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Higher education

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

Original poster

2017 Uni entry . Can we talk about fees and maintenance loans?

31 replies

Timetogetup0630 · 12/02/2017 14:51

Need a bit of hand holding here.
I hoped DD would research this and give me a briefing but I see no sign of it

The Government website doesn't seem to have been updates for 2017/18 entry yet.

Am I right in assuming that if you are a high income bracket household,
(over £60k ) the student is still eligible for a minimum maintenance loan ?

OP posts:
bojorojo · 12/02/2017 15:00

Yes. You, as parents, fund the difference in costs. You will be lucky to find accommodation at the level of the minimum loan. You may be lucky at some universities. You can more or less do your sums on current info as inflation is still low. It will give you a rough idea.

Star21 · 12/02/2017 15:01

You can use the student finance calculator to get an estimate on the gov.uk website, it appears to be updated for 2017/18, sorry I don't know how to do links. I tested it with a household income of £100k for student living away from home outside London and it came up with a loan of £3.9k.

Original poster
Timetogetup0630 · 12/02/2017 15:10

Thanks Star21 I will have a look at that Student Finance Calculator.

DH who is earns a huge salary, but didn't go to University himself is just coming to terms with the cost of funding two kids through university, and I am mediating......

OP posts:
ReapAndSow · 12/02/2017 15:13

If you are worried about supporting her don't forget that there is a huge difference in housing costs in different areas. I know you will already know this 😂 but it's really quite shocking.

DD currently rents for £57 a week. It's not the smartest house Confused but it's perfectly ok and close to his Uni. In the first year he was in Uni accommodation which was more expensive but for the last three years he has been paying £57. So £57 x 52 (weeks) x 3 (years) = £8,892. 💰💰💰

Original poster
Timetogetup0630 · 12/02/2017 15:19

Thanks Reap.

Not worried about the cost of supporting her but need to know what we are in for since we will have two children at Uni Simultaneously for at least two years.
She is very keen to go to Leeds which seems to have a huge surplus of private sector rented accommodation and not too expensive. We spent a good amount of time looking at prices for Uni accommodation and were shocked at how much it varies. We also felt that the additional meal card option was a real rip off, especially given that DD is vegetarian, and even a big multi cultural city the quality and variety of verge meals was very poor.

Fortunately Leeds markets are great value for money and plenty of interesting ethnic food and veg.

OP posts:
Grausse · 12/02/2017 15:48

Students from the poorest families get £8200 under the current rules, not sure about exact amounts from September. If you work on the basis of making the minimum loan up to £8200 that gives you an idea.
I have two in uni although they get more than the £3500 minimum and we top it up to about £8000. Each. Gulp.
Among my DC's friends the worst off ones are those who's parents earn over £60k but don't cough up.

Someone will come along in a minute and say they worked all the way through uni and so your DC should as well. They always do on these threads Grin

MrsBernardBlack · 12/02/2017 15:59

There is a lot of useful advice on the Money Saving Expert website, here.

ReapAndSow · 12/02/2017 16:09

Another thing to remember when you are looking at costs is to look at how much you will be saving when they are away. My food and fuel bills plummet when the kids are at Uni.

We've ended up with all four at Uni at once. The eldest is doing a 6 year course so there has been an overlap as they are close in age. Apart from the one studying medicine they all work to some extent. We've been suprised at how little they need to live on. They all live in cheaper cities (like Leeds ) and they don't have any particularly expensive hobbies. Their biggest expense is probably travel but even with that they seem to hunt down some amazing deals with Megabus or cheap train fares.

DaphneDeLaFontaine · 12/02/2017 16:13

£57 a week is amazingly cheap. DS pays over 6k self catering and next year will be £130 a week, excluding bills.

Head North is my advice.

ReapAndSow · 12/02/2017 16:15

Someone will come along in a minute and say they worked all the way through uni and so your DC should as well. They always do on these threads

😂 There is a lovely middle ground between the 'I worked 12 hours a day whilst studying and living in a cardboard box' and doing no work at all . One of mine does tutoring for 3 hours a week for £15 an hour and two just work during the summer. It's very doable and they enjoy it. My DD who does medicine doesn't work.

DereksGotATail · 12/02/2017 16:25

Dd pays her hall fees with her maintenance loan. We give her £30 pw for living. It used to be £50 but she said that she didn't need that much so asked us to reduce it. She seems to manage on a small amount.
I sent her off with loads of toiletries and food basics. When she comes home she uses my card to do a shop of the more expensive supplies and we pay for her train ticket home.
All in all it's not as expensive as I was anticipating. We have a small amount if savings set aside for university but at the moment, it remains untouched.

Grausse · 12/02/2017 16:35

ReapAndSow Wink. I was slightly tongue in cheek and mine actually do that middle ground. Of course it's not what the OP asked.

My food and fuel bills plummet when the kids are at Uni
So do mine. Far more than I anticipated.

Halls seem to vary a lot between unis and within the uni. It seems you can't rely on asking for the cheapest rooms are those are the most in demand and I know several students who got their last choice of accommodation which was much dearer than their first.
In second years most, though not all, live off campus. This is usually cheaper but there may be extra travel costs. One of my DC pays £90 for an annual bus pass and the other £360.

SouthWestmom · 12/02/2017 19:39

Im dreading this. It seems the expectation is that the Ines on minimum loan use that for living and parents fund the accommodation.

We are high earners but late parents and mortgage/debt so no spare cash at all to the tune of £6000 a year.

I was just getting straight, overpaying a loan and hoping to have some breathing space when we discovered that we would have to pay so much.

What annoys me is that others are playing the system, and we can't! If I'm totally honest!

Original poster
Timetogetup0630 · 12/02/2017 21:11

noeuf, you said others are playing the system.
Do tell more ?

OP posts:
Millipedewithherfeetup · 12/02/2017 21:21

Would also say that your home bills will reduce, my water, gas and electricity as well as food bills have reduced dramatically since my dd went to uni. The top up for accomodation and food etc, seem high, but when you look at the bigger picture its not that painful !

Teenagedream · 12/02/2017 21:34

We have twins in their first year. Their loans pay most of the accommodation costs with a small top up. We give £35 a week although recently reduced DS to £30 as he said he didn't need it. Seems to be about right so far.

Decorhate · 12/02/2017 21:46

The first year is the most expensive. Not only are halls more expensive than a shared house, certainly at Leeds you paid over 8 rather than 9 months so the monthly cost is higher. My dd was unexpectedly allocated catered accommodation so the monthly amount was about 50% higher than I had anticipated.

Parents tend to either use the loan to pay towards the accommodation costs & then give a weekly amount for living expenses. Or parents pay the rent & the student lives off the loan.

AtiaoftheJulii · 12/02/2017 22:15

Or parents pay the rent & the student lives off the loan.

That's the way round we do it. Seemed likely to be the simplest way to keep it 'fair' for four - rents vary quite a lot around the country, but supermarkets are similar everywhere! ( Drinks prices do seem to vary a lot too, but that's not my responsibility Grin )

BoboChic · 12/02/2017 22:19

Our food bills drop dramatically when the DSSs are at university! And we no longer take them to restaurants at the weekend. The cost of financing students is partially offset by the reduced household bills.

SouthWestmom · 12/02/2017 23:21

Time, just things that aren't strictly in the spirit of. It seems to be easier if people are self employed or separated to maximise the loan the dc can qualify for.

AtiaoftheJulii · 13/02/2017 07:06

Well, it goes by the household income of the household the young person lives in, so yes, being separated can make a difference - not sure I'm quite cynical enough yet to call that playing the system!

SouthWestmom · 13/02/2017 07:17

Yes but if the person lives with mum and stepdad and household income = minimum grant only, using the other parents instead is 'playing the system' .

Like I said though if I could I would.

I think it's a flawed system, open to mild abuse at the top, and leaving some young people unable to go after school because families can't afford the top ups.

Original poster
Timetogetup0630 · 14/02/2017 06:24

Thanks Noeuf I wouldn't stoop so low....

OP posts:
wickerlampshade · 15/02/2017 12:40

I'm a GP and a teenage patient dropped in a form asking me to sign to confirm that she was estranged from her family, so she could get more funding. Didn't know her at all so rang the home number to talk to her. Dad answered the phone and said "just a moment, she's here" and passed the phone over.

Not very estranged then.........

Grausse · 15/02/2017 14:03

wickerlampshade I think that's more likely to be a benefit claim than a student loan. I used to work in benefits and certain young people could get allowances if they were estranged from parents.