Are any grants available if parents can't help?

[Yourownpersonaljesus]

My DD is of to uni in September. Her maintainance loan will pay for her accomodation and she will have a very small amount left over for living expenses. She does plan on getting a job too. She is really worried that she still won't have enough to live on. I am unable to help her out financially. I know it's expected that parents make up the shortfall but I really can't afford to as I struggle to get by as it is. My pay is okay but my rent takes up a huge chunk of it. I was wondering if universities gave out grants if students are struggling.

There is a vegetarian grant. Google it. Easy money for a uni student. If she plays golf there are also some generous scholarships/grants if she is good. Also look at what the university offers, there will be a lit of internal grants. If she lick up £500 here, £1000 there then it realy adds up.

trying to help I would point out that the university year is usually not more than 36 weeks so the £1020 the OPs daughter has left is not just £20 a week
I do feel the system is fair for the majority of students but unfortunately as personal anecdotes on here exemplify (as with most MN threads) there are exceptional circumstances in some people's lives which make things more difficult..

Thanks so much for the replies. The degree is Politics and Economics. Unfortunately she hasn't managed to save a penny - it's mostly gone on clothes, make up and going out even though I've reminded her many times that she needs to save. Sadly she isn't a vegetarian. I am though and wish I'd know about that grant when I was at uni! She wants a campus job ideally as she might be able to work back at her current PT job (in a well known MN favourite supermarket) in the holidays too. Sounds like she might be ok for money if other's experiences are anything to go by. She is just having a major panic as all her friends that went to uni this year have had lots of help from their parents and have still seemed to struggle (according to them). I'll get her to call the uni tomorrow to find out if there is any help for people in her situation just in case.

She still has a good few weeks to save up before she goes! Also once she is at uni the holidays are really long, if she lines up some Xmas work ASAP that will help.
It's a shame she didn't save any money during her gap year. That was daft of her. Hopefully she will be more sensible with her money from now on.

As suggested earlier.... Is it possible for you to rent out her room on Air B and B or Sparerooms?

both my girls got the minimum loan and we pay for their accomodation.
that leaves them with aprox £73 week (worked out over 52 weeks).
On that they both live well, have social lives and eat well - and neither spent the full amount.
The students that they know that are struggling with a similar income are spending £100s on nights out. As long as she is sensible, and can earn herself about £50 week to top up what she has she'll be fine.
Can she save up some of her wages now too, it's still a couple of months before they start.
And hopefully next summer can work and save ready for year two.
Don't panic, she'll be fine.

Yes Wonky I hope she'll be better with money once she's there - she is going to have to be! Although it's quite nice where I live it's not a holiday town and there isn't much to do here. I don't think anyone would want to stay here! Will look into it though.

My friend works in student finance. There will probably be options, she needs to call them to find out what is available

Bursaries are available on a sliding scale and are automatically given based on your income by the university. Check at her university.

Also look at scholarships, both at her university and UK wide. One I saw was for students who live in a specific area.

Although it's quite nice where I live it's not a holiday town and there isn't much to do here. I don't think anyone would want to stay here! Will look into it though.

Try sparerooms There are all sorts of reasons for people wanting to rent a room apart from holidaying.

Well done to your dd for gaining her place. Politics, really clever stuff.
Hope it works out well for her, and at least she's learned a valuable lesson.

I'm amazed at the amount of parents who pay the rent and the student lives off the maintenance loan! They don't know how lucky they are! Op, all my three dds have survived on the maintenance loan and working PT. We have never been in a position to help out with more than the occasional tenner. You say dd has a supermarket job, get her to ask about a student transfer if there is one where she's studying. Sometimes this works out really well. A word of warning - there is usually a delay between having to pay the first months rent or deposit for accommodation and the first instalment of the maintenance loan so be prepared to have to find a few hundred pounds temporarily. Please don't worry though, your dd will be fine. She will become an expert on creating 'exciting' meals from a 79p packet of pasta and making it last all week!

Thanks derek., flissfloss, Wonky and catherine - all really helpful replies. And thanks gilly for your kind words.

They sell those books for students in The Works.
Cooking, managing a budget etc.
They are really cheap, saw some in the 50p box the other day. I was surprised they were on sale at this time of year, that's how I remembered.

Check out if any big companies/organisations help with finance.

E.g my dd subject music - There's one iirc that gives money for instruments, can't be spent on anything else.

There may be one for books, or even admittance to certain Political events, or subscriptions.

Wow shocked at all the judgement your getting OP. Some universities jabs hardship funds that students can apply for but they give very lifelike. A couple of hundred pounds at a time normally.

University rent is expensive and a lot of people don't understand that. Information on headship finds will be available online or on the students Union website. A lot of funds don't open until November though.

You could try renting out her room Monday to Friday, surprisingly lots of people need somewhere to sleep for work but go Home st weekends. You could look on moneysavingexpert for ideas for yourself and suggest your daughter looks at the student section. We didn't give our 2 money during term time. We couldn't afford it, started to the eldest first year but it just made us overdrawn. So we said they had to manage and we will try to help later when they are in their first jobs etc. ( tbh kind of hoping very elderly DGP might produce small inheritances but god I hate thinking that way). They have to work holidays- no other way. Eldest worked hard and worked every vacation and got good degree straight into a job and now saving hard. Second pissed away all his money, didn't go to lectures and was asked to leave after 2 nd year. He's happy now in a job, turned his life around though with massive student debt we won't help out with. It's bloody hard. I worked 2 days a week throughout University and it did me no harm. Eons ago (1970s) but my parents could give me any money either and I didn't expect them to. It's different now I guess. OP don't feel guilty. We tried to save but couldn't. We didn't have any spare money then

Unfortunately she hasn't managed to save a penny - it's mostly gone on clothes, make up and going out

Ah.... so that is more of an issue. There are some students that have no idea about money and budgeting - I know my dd has been amazed by a couple of her flatmates and others she's met on her course.
I'd have thought a main reason behind doing a gap year was to save some money. As other have said though she still has2 months to get ahead. With her work experience already, she should be ahead in the jobs market, and some big chains will transfer you to your university town store (as already trained etc).
Hopefully she'll have got all the splurging / spending out of her system now and will budget better once she is there.

OP, a lot of people struggle to understand the Student Finance system, and may be judging you because of their own misconceptions about what your dd may be able to borrow/what you can realistically contribute. Unfortunately, the system isn't very fair because the loan amounts are based on income rather than outgoings, meaning that some families are genuinely unable to meet the expected parental contribution. And not everyone has the flexibility to save for higher education either. Please ignore the nasty comments.

Most university bursary schemes are likely to be aimed at students from lower income families. It can be tough for the squeezed middle who don't qualify for the full maintenance loan but can't afford the parental contributions either, but sadly, the bursary schemes offer little help for these students.

As others have said, there may be academic scholarships, if she gets very high grades. However, it's likely that these will be very competitive.

Most universities will also have hardship funds for students in severe financial difficulty, but be aware that each university will set their own criteria for these funds and some may specifically exclude hardship caused by parents being unwilling and/or unable to pay the expected parental contribution, some may require that students demonstrate an unforeseen change of circumstances or whatever. Generally speaking, they expect students to make reasonable plans as to how they will support themselves prior to starting the degree, rather than just assuming that the university will bail them out if necessary. The hardship funds are there for when those plans go awry - they shouldn't be part of the plan in the first place.

It would certainly be worth talking to the university about potential sources of support, in case there are other avenues that you could explore, but the best time to do this would be before starting. Taking a year out to earn some money before starting is also an idea well worth considering - most institutions would probably be happy to defer the offer of a place, and dd could get some solid savings behind her before starting.

Yourownpersonaljesus
Dd is going to cardiff on a nhs bursery , she wont even get enough to cover her rent. She is only entitled to £1000 grant and about 2.5k loan, her rent is over 4k. Even though she has got the highest possible grade her course does not do an academic scholarship.

I'd have thought a main reason behind doing a gap year was to save some money.

BackforGood It was partly. She also had a gap year as she didn't get into the uni she wanted this year and wasn't sure what to do. She decided to apply to universities that would accept the grades she actually got so there was no pressure to retake exams. She definitely should've been saving money but obviously didn't. I really hope she's got the spending out of her system. Thanks for your reply.
Thanks to molifly and carbuckety for your replies too.

Sorry, I missed the fact that she has already had a gap year. Best thing for her to do now is probably work like crazy over the summer and save up as much as she can, then. There's still a long time before the university terms start.

French that's pretty much what I thought. I'm not on a very low income so support is minimal even though I have no spare money.

That seems unfair bruffin. How is she going to manage?

I think there is a disconnect between the OPs DD and saving for university. I don’t think many posters have been unfair. She clearly knew the op didn’t have any money. So she spent what she earned on going out, clothes and make up. I think we all understand the situation, but spending everything made no sense at all. I also think Dd is aware what her friends are spending at university and wants to carry on in the way she’s accustomed to. She’s had a year to find out what her loan would be, how much accommodation and living costs would be and save from her earnings to try and make up some of the shortfall if the op couldn’t help. None of which has been done. Now the OP is trying to find sources of money for her. In the financial circumstances described by the op, this is Head in the sand big time.

It’s all very well saying that everyone else manages frugally at university, but the DD is used to going out, buying clothes and make up. So if she carries on like that, she’ll get a hardship grant. Is that right?

We are going to have to subsidise her. With ds we paid his food and he had a job.
Dd we are going to have to pay her rent and she will have to find a job, but she also has to do 1000 placement hours as well.

Bruffin - she chose Wales deliberately because they have a bursary. She could have studied in England and had a loan like everyone else. She won’t pay anything back so you do need to explain that. It was her choice. All she has to do is work in Wales afterwards. She could have had more money in England and paid the grad tax. A choice was made and you are paying instead of her. However, the good news is she will definitely get a grad level job and be employed forever more if she wishes that! It’s a rosy future.

Can you get a term time lodger while she is away at Uni?