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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Funding your cherubs through Uni how?

191 replies

Piffle · 24/02/2012 22:11

Ok
Do how are your Uni starters being funded?
Specifically if they can only get the £3575 amount of maintenance loan?
We are really struggling to budget everything :(

OP posts:
webwiz · 25/02/2012 00:00

DD2 is more than happy in the cheaper end of the accommodation scale! She has a good social life involving uni stuff, clubs in Bath and society organised trips to clubs in Bristol. But they also have film nights in someone's room or have playstation tournaments Hmm and manage to fit in studying as well. She is managing fine on the money we give her.

Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 00:01

No option for home study we are in South Lincs

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webwiz · 25/02/2012 00:03

Ah the student house Ponders! DD1's first house was grim but DD2's looks a bit nicer. Its in a good location though and I've seen the letting agents pictures.

Cassidee · 25/02/2012 00:05

We are kind of hoping dc can do some tutoring if necessary. Plenty of demand in the basic skills like maths - and tutoring can be very lucrative once experienced. Not too onerous either - better than bar work.

Ponders · 25/02/2012 00:08

Piffle, I just looked up York accommodation prices for 2012/13 & they seemed very expensive to me, is Bath really a lot more???

Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 00:08

Yes tutoring is an option, he's a Maths whizz...
It's hard to guess in advance what he might earn etc

OP posts:
Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 00:08

Bath is uncatered
That's the difference

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Ponders · 25/02/2012 00:11

webwiz, DS2's is in a great location for the university, & it's where the majority of students tend to live; he said there was some damp/mould in the kitchen but the landlord has promised to sort that out by August

(but there is a Vietnamese family living in it atm...Shock)

webwiz · 25/02/2012 00:12

DD2 has done some Maths tutoring but its convinced her that she never wants to be a Maths teacherSmile DD1 took part in loads of Psychology experiments last year and actually got a reasonable amount of money from that - I should get DD2 to check out the Psychology department.

Ponders · 25/02/2012 00:15

I was looking at uncatered!

cheapest standard (not en-suite) room is £90pw; 33 week contracts available (but that means vacating at Christmas & Easter, ie lugging everything home & back).

next cheapest standard £96

cheapest en-suite £117! (Sheffield en-suites are £107 & I thought that was a lot)

Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 08:45

Actually I've not seen York 12-13 prices as they had nt done them yet... I was going on 2011-2012 prices I think

OP posts:
Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 08:50

And at York DS is applying to James College as only James students can apply to those.... At 11-12 prices We were hoping to get in on the £116.20 catered option.

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BIWI · 25/02/2012 08:57

DS1 is at Sussex. He has loans for tuition and maintenance. We pay his accommodation, so he lives off his maintenance loan.

Accommodation costs vary hugely - even on the same university campus, so that's the first place to see if you can cut costs. I hate the idea of them having to work, if it takes time away from their studies, but sadly I think it will be more and more necessary as fees increase.

See if there are any university posts which might either pay him money or provide him with accommodation (from the second year) - sometimes they do residential advisor posts, for example, so they're working within the university. I don't know how much these pay, but there might be equivalent opportunities at Bath.

alistron1 · 25/02/2012 08:59

I went to Bath twenty years ago and it was expensive then compared to other non london uni's. Hall fee's were one thing but in second year moving into a house share cost a fortune. It is an expensive area and traveling into/out of campus every day was pricey too. My DP went to newcastle, no transport costs (uni easy to walk to) and rental prices were a lot lower, he was paying significantly less than my £180 a month.

We are 2 years away from this with DD1 and TBH I have no idea how we will fund it. Luckily we live in an area where there are 3 good universities near us. Realistically I think my kids will be living at home.

Kaloobear · 25/02/2012 09:01

York's an expensive city to live in and the university halls are pricy too. James is overpriced in my opinion-it is renowned for not being very friendly too because it has ensuites (! Student logic-no need to leave your room=no need to make friends!). I wouldn't bet on the cost of living being any cheaper than Bath. They're very similar cities and York is far more expensive than the rest of the north.

Every student I knew (albeit 10 years ago) had a job to make ends meet. Maths is full on during the week but it should be possible to work at weekends. And holidays of course.

Kaloobear · 25/02/2012 09:04

Actually, I think ensuites are totally unnecessary. Houses are small-you're likely to have about 10 people sharing 1 shower, 1 bath and 3 loos. That's really not bad, especially considering everyone gets up at different times. I don't think I ever had to queue for the bath.

IsItMeOr · 25/02/2012 10:06

I studied Maths at Bath 20 years ago. Like others have said, it's a lecture-heavy subject, so don't expect your DC to have lots of time available to fit in a job.

Bath was certainly the most expensive non-London city I was aware of, and DSis went to York. It certainly wasn't as expensive as Bath in those days.

I did less socialising and bought less clothes than friends who went to other less expensive places.

IsItMeOr · 25/02/2012 10:12

Also meant to say, I favoured the campus accommodation where you weren't forced to pay for the holidays when you didn't want to use it - it's not that hard to empty your room at the end of each term, especially when it saves you so much money. But my parents did always take me to and from uni at start and end of term to facilitate this, rather than me getting there by train. And Bath had the standard 4 week holidays at Christmas and Easter then (making it a bigger saving), which a comment from another poster suggests may have changed now.

Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 10:41

Well we have nutted out a semi solution as I too was concerned that the pressure of term time work might affect his studies.
So as to what webwiz does we are adding in the accomodation top up 3 x a yr so accomodation is covered, plus between us and his natural father ( cash poor idealism rich) we can cover £200 per month and his bio Dad will pay ad hoc when. He can some money for social. We will pay all his rain journeys home and also help on an ad hoc basis as we do now, but expect him to work summer holidays to contribute as much as he can.

Thanks for all the opinion, yes I see York isn't a massive saving that we had predicted...

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LikeAnAdventCandleButNotQuite · 25/02/2012 10:48

You offer them free bed, board, laundry and bills in their own home while they attend the local uni.

They get themselves work during the summer (part time or full) to save 'spends' for the uni year ahead. They, if lectures permit, work part time while at uni to fund the social aspect of their lives.

For their christmases and birthdays, you could give them cash, rather than gifts, so they can spoil themselves or enjoy a few nights out or put it towards running a car etc.

mumblechum1 · 25/02/2012 10:52

How easy is it to get a summer holiday job, though?

DS is still in sixth form and has had no luck getting anything in the weekends and holidays.

Ponders · 25/02/2012 10:53

Actually, I think ensuites are totally unnecessary

I agree completely, Kaloo, but the universities seem to be installing them as cash cows Hmm

Accommodation covered plus £200 a month is a good starting point, Piffle Smile

re train journeys, do you use Tesco at all? you can get 2 for 1 with \link{http://www.redspottedhanky.com/\redspottedhanky} (used to be 4 for 1, & then 3 for 1...but even 2 for 1 is a help) & the fares are the same as the trainline, with no booking fees, & tickets posted 1st class, free, as long as you book 5 working days ahead. (Also 16-25 railcards for £14 of vouchers)

goinggetstough · 25/02/2012 11:20

We were told that ensuites are being built as when universities run short courses in the vacations this is what their students need. Hence at Exeter Holland Hall for example has very little storage space as they are not really built with undergraduates in mind.

My DD has also earnt money being a student ambassador for the university and her department. Her university also runs an outreach programme and she works 3 hours a week in a local secondary school as a TA. This covers her food for the week.

Piffle if your DC is sporty do check the cost of joining his particular club. It has all changed since my day and I think this is very expensive and was a cost she hadn't budgeted for. Inter university matches are still free but if the university team plays in a local league then they have to pay match fees and transport/petrol costs and one of the team has to drive. My DD also had to pay insurance and have a sports pass for the 3 years. You could buy the sports pass for a year at a time but that was more expensive.

Agree with Ponders £200 per month is reasonable. Well thats what we do and occasionally do a food shop if we are visiting, but as we live abroad that is not often.

Original poster
Piffle · 25/02/2012 11:38

Not sporty but Bath do an all in join all thing £100 which seems decent value...
No way can he live at home... No uni nearby at all where he could commute to otherwise we'd have done it.

Work here is ok, chicken farms, bar work, cleaning, plenty of labouring on farms...

OP posts:
webwiz · 25/02/2012 12:35

If he's catching the train Piffle then prices can be very low if you book far enough in advance.

They have to be a bit imaginative about work in the summer DD1 did some work at festivals that only gives you a small amount of cash but meant that you got a free ticket. Bath has changed over to a two semester system that I still haven't got my head around yet but it means that DD2 will only get two weeks off at Easter so her best chance of work is in the summer.

If you have any other questions Piffle you can PM me.