Uni finances

[Monti19]

I have twin boys - one going to Birmingham Aston one going to Liverpool. Both boys will receive a maintenance grant of £8430 which we will part pay. My question is - do people "supplement" this amount somewhat and if so by roughly how much? I appreciate all Universities are different as are the students spend. In general does the £8k provide the bare minimum baked beans dinner every night and not much else? They both want to get a job in which case our "supplement" will stop but probably won't be able to do that initially (if at all as one of them is doing a tough degree)

As a starting point, how much is their rent?

How much will they get as a loan, it is means tested. Ds gets minimum maintenance loan to live off day to day and we pay his rent.

I think about £139 a week - so about £6k a year - less in Liverpool (but both Unis haven't published figures for 19)

Where does the £8k come from if their loan is £6k? Or do you mean their loan is £6k and you're contributing the rest, and asking if it's enough?

In which case yes it should be, particularly if they're happy to work part time.

Do you live in Wales OP as no Maintenance grants for English students just Maintenance Loans?
Maximum loans for students on a low household income is around the 8K for students studying outside London.Students are expected to pay rent, course costs and general living expenses from this. However, in practice many students have higher expectations/aspirations so alongside this 8K they also have a part time job and some parents occasionally help out if they are in a position to do so. For students not receiving the full 8K loan see Martin Lewis program last week. The government expects that parents contribute to topping the loan up to 8K (by contributing to rent costs or giving X per month over the academic year). Hope this helps.

My DC getvthe minimum loan each, just over £4K. It is used to pay hall fees/rent then we pay the balance of the rent, in DC1 case hall fees were @ £4.5k, DC2 £6.5k ( still stings!) then we give them £80pw living costs. During the holidays they either work or we give them £25pw. Neither are living on pot noodles or baked beans so it seems a fair amount. We can afford to give more if/when needed, we worked on the basis that you can always “top up” bit harder to reduce if they are frittering (which I suspect DC1 would do if she had more!)

My daughter is at Sussex uni, she gets the maximum grant. I have given her £3000 each year towards her rent, however as a single parent I have only managed to afford this by downsizing sizing. This means she shares a bedroom with her sister when she is home.

She is good with money and shops economically but for nutritious ingredients and makes vegan meals from scratch. I supplement this with treats occasionally when I'm shopping that she wouldn't normally but herself. She works one day a week as well which earns her about £50. She lives quite comfortably like this but only because she has a budget plan is very sensible which means she gets to treat herself when she's underspent in her budget.

I honestly don't know how she would be able to survive if I couldn't contribute to her rent.

so about £6k a year - less in Liverpool (but both Unis haven't published figures for 19)

This is confusing - the maintenance loan they get isn’t dependant on which uni they go to - unless they are in London or living at home.

So assuming you are in England and both are away from home, they should both get exactly the same - and this will depend on your household income if over 25k. It is different if you live in another part of UK I think.

So if that works out at 6k, then both will get that amount.

In theory you should top it up to the maximum amount (which is currently £8700)

In practice it depends what their costs are.

DS was in Liverpool, got min loan of £3821 in first year, we added £1420 to cover his rent, then gave him £300 per month, for 8.5 months (mid Sept to end May) so in total he got just under 8k, which was more than enough for him to live on. He did have a retail job for part of year but saved his earnings.

Second year, his house rental was cheaper, so we needed to top up only £200. We gave him more monthly, so it worked out that he got just over 7k in total, but again he had plenty to live on as rent was low.

Having re-read the thread, I think you mean they will get max loan (part from you - it is 8700 this year, not 8430, and probably will be higher next year)

The 6k you mention is their estimated rent (DS first year halls were 5241, new’ish campus halls, en-suite room)

But the rest of my post about Liverpool still stands - DS had less than maximum both years and it was more than enough. He didn’t live on baked beans, though he does cook and freeze meals.

He had an active social life and paid his own phone and fares home (but only S Cheshire so not too bad).

Dd only gets 5 k , which just covers her rent. We give her £50 a week for food and pay other expenses.

Best thing you can do OP is give them basic cooking and budgeting skills if they don’t have these already and encourage them that life isn’t a free lunch and they may have to have a part time job and also make decisions in terms of lifestyle choices and in terms of living costs.

Thank you all so much for your responses! Funnily enough there is also a conversation about exactly this on the Facebook page WIWIKAU (what I wish I knew at University). It's a little clearer now.

Look at Martin Lewis and the Student Room

They are getting almost the maximum loan so this means your own income is low, parents are "supposed" to top up to the maximum which in your case would be about £500 each. Lots of people much wealthier than you don't give their student DC the full top up.

If the rent is about £6k that leaves them £2400 to live on. University terms are about 30 weeks in total so that leaves them £80 a week.
I think that's probably enough to live on. If they can't find a part time job there is always a long summer break to work and save up.

You will also find that their rent is much cheaper in second and third year because they will move out of halls.
One thing to be prepared for is that sometime in the first half year they will probably have to pay a deposit on accommodation for the second year, this can often be a few hundred pounds. Maybe you could help with that instead of making a regular top up?

Dox - if you read the start of the Ops post, she says Both boys will receive a maintenance grant of £8430 which we will part pay.

I take that to mean that the boys are not getting a full loan and the parents income means they will have to top up. She is saying that with their part payment, the boys will get max loan (which is actually >8430 now).

But, yes, they should both be able to live on £8430, wherever that money comes from.

And you are right to point out the deposit requirement too.