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.

Bubbles I don't think she'll get a hardship grant. I was just asking if there's any extra help available if parents can't support their children through university. I agree that she should have saved some money and we've had many heated discussions about it. Doesn't stop me worrying though.

Bubbles
She didnt chose Wales because of the bursery, she chose Cardiff because it is the best in the UK for her course.
She still has to pay a back the maintenance loan which will cost her the same as every other student in the country which is 9% of her wages over 25k. She is no better off really other than maybe actually clearing her loan in her lifetime.
We wouldnt be better off if she went to her insurance Oxford Brookes as the accommodation there is a lot more expensive and and her maintenance loan would not cover under the UK student loan.
We are fortunate/unfortunate in that our income has gone up recently and we can just afford to subsidise her. The maintenance loans should at least cover accomodation. There has been a big rise in rents the 3 years between Ds and Dd going.

Rent out her room in term time?

At the year 12 talk at DD's school, this site was recommended (don't think she's got round to exploring it yet, but she does have a part-time job using a qualification which should get her the same work at university):
www.thescholarshiphub.org.uk/

Sorry to sidetrack Op
But the more think about it my Dd would be better off with a uk student loan.she will get a higher maintenance loan but will be paying back the same as if she had the welsh nhs bursery.

Can she look for scholarships in her field?

For example googling engineering and I find some []www.thescholarshiphub.org.uk/blog/engineering-scholarships]]

I have a bit less sympathy for her if she hasn’t heeded your advice and bothered to save anything to support herself however! I’m a planner by nature and am glad I put away a bit every month for the last 10yrs for DHs DD to be able to help her when she goes in a year. But of course you need to have a bit spare to do that. Foresight and all that.

Also do check if she can get money from her father. I believe there is some kind of legal right for the adult children who lives with one parent at unviersity stage to apply to the other parent for help with university costs and this article suggests not quite what I was remembering but instead application for child maintenance to continue at university stage www.pannone.com/media-centre/blog/family-blog/extending-child-maintenance-cover-university-fees

Also check your divorce (if you had one) order as ours says who pays university costs.

OP I am at some of the responses. I spent part of yesterday talking to an old friend, who is equally trying to hold it together financially, so that her kids don't face disruption as she works out how to pay for a good divorce lawyer who will find the money her future exDH is busy hiding.

I wonder whether your post is about something different. You are working yourself to the bone, yet your daughter is splurging on clothes, nights out and make up. You are worrying about whether you can afford to help her. Yet even if you do there is every chance that she will also fritter through her overdraft looking for you to bail her out.

To be honest I dont think she will find it easy to find a grant. Her case does not sound very "worthy".

At some point you are going to have to tell her that the bank of mum is closed for business. I think this might as well be now.

Her choices are either to save every penny from now on. Zero spend on anything not vital, and spend the next two months learning to cook and clean. (She can do both for you.)

Or she takes another gap year , and another even, till she is "ready" to go to University. There are huge temptations for freshers. As you will see from these threads, kids can have quite generous allowances, and quite probably, are also building up overdrafts. However this is not true of all. DD, who likes cooking and sport, but who is not too bothered about drinking and big nights out, spent about £50 a week in the last two weeks, and still has her gap year savings as a buffer. Nothing remarkable about that. She would get less if she were on the dole. (And if she were ever broke, she , like you, would survive.)

You owe yourself a break. Think a bit about why she is not supporting you - presumably it is part of the back story. Then be clear. You have struggled long enough. She is an adult. A second gap year might not be fun, but she has squandered the first, and you have no more to give. At some point in the future, she may tell you you did her a favour. No point in picking the best course in Britain if you are not ready to make the most of it.

I have PMed you

Hi OP. You are getting replies from some really ignorant people here! Please ignore them.
Student finance is a steaming pile of crap which unfortunately creates situations like yours

I agree with this.

Search the Uni website for scholarships/grants. The uni my DS will be going to seem to have quite a few, but none he is eligible for.

He accepted that he will not have much money while at uni, and TBH the only reason he can actually afford to go without having to work is he will have very cheep accommodation. The alternative would have been living at home and having a long commute to the nearest uni, where the course isn't as good (in his opinion)

The reality is your DD will have to work while at uni and use that for essentials rather than fun. I hope she's able to find suitable work. The uni loan system is crap.

I know this doesn't help too much for the OP and I know it's not practical or possible for everyone but there is usually at least a minimum of a 12 week gap (?) between A levels and starting University. It's a good amount of time to save up money.

One of my DCs friends was in the position that her parents had good incomes but that they were unable to give her hardly any money at all. She signed up for some summer work, worked her socks off and went to Uni with over £3K in savings just from that job. It was a shitty computer based job but it paid well.
(Yes, I KNOW that not everyone can do that )

bruffin - it seemed odd that your DD was only getting £2.5k loan when this is way below the minimum loan for the uk through the normal route. That’s why it’s below accommodation cost level. It’s not the same.

I think the Op said DD had lower A level results than expected and has taken a course she can get into rather than retake. Hence the gap year. I’m sure I read that somewhere. As a result, it seems a bit unlikely there’s scholarship money available. She’s not special academically. However, she just needs to get saving and I think, op, it’s time to let her do what she can to support herself through university. I think there has been quite a lot of drip feeding of info and certainly to begin with there was no mention of DD having taken a gap year and spent all her earnings. Who knew?

Wonky - she’s had a gap year and spent all the money she earned! It’s all detailed in the thread.

I have investigated it and its right because its funded by the nhs wales, she also gets less because she doesnt live in wales and we are considered higher earners.
Ive started another thread i think in the long run she will be better off with a normal student finance loan and pay the fees.

Apparently it was the same when nhs england gave bursaries.

Bubbles

I have the thread and that's why my comment started with 'I know this doesn't help too much for the OP...'. I think that makes it clear that I was just adding to the general discussion.

"Who knew?"

Thats the point really. If you don't know, you ask. You dont assume and judge.

OP is clearly hurting which is why I wonder whether her question was more about whether, given she has just spent a year seeing her daughter fritter money, she should be expected to make up the difference. The answer is no!

we're in a similar position - dd will get the minimum loan only, it doesn't quite cover accommodation. We have three other children and my only income is carers allowance. She won't be able to work during term time at university. We will help out as much as we possibly can but not at the expense of the rest of the family.

Atm dd costs us a lot because of the commute to school so she'll get that money (£29 a week train plus £1600 a year bus pass), we might be able to give her more but that's conditional. She's taking a gap year and will work throughout it - she has to save £5000 over that year. If she doesn't manage that due to profligacy I would be so so angry & seriously rethink what financial support we would be willing to give her.

We've been clear with her what our constraints are & what she needs to do, she's been aware she needs to work & save for as long as she's been thinking about university. To have worked for a year and saved nothing is terrible, I would be so disappointed.

Op would it be worth your dd going to the uni town before term starts to get work lined up? Before others arrive with the same idea?
Also, is she self catering? Can she cook and shop cheaply? The best thing you can do is help is equip her to cope.

Thank you for the helpful and supportive posts. I will look into all of the things you've suggested. Bubbles I'm not really sure why you are commenting on this thread. You come across as very smug that you are perfect and have never made mistakes. My original question was 'Are any grants available if parents can't help?' That's all I wanted to know. I was hoping someone else might have been in a similar situation and be able to answer the question. I was not drip feeding I just really didn't want to share my personal and ,quite frankly, embarrassing financial situation. Yes I am well aware that my daughter should've saved over the last year and we have had many arguments over this. I am obviously not happy about the fact that she hasn't saved. The fact is though that she hasn't. She isn't asking for or expecting money from a grant. She doesn't know that I'm posting this. She is planning on working. I just wish I was able to help as all of her friends parent are doing.
Needmoresleep you have hit the nail on the head. Thank you.

OP You mentioned that she works for a large supermarket. Has she asked whether she can transfer to her uni town? A friend of DDs worked part time at Tesco and when she went to uni she got a transfer to the Tesco nearest her uni.

Do you think she will be able to budget, can you help her start now with a few weeks before she goes? In particular can you teach her how to feed herself very cheaply?

Myfriend thank you for your reply. Unfortunately her university town doesn't have the supermarket she works in. She can cook for herself and usually does (as we work different hours so eat at different times) but I am also teaching her to cook cheap, easy meals. Her budgeting skills aren't great (obviously) so I agree she needs some help in that department!

I do feel that if you had said the exact position when you first posted it would have been different regarding responses. I didn’t know your DD had spent all her money - hence the “who knew” comment. People can suggest all sorts of things that are unrealistic or she can get to grips with saving over the rest of the summer.

I come from a truly “difficult” family so I fully understand parents paying zero towards anything! In fact my Dad refused to apply for a grant for my sisters as he refused to declare his self employed income. It’s one reason why I never went to university. He never gave me or anyone else a single penny! I therefore refute that I’m smug. I know only too well what parent ambivalence does to ambitions.

I am surprised that in this day and age the question of finance has not dawned on your DD a bit earlier as she knows what others are spending. I am sorry for your personal situation but I cannot understand why your DD hasn’t grasped the situation whilst you are clearly agonising over it. I am also very sorry for earlier posts when I didn’t know all the facts. I apologise unreservedly.

I really don't want to get into a discussion with you Bubbles as I have just had another massive row with DD. Thank you for the apology though.

I'm a mature student doing a degree at the moment. My university do have hardship funds which can be accessed, but I believe the household income limit is 25k to be able to apply. She will be fine with a job to pay for her living expenses.

I know it is a massive worry for you, but think of her doing this as a big learning curve. She will be forced in to learning to budget (and I can guarantee there will be many other students in the same situation!)