Accommodation.....how many of you parents out there are able to pay for this?

[skyblue11]

Most of my colleagues say they give their child the maintenance and pay the accommodation, there's no way we have a spare 5,100 or even 4,500! She will be struggling and have a huge overdraft and I'm scared for her.

eatyourveg thanks for your suggestion - we were thinking of doing that but still a bit shocked by how much this means :( No posh holidays for us for next few years ! Almost keeping fingers crossed that DS currently in year 11 doesn't change his mind and want to go to Uni after all ! The system shouldn't make you feel like that but this lie that it's the kids taking on the debt just isn't the whole story !

We will find it but it won't be without sacrifice.

Shooting pigeons - that's the same for my DD this year - last year she worked in a paid job all summer and had plenty of money to also pay for a holiday, but this year, almost everything she has done has been unpaid to build up for CV for next year's job applications. So her bank account looks very poorly, compared with last year.

AND- should have added this - doing unpaid internships actually costs money as she needed the travel card to get up to London for 4 weeks and she needed a lot of 'office' clothes so she fitted in - so it actually cost a few hundred pounds to do the work experience!

Beck and call absolutely. DD was in a white coat but needed subsidising for travel and food (hospital was near her student flat)

We absolutely couldn't afford to do it out of current income but have been saving for it since before DS1 was born. Have had one foreign holiday in 13 years.

It's a while away for us still and no idea if they will end up going, but even though the money is there should they need it and barring other disasters, I'm not entirely sure it would be good for them for us to just hand it over..

DS1 has always paid his own accommodation using his student loan and holiday pay.

I intended for DS1 to do the same, but his Uni accommodation services last year needed to set up a standing order straightway (he applied late August), so I ended up doing this. This year, he will take it out of his loan.

Coldfusion. There would be no way that DD3 could pay her hall fees out of her student loan and still have enough to live on and buy books and stuff she needs for her course. She gets the minimum loan we could have had our income assessed and she would have got a small amount more, but we decided not to as the amount she would have got didn't make it worth all the hassle. Anyway she has some savings so she is using that for food and all other living and uni costs. We are paying her accomadation but we aren't giving her any other money. We did the same with her sisters. I think once they get to uni young people should start budgeting for themselves and not have a regular allowance from their parents. Okay if parents are expecting their DC to pay their hall fees from the student loan then yes give them some money for other stuff if they can afford it, my brother did that with my nephew. What I mean is that parents shouldn't do both that is paying for their DC's accomadation and giving them an allowance..

I don't understand how they can pay accomm out of their loan. DS gets £3300 a year, and the hall fees alone are £4,800.

So I pay his hall fees and he lives on his loan (£80 a week). Seems to be managing OK most of the time though he was chipping away steadily at his savings during Freshers fortnight

I reckon that the savings in food, petrol, DS's car expenses and school dinners work out at around £300 a month which is not far short of the hall fees, so it's all a bit swings and roundabouts really.

DC both have funded their own time at university, they went to private schools but on bursaries and due to their dad no longer being around I could just no longer afford to support them fully sadly.

From me DC get a food shop (£100ish) at the start of each term and I'll probably buy around £75 worth of clothes for them a year.

First and second year they found it OK. They went to very academic schools, one actually told the boys not to get jobs during term time, but DS decided he could cope and balance his workload. They have both worked since 16 and put the majority of the money since they were 16 into a savings account which they couldn't touch until they were off to uni. At the time we talked to them about the fact uni if expensive and it might be a good idea to put a set amount of their weekly earnings into an account for uni. It was up to them if they followed our advice, but both did and it has been a huge help and makes the difference between being in the overdraft and keeping to an achievable budget.
They use their student finance maintenance loan on their accommodation (doesn't fully cover it, but almost does). The money from savings (working aged 16 onwards and what me and their dad put away for them when they were young - originally intended for house buying once graduated).
Then living expenses i.e. food/books/transport/socialising comes from what they earn in holidays. As I said, this was easy for first and second year as using that money combined with their (small but useful) university bursaries has enabled them to live to a reasonable student standard.
Third year has been really tricky. DS is doing medicine so his holidays were very short by 3rd year, he has managed to get a grant from a charity trust and a scholarship (it took a lot of hard work/pleading/following up but well worth it), he has also moved home to save money. DD is doing a 3 year course and so she did an internship this summer and also went on holiday with friends. The internship, while worth it (she got a job offer :)) was very costly. As BeckAndCall said, it was £100 a week for a travel-card to London plus appropriate clothes.

This year my mother has supported DD by giving £200 a term towards food, she is not coming home as much to save on transport and luckily is in a house where they cook a lot together which is saving on money. It is going to be very tough for her to stay out her overdraft but I really hope we can work things out. If necessary I will do all I can to support her as I don't want her in any more debt than she already is! I am a teacher and so can try to get a tutoring job for the holidays to top-up income.

It is tough, but possible with a lot of planning and looking at finances. Student finance and uni bursaries, IMO often give too much to those who don't need it and too little to those who really do.
DD luckily receives an acceptable amount but others, she has found, really struggle and have to work term time long hours as well as holidays. DC are incredibly respectful and grateful for any support, they have also become amazingly good at managing money and budgeting.
DD was saying the other day it does her head in when some of her wealthy housemates who live off bank of M and D moan about money or make out they are living in great debt, when her other housemate is genuinely struggling and DD herself is quietly making sacrifices and getting on with it the best she can.

Sorry for rambling on!!!

I have no idea how DD1 will survive as we have no money at all for her once she goes to Uni.
Unlike most of pp we are on Income support so I believe she will get the top allowance of loan and grants but I don't know how much that will be or how we/or her will make up the shortfall unless she gets a p/t job. I don't think she will work as she hasn't at college due to her workload. I think it will be a scary 3 years financially

If you are on IS then she will most probably get the top wack in terms of loans and grants and if I were you I would be looking at the financial help available at the various unis and use that as one of the criteria for shortlisting places to apply to. Some places offer lots of help, others less so although they all have to provide something now. Use the calculator thingy on sfe to see how much you may be entitled to then look at the costs of accommodation at various places - they vary hugely from less than £50pw self catering in a bunk room at Aberystwyth (after residential bursary has been taken off) to over £200pw for a premium room at ICL. £95-£120 is probably average for a single s/c.

You can choose for the loan to be based on your income, if not then irrc you get 66% of the full amount

DD has two flatmates whose parents are on low income, they get the full maintenance grant and the university automatically gives them a scholarship and a bursary of £300 per term. They don't just manage comfortably, they save.

Debs75, you won't be expected to contribute anything, and you dd will almost certainly be given grants and bursaries to supplement her (maximum) loan.

You will save on things like food, petrol, fares, school lunches etc so maybe you could give her some of that if she's struggling?

dm is giving ds a meal card from sainsburys which she tops up her end and he can spend it his end. If you have dp who might want to contribute something, it may be worth finding out more even if its only a fiver every now and again - it would be welcome I'm sure

We have a Sainsbury's meal card for Ds. I sent him off to uni with quite a good stock of food for his larder and fridge/freezer and I will send him the card in a few weeks time (once he has realised how expensive food is!).

I feel quite bad that I can't contribute more. Because of the IS we will see a drop in income for us as a family but if it means she will get extra help as a student we can live with that.

THe two Uni's she has looked at have reasonable accommodation costs £60+ and she is more than willing to share a room which is the lowest tariff. One Uni is nearish and in my friend's town and she has already said she will help her out by cooking for her occasionally and doing her laundry. The other preferred Uni is the other end of the country with no one around so she would be all by herself.
We have already decided we will do her some online shops or send her some Asda cards with money on them a couple of times a term.

Debs yes university can be expensive, but as previous posters have mentioned your DD will be entitled to a full loan and grant and probably other bursaries from the university she attends. So the government doesn't expect you to contribute.Therefore financially she will be in a stronger position than many.

As shooting mentioned her DD's flat mates who are appear to be in a similiar position to your DD can actually save money. My DCs have found the same, those with full grants/loans/bursaries etc are rich compared to the rest of them. So do make sure that your DD applies to the best university for her course. It is great that you have a friend in one of the possible university towns but that shouldn't really affect her decision on what university to choose.

Dd finished at uni this year. When she was looking at uni's she took into account how much bursary she would get from them. She was entitled to a full loan and grant plus bursary and had money left by the end of her 3 years. Unfortunately she couldn't get a job apart from her first year where she got an additional bursary from the uni by being part of a link with local secondary schools and working as a classroom assistant one day a week.

The uni had a payment card that gave a discount in the cafes and local shop at uni. We would sometimes put money on her card.

It can be done.

Thanks for the advice to look at the student finance website. It has certainly put my mind at ease. She has a small choice of Uni's as her course isn't everywhere.

I wish all that got to Uni could get the same help. It's not fair taking parents income into that much account. Some parents may earn well but have a big family or a big mortgage so less spare money.

DD2 in a non catered hall at £8600 and London loan of £4990. We make up the difference plus £600 a month for clothes, food, phone, transport, laundry, entertainment, books, etc . DD1 not in London and her loan is about £1000 short of her annual rent so we pay this and a bit less every month as her transport costs are lower. Many years ago my husband's parents refused to pay him the money they should have done as he did not get the full grant as they were working in good jobs. They bought a caravan instead. DH upset by this so works hard to give our girls a reasonable amount so they can work at time consuming degrees, hopefully do well, and at least not have to worry about money. However I can see that people who sit financially just above the bursary/higher loan threshold are clobbered. I would tend to avoid the more expensive locations unless it is the only feasible option as housing costs are a killer.

Wow blackMogul those hall fees are eye watering. None of mine have applied to London so I've never looked into the cost of living there. I'm glad they didn't now!

As you can see from this www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/accommodation/residences/fees fees vary widely according to facilities etc. There are some very swish privately owned accommodation mainly aimed at the market amongst overseas students but much cheaper options too. The options in the link range from £3744 to £9555 so black is towards the upper end. DDs was around £6000 for the year, self catered, shared facilities but right in the centre of London. Two of her flatmates have parents who cannot help but do get the full grant and a bursary from UCL and managed just fine. And of course they are at the fourth best university in the world

Well the thread I started is really making me think we are really poor.
If her hall fees are around 5300 and her total loan/grant is 6300 then she's going to be struggling and as we are on a low income (with my job insecure) then we will really feel it.
It must be great if you can afford to pay the accommodation as they can just budget on what they have from the loan.
I saved since she was 4 £30 a month, OK so not much but a lot to us and we have now got about £4K so over three years this will be eeked out slowly though I suspect it won't last long.