Student expenses, not covered by tuition fee loans

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Radio News all talking & blithering on about tuition fees. How much debt, what it means, Oh Woe is Me stuff.

What about living expenses for students? Are they paid purely out of the students' pocket (or their family pockets)? Are there loans available, to pay for living expenses, on the same turns as the loans that pay tuition? I understand that means-tested grants are available, too (can someone link to a chart?), but that the grants are small & won't cover full living costs (how much can the grants be?). If not the same terms as the tuition-fee loans, what are terms of the living expenses loans?

TIA :)

Creamteas, we haven't applied for the maintenance loan for dd1. Think it's a far poorer deal than in previous years. Interest that accrues is also more. It all angers me.

Boomting - if a student is only getting £3875 maintenance loan because their household income is too high for the full loan, then surely they wouldn't be likely to qualify for a bursary and probably not much, if any, of a maintenance grant either. In any case, if you get a maintenance grant, then the amount of maintenance loan you can borrow is reduced - in effect it just means you don't have to pay back some of your loan.

To answer wordfactory's question from further up the thread. Yes there is still a London weighting. My son gets £4,900 as maintenance loan. But this still leaves a shortfall in accomodation costs by a couple of thousand!

RustyBear - I took those figures from this calculator www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=153 and www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/studentfinance/home-eu-2012/university-scholarships-and-bursaries/ having told it that the student in question was from a low income family. You can get all of those sums simultaneously.

Every £1 of maintenance grant you get reduces the amount of loan you can get by 50p, hence why the loan is not showing up as being the highest possible amount.

As a student from a low income family, I do have a fair idea what I'm on about ;)

Yes, but the problem isn't really for those from low-income families - it's for those - several of whom have posted on this and other threads recently- whose family are assessed as having to contribute, but who are actually unable or unwilling to do so. There was a thread from a student recently in this situation, who had tried to find other sources of income but all the bursaries assessed on household income, so they didn't qualify.

boom except of course many students don't qualify for the maintenance grant or may not get the full, or any, loan. It is presumed that parents will pay instead, but many can't or won't.

In my experience, very few students have £10,000 to live off.

Boomting, I don't get the bursary thing, surely they don't offer it to all students? Where DS is going it is only for students with AAA or AAB £3000 and £2000 respectively; and for the whole courese not per year. Sadly DS did not qualify! The max loan here (Wales ) is £4,745 for living expenses, this leaves only £345 after paying hall fees, no food included. Additional grants available for low income families only. Manchester seems v generous!

Will add that some of the bursaries are only available as a reduction in tuition fees rather than cash. This didn't used to be the case. My DD will be charged 6K tuition fee instead of 9k because of my circumstances with a cash bursary too so will have enough to live on.

No matter how it's dressed up students entering this year are getting a raw deal compared to previous students. It's quite scandleous tbh. The ones who won't pay it back are OK the others are landed with a high tax bill for most of their working lives.

So I'm about to enter my 3rd year of my degree and so poor I'm struggling to eat. I have no family support and living off student loans and random part time jobs (none are consistent). How do I find out about bursaries from my uni? and is there any other help out there at all? If I don't get help or better job I'm going to have to cancel uni and find a full time job to live. Any advice please?!

Boadiccea sorry you are in such a position - contact your uni re bursaries - many will be income related (parental unless you are assessed as self supporting) but some may be related to your study area. English uni's have to offer a min of £338 to those receiving a maintenance grant but this doesn't apply to Welsh Uni's. Failing this there is the Access to Learning fund in England/ Financial contingency fund in Wales. These are for students who are suffering excessive hardship & have exhausted their overdraft facility. I'm afraid there doesn't seem to be other routes to additional funding but I'd love to know if anyone knows different. It might be worth talking to someone about your circumstance in the Union or student support unit at your Uni to see if they can suggest anything else. Hope you sort something as you are on the final leg now so it would be a shame to drop out.

fussychica - I am aware of the £300 which I have applied for. I havn't yet found anything different but wasn't aware of the access to learning fun, I will try find out more about it. Thank you!!

Boadiccea check to find out whether there are any local charities which offer grants for educational purposes in your area. Try putting Educational grants Chester (or whatever your nearest city is) into the internet, and see if anything comes up. Try other phrases as well. Likely as not, you'll find there's something you can pursue.

You could also ask for advice at your local library. They may be able to give you a printed list of local fundgiving bodies.
About university bursaries - Manchester's generous, if it hands out £3k a time. Newcastle offers up to £1,500 I think, but high achievers at Newcastle (three A's at A Level) get a further £500 Achievement Award on top, - which repeats for each year of the student's course.