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Higher education

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

Original poster

How much do you give your uni offspring a month?

258 replies

fedup21 · 01/02/2020 16:53

Looks like we will only be entitled to the minimum rate of maintenance loan so will have to top it up quite a bit.

His top choice is Birmingham and it’s looking to be between £3/4K for the first year in halls (without meal plan) or £5/7k (with Meal plan) which is the maintenance loan, but how much would they need on top of that?!

£200 a month? £400 a month?

OP posts:
Xenia · 02/02/2020 16:52

My useless one above being www.gov.uk/student-finance/new-fulltime-students

ShesGotBetteDavisEyes · 02/02/2020 16:55

This year I’m just contributing to cover the rent (about £1k) as he hasn’t bothered to get a part time job. In his first year I also gave him £40 a week for food.

Dearover · 02/02/2020 16:59

DD can get the minimum maintenance loan. I think we're planning to pay for her accommodation, I'll probably overlook her phone, Netflix & spotify accounts, so she will will probably be doing very nicely.

HostessTrolley · 02/02/2020 17:00

I wasn’t meaning to sound braggy @Ginfordinner - sorry if it came across that way x I just wanted to make the point that yes £500 is a lot of money but it’s literally just the difference between the max loan and the min loan. Not working during term time doesn’t mean she’s a cosseted snowflake, she worked bloody hard to get there to start with.

She has class 10-5 most days, with about 45 mins travel each side of that, plus reading etc on top, plus sport and socialising (good to have a balance for mental health) plus boyfriend in a different town. Plus as first years they’re all having to get used to laundry, meal planning, food shopping etc and all the stuff involved in living independent adult lives.

rededucator · 02/02/2020 17:07

Sharon Every teacher student I knew at the time, and every teacher now, worked a part time job as a student. Even while on placement.

ClientQueen · 02/02/2020 17:08

@Aceinthehole we had to do stable duties so 7am - 9am and then lectures then 4pm - 6pm and weekends on a rota
I worked but it wasn't easy to find a job that fitted around that as you couldn't work every weekend and most wanted you to start evenings at 6pm too

Dearover · 02/02/2020 17:18

Oxford & Cambridge don't let students work during term time. Fortunately the terms are only 8 weeks long & you only have to pay for term time accommodation. Different universities & courses push students into different financial scenarios as well.

YerAWizardHarry · 02/02/2020 17:37

@Ginfordinner of course I want to make friends, what a silly thing to assume. I'm in my mid-twenties not on deaths door. I also have bills to pay, a car to run, childcare costs which others obviously don't to the same. I work because I have to- I don't have my parents on speed dial when shit hits the fan.

@CherryPavlova hey, it's your prerogative to spend your money on your DC but don't spout its because they can't work due to studying too much because that simply isn't true for the majority or students.

SpeckledyHen · 02/02/2020 17:39

We paid the rent for our 2 DC and they lived on the maintenance loan.

IHaveBrilloHair · 02/02/2020 17:41

My DD is at college, not Uni, but similar in that she gets a bursary and a loan.
She lives in a shared flat with her boyfriend and his brother.
I give her £0, because I don't have it to give.
I'm a single Mum on disability benefits.

Ragwort · 02/02/2020 17:50

I think that, if course work allows it, it is a good thing for students to have a part time job at university. (I know that certain courses have very structured timetables and lots of personal work so not all students can work part time). I had a job where I used to interview students for the graduate trainee positions in the company I worked for, those that were the most successful always had some sort of part time work experience.

Quite an interesting article in yesterday's Telegraph about sixth formers and students working part time (not my usual paper Grin).

SluggishSnail · 02/02/2020 17:55

DS gets the minimum load which approximately covers his accommodation. The remainder is ~£4700, which I pay as £470 per month September to June. That adds up to what the government suggests for out of London.

jjjnnnnnrrssss · 02/02/2020 17:56

I had about £60 pw for myself in uni in Central London, in 2013. Didn't have time to work but did odd jobs when I could for extra cash.

This covered almost everything but I did feel rather skint most of the time. An extra £20 pw would have been nice so I could have socialised out more, went to a restaurant occasionally etc.

Whatagoodidea · 02/02/2020 18:07

Unfortunately we don't live in Europe, Middle East has less to offer.

TravellingSpoon · 02/02/2020 18:34

DS's Dad and I pay half his rent each - so £175 a month.

Serin · 02/02/2020 19:16

Course is free and he gets £1k bursary per year.
We have now decided to pay accom and living expenses so he wont have to pay anything back.
He has about £70 a week to live off, which is the same that his sister had when she went 6 years ago. Most of his friends have about the same. He can work if he needs more.

Serin · 02/02/2020 19:22

What gripes are the laundry costs.
£8 for a wash and dry and its unavoidable as he obviously has to wash his nurses uniform after each wear for infection control.
Over 10% of weekly budget gone. Hmm
Still, it's less to spend on vodka I guess.

yogo · 02/02/2020 20:57

It isn't my DC saying they can't work. The university don't allow it.

During the previous summers they were overseas and unable to work in that country.

Also, I can easily afford the money, and it works for us.

Original poster
fedup21 · 02/02/2020 20:57

An extra £20 pw would have been nice so I could have socialised out more, went to a restaurant occasionally etc.

I don’t think I went to a restaurant in 3 years when I was at university! I remember I had the odd £1.50 personal pizza from Dominoes-that was exciting!!

OP posts:
Jimjamjooney · 02/02/2020 22:39

My maintenance loan didn't cover my rent in halls and subsequent flats fully so my parents topped it up (they had to pay an extra 1.5k over the year to cover halls and I had around 6.3k maintenance loan). I was also given 200 quid a month (went up to 300 in my final year) plus I had a part time job in a pub that I started during college. I worked once a week during term time and picked up more shifts during the holidays.

I did a high contact hours course and so did my friends (medics, dentists etc) and most people had some form of part time job. One actually worked with me at the pub once a week, worked for the student union and was on the committee for our competitive sport for a couple of years. There is definitely time to work, even on intensive courses.

BackforGood · 02/02/2020 23:00

Dc2 is inher 3rd year.
Her loan + some top up from me covers her accommodation (which is inclusive of bills) - that was both Yr1 in halls and also Yrs 2 and 3 in her shared house. Obviously all food and drink , toiletries, toilet paper, cleaning products, paper, pens, any clothes, phone contract, travel, etc, is on top of that.
We give her £35 pw week from mid Sept to End of May.
Nothing in the holidays, but she doesn't pay anything for food when she is here either.
She feels that is easily enough to live on.
She does work, as well, but that is because she runs a car and needs money to do that.
She has always worked in the holidays when she can pick up shifts, but that tends to go towards major luxuries such as holidays and saving for a better car.

DustyMaiden · 02/02/2020 23:06

I pay rent. DS has minimum loan to live on which equates to £80 per week he’s on campus.

It is too much, he had saved most of it, he’s a miser.

PandaG · 03/02/2020 07:59

£400 per month between us and GPs which takes DS to just over max loan, to the amount his university suggested he would need to live on. We also pick him up at the beginning and end of each term as he has to clear his room and has far more stuff than can be transported by train!

He is at a university where he is not allowed to work in term time, but he got a paid internship last summer and has one lined up for this summer. He does the odd evening babysitting for families at the church he attends and this pays for extras. He doesn't go out clubbing, generally eats pretty cheaply though does go out for a meal a few times a term for friend's birthdays - but as this is in hall is < a tenner for 3 courses and is byo wine. Due to his frugality, a scholarship and his paid summer job he is actually saving a bit while at university. Yes we could give him less but we feel.it is the right thing to do to make up to full loan - his scholarship was down to his hard work so why should we penalise him for getting it if we can (just) afford not to!

bpisok · 03/02/2020 08:48

I was also thinking of £400 per month during term time.
Panda - I assume the £400 you give is on top of whatever is paid for food (meal plan) and accommodation?

MrKlaw · 03/02/2020 09:00

we give £300 per month. It currently seems a little high, but DS is pretty frugal and he may be holding back on buying healthy food because he's worried about it being expensive. So it may take a little time for him to see if he can relax a little.

But we'll review after the first year and if he really doesn't need that much we'll adjust down to £250 or so. We're only paying September-May though so he's not getting anythign during summer