How much will uni cost parents?

[Kosmik]

What is the average contribution a parent is expected to pay towards H.E. student upkeep?

'fat' nor far!

nottired DS1 is applying for medicine for 2012 too and at the moment I don't have a bean. He's not going to be deterred by finance and is setting about looking for all the additional help he can get but also accepts that he may just have to shoulder a small mountain of debt.

As for Oxford, the Dpt of Medicine's website is emphatic that they don't expect work experience and that they recognise that it's easier for some than for others. We have no medics in the family (only dead ones) so glitzy work experience has proved very tricky to get.

This latest gimmick must be a joke.

We are not well connected at all and DD managed to get two work shadowing placements, all off her own bat by writing to the hospitals directly. She is also doing volunteering at a care home.

She was going to apply for medicine for 2012 but since her module grades were less than expected will hold off until after AS retakes as she might not get the grades required to even apply . She was also going to sit the UKCAT this summer but again waiting to see if it's worth it.

adamschic yes he got that sort of stuff too but no Royal Marsden like better connected people seem to get. The reassuring thing is that med schools claim not to care.

not tired my son's applied for Sutton Trust but I don't know when he'll hear. Some student's will inevitably be more easily deterred, that's why universities are trying to lance debt aversion - it would be shameful if talented potential medics were deterred by the level of debt. The reality is that it would be a large not a small mountain here too, but I'm trying to be blase, he's wanted to be a doctor for so long and it's clear he'd be so good.

It's a pretty rubbish situation but worse for those in the middle, not those at either extreme.

What's the 'Sutton Trust'?

We are aiming (note aiming!) to try and save £15,000 for each of our DDs before they start University, through a combination of monthly savings from us and grandparents, and birthday/christmas contributions from family members.

Clearly this won't pay their fees (or anything like them!) but it should go some way towards supporting them at Uni, with the aid of a maintenance loan, and then of course they'll need the fees loan.

But I'm sure there are many kids who need to support themselves through university and no-one should feel bad about not being able to contribute to their post-18 childrens' costs.

The Sutton Trust www.suttontrust.com/home/ seeks to encourage more social mobility.

Thank you Xenia, am atm as DD would have been eligible if we had known about it. Too late now to apply and school haven't mentioned it. Perhaps they don't meet the low score criteria.

Completely free with travel expenses as well. Why didn't school tell us, I wonder.

Part of the problem is that some people seem happy to incur debt because they realise as a doctor they might earn £50k a year for 30 years or whatever and could pay back the debt and others are from families where high wages and high mortgages or indeed any mortgage debt is unknown so they get scared of the debt. So part of the issue will be ensuring people from less wealth backgrounds understand that these levels of debt will not be that hard to manage. If professional people in London can cope with mortgages of quite higher sums than this the graduate debt is a lot smaller and if they pick badly paid work they never have to pay it back at all.

The problem at the moment is so many will not be paying it back that the system isn't going to work very well hence the mess yesterday over how we encourage employers to pay or more foreign students or God forbid rich parents.

The reason they keep changing the details is because it was rushed through and so badly thought out by a new government who basically don't have a clue what they are doing. It should never have been passed at that stage and should have been looked into properly.

If DD gets the grades she needs to do the course she wants to, she will hopefully qualify for all the maximum help that is available and her level if debt will be on a par with the current system. She doesn't fear it and it won't stop her. I could end up getting written off when the realise what a huge mistake they have made.

I do feel bad for the students of families in the middle though, they will be the hardest hit.

Gawd that post was rushed through. Typos galore.

I'm ashamed to say I have no idea what my parents paid. I know I had to work five days a week to have spending money and had 3 student loans, but I don't know wht they actually contributed financially. And can't ask them now.

What is the earning threshold for paying back the soon to be current fees?

Xenia yes, it's called debt aversion and is why the argument that it's unfair it is to reduce fees of poorer students misses the point.

Lucky I think it's £21K.

adamschic your school should have mentioned the Summer School. Ours doesn't fit the criteria exactly but students still get in.

it is

nottired sent you a PM but reading again I can see you aren't a teacher so it might not apply.