How much does a student need to live on per week?

[Greenshadow]

DS1 is starting university in September.
The loan nowhere near even covers the cost of the student accommodation so we are going to need to help him out.

He will need to pay for all food, but no travel as this is included in his accommodation package. Otherwise only books, stationary, toiletries etc.

The idea is that he will pay for his social life from potential earnings.

We thought maybe £30 a week living expenses would be about right, but I really have no idea...

How much does everyone else pay there DC?

If the student receives a maintenance grant, there's a strong possibility they might be eligible for a bursary from the university too. It's usually the payment of this grant that triggers the bursary.

I would suggest that students try and do babysitting - there must be loads of demand for it in university towns - cash in hand , often a meal thrown in and a comfortable environment to do your studying in the evening. Sometimes it can lead to a bit of after school care as well if you get on well with the family; I would love to find a local student to help out but no universities or colleges around here.

We pay DS's hall fees, mobile, plane / train fares and he feeds / keeps himself on the loan plus his summer holiday earnings. When he's home for the holidays I buy him clothes / shoes. He bought a second hand bike for £30 and has never got a bus - he walks or cycles.

Regarding books, advise them to make friends with someone in the year above or find out where the second hand books are sold on - can save a lot of money.

Once they are adults you have to let them get on with it. He knows theres nothing coming from us. If he is broke in his first year he may choose to live home for his sevond. He will still have to pay for his food and stuff, even at home. But no rent.

yep jobs are a big isue ehre too (4 universities within easy commute). The people I graduated with in 2008 still in their student jobs as nothing else about, so newbies dropping out of university like flies apparenlty as impossible to make ends meet.

Dh is at university now and a meal in the canteen is £4.50! That's an awful lot isn't it? Saying that a coffee at my palce (post grad now) is £1.20 so.....

There were students not working or subsidised by aprents on my course; the ones that didn;t cope were the ones who ahd no budgeting skills- went out on grant day and bought everyone in halls a pizza, that sort of rubbish. however if grant doesn't cover rent then they are stuffed, at least rent where we were was set just a few £ lower than loan.

However what I would say is that certainly at my uni most of the student jobs are nto advertised, they come via the university webiste so early searching might miss many of those that do exist. Most palces have a jobs fayre a few weeks in which they should keep an eye out for.

Riv- there's someone I know at UWE on my FB if you want me to pass on any q's.

Oh and books- a luxury. Really, DH and I have both bought very few. Library can get almost anything in and you can prebook books but only if you don;t leave things until the alst minute as everyone else will be after them. Also quite often a book will be recommended that has maybe 5 pages of useful stuff; frankly a photocopier is by far cheaper than a trip to Waterstones.

Only question i have is why on earth does UWE think it should charge £5400, which is more than the sodding loan, for one room for 42 weeks of the year!
I am still in shock

Did he have a choice Riven? Some of the accommodation at UWE seems to be around £4,100 or a bit more.
I do know that DD will be paying a lot less next year for a room in a house.

I'm a current UWE student, just having finished my second year. I have a budget of £73 per week, but I could spend less if I was better at budgeting. That does include transport though, as my rent doesn't include a bus pass.

Whilst people go on about buying books. the Library on the Frenchay Campus is very well stocked (providing you don't go the night before an assignment is due in!) so I've not needed to buy any books. However this does depend on the course.

I'd also recommend signing up to the JobShop email, which is written by the SU and sent out weekly with job opportunities for students.

There's a fruit and veg stall on the main campus, which sells very cheap veggies! It's probably cheaper (if living on campus) to use the U-link bus pass and get the U1 to ASDA, rather than walking to the Sainsbury's.

Also, joining sports and societies is definitely worth it from a social / experience perspective, but some of the fees are horrendous, so that's something to consider before joining.

He wont stay in aroom with shared bathroom. Its part of his aspergers. To be ho est i dont think he will cope with the noise. When he goes to bed he insists tne tv is turned right down.

DD is finding the noise levels very hard as well, copes with a shared bathroom because she cleans it every time before and after a shower.
Brave of him to try living away from familiar surroundings and accommodating people.

He might well not Riv, even as an evening student the campus noise where we are is horrendous.

has UWE got an ASD support staff system? We ahve a dedicated ASD team who do a lot of work around things like campus living etc.

I will ask peachy. If he finds it too much and comes home they dont refund the rent money. Iys a bit of a gamble really. An expensive one.

Have to say I would be about ds1 living in; I fully expect him to stay here and commute in.

Has he applied for teh disabled student's grant via the Uni? it's a help. Not ahrd to get eiher; DH was offered it (refused it) for his MH reasons so might be worth a shot.

if he comes home early they can possibly relet the room and should then refund part of the money. If he dislikes noise I doubt he'll survive for long but it is important to live in hall at least for a term and preferably a year if you can.

Has he considering tutoring? Advertise on local websites like gumtree. He'll have to undercut the standard rates as he's only a student and has no track record but we'd consider this for one of our children. Some children learn better from young adults than older people.

Peachy/Riven I was thinking about DLA or DSA too. Surely if Riven's DS needs an en suite due to ASD then woudl these allowances contribute to it as without the en suite he would find it near impossible to attend university.

'If he dislikes noise I doubt he'll survive for long'

That's why God created iPods and headphones, and DD has moved her bed into the middle of her room.

DLA is hard to get bfor adults with AS though DSA should definitely help. I know riv's able to help her son with the whole DLA thing anyhow.

I do know that my friend who was clearly the most obvious ase of undiagnosed AS i'd ever seen at that point was allocated a quiet house after they chatted about his noise sensitivity.

Mind riv when I said any qs I mmeant about provision as chap I know is a disabled UWE student.

Getting dla for an adult with asd is nigh on impossible. He doesnt get it now. UWE does have food disabled support so will give them a ring.

Cardiff is much much cheaper than the Bristol Unis for rent, it is around £3200 average I believe for a room with ensuite and is right next to the university too so only about a 5 - 10 minute walk. It is ideal for students from Bristol as it only costs about £6 on the train with a student railcard and is only about 35 minute train journey or just under an hours drive so they can come home whenever.

He rejected cardiff after we saw it based on surly staff and poor disabled access. Shame as their fesearch dept is excellent.
He also wants to be close at hand to get to dd should the end come, so he can say goodbye.

That's a massive difference in price Mrscoob! Not quite sure how UWE justify charging over £5000 with no food included.
DS2 is currently looking at unis 'up north' - travel would be more, but was hoping accommodation would be considerably less.

Cardiff is far cheaper anyway though, esp as many of teh student accom is sahred with Pontypridd (Glamorgan) etc- plenty of DH's mates in shared flats with stduents from the two cardiff universities (and the Atrium part of Glam is in cardiff, where DH will be absed next eyar).

When we looked at universities I ahd ofers from Bristol, UWE< UWIC and Newport and rent / quality if local schools was the deciding factor that banished Bristol.

This is a student budget calculator: www.foreignstudents.com/node/605