How much are you expected to give DStudent and how are you hoping to find it?

[serin]

We are expected to give around £400 a month by the look of things.

That's a hell of a lot to find out of a family budget. We do have some savings to help but are also hoping that she manages to find some sort of employment once there. Not easy though as she is heading to an area of high unemployment.

Has everyone else been more sensible than us and been saving since birth? or are other parents going to be living off beans on toast come the autumn?

You have to provide what you can afford and think right in the context of your own family.
I've supported DCs over 8 years at university and have been able to be fairly generous and have entirely paid for them out of my income. I've not saved in advance, though some do.
The main question is: How much do they need on a weekly basis to live. If what you feel able to provide is not sufficient, then your DC has to find some work to make up the gap.
Unless he/she has a very heavy course load, a student will normally have enough free time to earn enough to make up this gap.

Unless he/she has a very heavy course load, a student will normally have enough free time to earn enough to make up this gap.

With the exception of Oxford, Cambridge and most medical schools, which forbid part time work during term time.

We will be able to fund from savings, but do expect ds to look for a job in the holidays, especially summer.
Not expecting much change from 100k as he will be an overseas sudent so international fees and no loans.

Been saving since birth, but I would also expect them to work in the holidays.

Shanghai are you uk citizen as I know a number of expats who have got home status for their children it depends on the Uni. I know last year one of my friends got home status despite her child never having lived in the uk and with no property in the uk

Sorry about the English that should have been I have known

It has to be a personal family thing this. For those who get the minimum (like our DD) the parents are all in different places in terms of income and, more importantly, outgoings. We are lucky and have repaid our mortgage - we could move but there is little need to, so we aren't going to and that helps us a great deal. Our DD has a heavy workload - its a creative degree which doesn't have any right answer so the work you put in can be immense. This way, she gets the maintenance money - just over £3k a year - plus a one off scholarship, and we pay for her accommodation. We have paid for a few food shopping trips too over the year when we have dropped her off. She has been perfectly fine on this and has plenty of savings from it.

I do appreciate though, even on the same income, if you have heavy expenses or mortgages, this won't be so possible to pay for accommodation in full.

*Unless he/she has a very heavy course load, a student will normally have enough free time to earn enough to make up this gap.

With the exception of Oxford, Cambridge and most medical schools, which forbid part time work during term time.*
And possibly some engineering courses which are pretty full on ... but pointless to list every possibility!

nightmare we are all UK citizens, but have been outside UK for 20 years and do not have a house there, so assuming the worst.

My parents didn't give me a bean. Couldn't afford to. I worked to supplement my student loan which was much better for me in the long run as meant I immediately got a job after graduating.

Most subjects at uni (apart from stuff like medicine etc) allow ample time to work at least a but during term time. I did 15 hours a week in my first and second years and 20 in my third.

Bit, not but! Stupid phone.

I'm a single mum on a low income and my DC get the max funding available. I'm not required to contribute anything according to student finance, I couldn't afford to and our savings have always been short-term for day to day expenses. My DCs work full-time in the holidays but don't work during term (they are doing science subjects and are involved in various student activities). They also get means-tested bursaries and hardship funds through their universities. They seem to manage pretty well - they have cheap rents and they're still able to pay for holidays, trips and some expensive hobbies etc.

Not expecting much change from 100k as he will be an overseas sudent

So why not look elsewhere other than the UK? If you're paying full UK international fees and not eligible for loans, so are looking at paying out the whole cost in cash, there are very attractive options which are either cheaper or (arguably) better or both. Mainland Europe? America? Australia? Canada?

Why are you expected to give £400 a month ?

My ds is coming up to the end of his first year at University.
His loan covers his accommodation, and, from Sept to end of May we give him £30 a week. He's tried, but been unable to find a job where he's at University, but has worked the holidays, when back home.

He manages fine.

Where have you got the £400 figure from ?

I mean, there will be people paying that out, and there will be people paying more and there will be people not paying anything. I'm just wondering why you've said that specific amount.

There have been many threads on this in the past.
People have different attitudes about how much help is needed and people have different financial circumstances. Also the cost of uni accommodation varies quite a lot and the students don't always get their first choice of accommodation.

There will always be a poster who probably does not have uni age children and says "I never got anything from my parents, make them get a job".

DS is not doing medicine but he has an intensive course. None of his flat mates or subject friends has part time jobs. It's possible some students manage to find work as well as study but you shouldn't count on it.

Most of us with uni age DC help out as much as we can. We give DS £300 a month in term time on top of his loan and he manages. That doesn't give him lots of spare cash for entertainment but is enough. He has a part time job at home which he comes back to in holidays.

Shanghai my friend had been out 22 years no house or bank account so keeping everything crossed for you.

Backforgood - if your dc only gets the minimum maintenance loan because of your salaries, often that doesn't even cover accommodation in halls. Your dc is clearly not in that position but plenty are.

Hi, we got the figure of £400 a month as that will be the cost of her un-catered hall (well £4,300 actually). We thought the £3,000 provided by the government would be for her living expenses. If she can manage on less than this then great.

BackForGood, does your son have to buy his food out of the £30? I honestly couldn't see her managing on that as she will have to pay transport costs, phone costs, shoes and socialising (not that she does much of that).

We don't want her to have more than other students but don't want her to have to go out with her rod and catch a fish for her supper either!

I guess I am just trying to find an 'average' that we can work towards.

Hi Serin, yes, ds is in self catered accommodation. That (and what he earns in the holidays - which, tbh, often also gets spent in the holidays, he's not a great saver....) covers all his food, travel (and his girlfriend is in a different City, so that adds to the 'around town' travel), toiletries, phone contract, and socialising. He's become a canny shopper.
Don't get me wrong, I sent him back after each holiday with a bag of toothpastes, shampoos, shower gels, and a box with quite a few tins in to help him on his way, but, week by week, he manages fine.
Before he started, I asked my 2 nieces what they spend on food + bits each week and they both said "under £20 although the boys tend to eat more", which is why we plumped for £30 to allow for travel and phone, etc on top.

titchy - yes, that's why I said some will pay more, some less, etc - it's a wide variation if you read all these threads, that's why I was wondering why OP had gone for that specific amount, rather than the usual "How much do you give / do they need type question . There will be those who get less than we do (although of course, that will be because their incomes are higher) but there are also bursaries and grants and other support out there for lower income families and also for higher grade students.

There are so many factors, it's another 'how long is a piece of string' factor. I was just demonstrating that, if you haven't got £400 pm, then not to despair

Normally the university takes the hall money from the student's account ,on the day, or just after, the loan goes in three times a year. This is often the easiest way to do it. Is the loan just £3000? Has this not gone up at all? My DD got more than this 5 years ago and it was more or less the exact price of her catered accommodation. No bursary or maintenance grants here by the way. We then did give about £450 a month for all expenses . She did volunteering in the holidays but was not paid. We just paid our contribution out of earned funds but it was less than school fees! Having a student at university always meant a dent in family finances even when it was meanstested many years ago. My DH's parents refused to pay up but bought a colour tv and a caravan - both were massive luxuries at the time.

Only £30 per week for food, travel, socialising, phone? Even with a stockpile of toiletries? No way did or could my DD and DS manage on that kind of money. Even in a catered college/hall with no travel costs ( they were both walking distance of their uni buildings and used my trainline account for their journey home at end of term or in term time) , and we paid for their phones as well, they budgeted on £400 a month. For my DD in particular there was a lot of eating out and shop bought coffees it seemed. And college bops and balls. For my son it was sport expenses.

When they lived out the accommodation costs went down ( lower rents than college fees) but obviously the food and household expenses and bills went up. The eating out was replaced with dinner party catering.
I realise they were lucky that we could afford to contribute this, but I didn't get the impression that we were being extravagantly generous compared with their friends. Maybe DH and I were taken for a ride!!

Thanks BackForGood, very reassuring to know that it can be done for less.

tantalisingduck, In a million years I can't imagine DD doing dinner party catering (unless she actually got caterers in!!) she famously 'cooked' a pizza on a George Foreman grill recently

serin this thread from last summer was very useful for me as DS1 was preparing to start uni.

To those expecting their dcs to get a job to supplement their uni costs - it just ain't that easy. Dd has managed a few short term contracts in a coffee shop and a then a jewellers at Xmas but just cannot get anything for the summer despite endless applications for jobs and internships. She has work experience, a good application/CV and references but no luck. Now having to give up her room in her flat over the summer and move back home. Deep joy all round! In any uni town there are hundreds of students all going after the same jobs.