuition and maintenance. Before interest a child on a 3 year course with minimum maintenance loan and a standard 9250k tuition fee will have a debt of 40k - as parents your investment will be 25k.

So when you loo start uni make sure you think of this.

Yes you can get a maintenance loan fir living at home rather than away from home it’s less but still helpful

@Fruitygal - why would parents investment be £25k? I thought it would be more like £15k? If you get minimum loan then parents would top up to max which would be approx £5k? x 3?

I didn't know that thank you Monkey.

@Fruitygal

It’s a good point *@Monkey2001* makes - if your salary is greater than the cut off for minimum loan you can just take the minimum without filling in salary details. Saves loads of time if you aren’t going to get more than the min either way.

This is what we're hoping to do

@Heifer

Here's the calculation:

Accomodation s/c for 3 years - 1st year halls £166 per week 42 weeks contract (could be longer contract could be up to £30 more per week or £25 less dependent on halls and uni) 2nd and 3rd year living out in shared house bills included £580-£650 per month 12 month contract. (could be an 11month contract but could be more as inflation and energy is skyrocketing - assume will be at least this per month)

Weekly living expenses - previously gave boys £85 per week last year (£75 per week in 1st year then increased by £5 per week per year but inflation was low) but will start at £90 or £95 x 52 weeks and expect will need to rise by £10 per year due to inflation etc: (could be less if you get them to work in term time or don't pay them anything in July and August could be more if they are in London)

Cost of final year abroad field trip £800-£1200 plus equipment and spends.

Mobile phone and travel home - we pay for on top - £200 per year for phone plus travel home variable?

Total cost ~£38K - £13k min loan (£4.4k 1st and 2nd and less in final year) = £25k investment

No field trips or expensive course equipment plus don't give them any money in the summer and there is possibly a £4k saving over 3 years.

Cost of living, borrowing and energy bills is going to rise crazily in the next 1-3 years and therefore landlords will put up rents to cover this. Food costs especially cheaper brands will also rise steeply.

@Heifer I think the other issue is that the full loan is not enough to live on everywhere. As you have seen, catered halls can cost the whole maintenance loan, then they will need some money on top of that.

If parents pay for accommodation and the student lives on the minimum loan, in some cities that will be £5k and some £8k+ pa.

Shocking that it's going back to 2012, and it's appalling changes. Making everything so much more expensive.

We had a really good day in Portsmouth. City is lovely, didn't realise there would be so many old/impressive building but there are. All the building in an easy walk, save the Marine Science Centre down on the sea.

The Professors were much more approachable, did presentations on their work and current research. DD was told that she would be allowed to help straight away in the research they are doing on a shark nursey if she came (which is her area of interest). I've told her not to count her chickens on that, but the immediate 'we'll get you involved straight away' was nice. We spent just over 2 hours with the Professors, and students presenting their research with everyone milling around and talking so DD got a real sense of what it's like.

Some accommodation was pretty grubby, but we later discovered that 2/3rd had been refurbished and we'd seen un-refurbished! But some was nice enough and just over 6k.

The new sports centre is amazing, and the TASS scholarship people were very encouraging. I need to find out if she'll be told before she has to finalise her choices if she'll get a sports scholarship as that would make a big difference.

She'll still see Swansea, but as Portsmouth has given her an UC offer I'd be surprised if she didn't firm Portsmouth and just not have the stress of worrying about grades.

That's great @Wheresthebeach, I love Portsmouth and the uni has changed and grown so much since I was there. I gather from WIWIKAU that my halls are now regarded as one of the grotty ones, they were newish when I went there but it was a long time ago.

Thanks ED it was just so nice to see her smiling, and feeling comfortable enough to be chatting to the Professors and students.

DH said the only information he came away from Southampton with was that the Prof daughter had invested her student loan and was close to making her first million by her late twenties. Whereas at Portsmouth he was chatting about their research with them.

She's been feeling really down about not loving Southampton or Plymouth so this is a huge relief. Its too much money to spend if you're not happy.

I can't remember whether any of the oceanography people have applied to Bournemouth, but there was nice bit about sea levels with a Bournemouth academic on More or Less this week.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0014x0f - the bit on sea levels starts 11 minutes in

I really need to sit down with DS' dad and work out exactly what we are going to pay for each. That's going to be a very unfun conversation.

On the upside, DS has passed his driving test!

That's great Christopher.

Yeah, DH and I had that chat the other day after realising the accommodation loan didn't cover accommodation. Joy.

Congrats to mini @ChristopherTracy on the driving test!

I am still very confused on the retrospective nature or not of the student loan changes. I can't see anything which says it is retrospective, am I missing something? Could someone please post a link?

Well done to your ds @ChristopherTracy. So pleased your dd has found her uni @Wheresthebeach, that’s brilliant. I’m hoping the same happens for dd (although not really wanting it to be York because of the cost!).

I really don’t know what to do about money. Fortunately dd should get a larger loan for year 1 because her Dad was out of work for half of 2020/21. For years 2 and 3 she’ll get the minimum. I’m not sure we can afford to top up to £9.5k even, let alone more! I’ve said dd will have to work in the summer holidays after year 1 and 2. I mentioned her trying to get a job once she’s at uni but she seemed really worried about doing that on top of getting used to uni.

Talking to a friend who’s got two at uni at the moment - years 1 and 3 - she recommended catered accommodation as you get to know more people. Both hers rushed into sharing with their halls flat mates in year 2 as you have to decide so early, but the younger one has now done an about turn as she doesn’t get on with 2 of them. My friend reckons this is a problem with self catering as they’re usually in flats of 6.

Having said that I noticed the really cheap accommodation at York is in flats of 20!

The accommodation is an issue @crazycrofter. DD is allergic to dairy and egg, and likes to cook. We are in the process of doing the dreaded food ladder to see if she can tolerate milk but she's been so ill in the past she likes to cook herself. I do worry about her in a flat with 6 though. We didn't look at catered (ran out of time) as delayed by train issues. I've just looked now, and the catered is sea front, with 2-3 hour window for meals...hmmm. Has to be said that most the accommodation is Portsmouth is self catered.

@ChristopherTracy congrats for the driving test pass !!!

@Wheresthebeach my DS1 went to Portsmouth and loved it !!! Team were so friendly (Geology) - it transformed him into a much more outgoing and confident person. Great place to visit with the Gunwharf eating out and beautiful in the summer plus historic dockyard. Can recommend place to stay and eat out!

It was a happy surprise when we visited too x