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Higher education

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

Original poster

Help! Uni advice how does it all work

44 replies

Colycola · 13/12/2020 20:00

I never went to university so excuse my ignorance.

Dd wants to go to university, we have done the ucas form.

She has put down 3 choices.

We are a very low income family, think under £25k.

So as I understand it.

We apply for loans to pay for the course. Then she applies for maintenance loans to pay for her living and food? And this is dependent on our family income? Are we entitled to any other help? My biggest concern is that she won’t have enough money and we will have to top it up, even though we are obviously hoping she will be able to transfer her Saturday job to there.

And then they get her ucas forms and she gets offers? Is that correct? What happens if they don’t offer her? Or if no one wants her!

How does it work? Thank you and excuse my ignorance.

OP posts:
Rummikub · 15/12/2020 02:18

Good luck to your dd!

PresentingPercy · 15/12/2020 13:06

Why are the school not taking you through all of this? That's very poor in my view. Surely they have spoken to students about this? Is there nothing in her 6th form handbook? Getting from 4/5 grade GCSEs to CCC at A level will be quite hard in my view. So look for flexibility with grades for another 2 courses.

Original poster
Colycola · 15/12/2020 20:35

PresentingPercy

Why are the school not taking you through all of this? That's very poor in my view. Surely they have spoken to students about this? Is there nothing in her 6th form handbook? Getting from 4/5 grade GCSEs to CCC at A level will be quite hard in my view. So look for flexibility with grades for another 2 courses.

Sorry do you mean those grades aren’t good enough? She is predicted all Cs and had missed a lot of school due to ill health during gcse year. She goes to college, I’ve had no feedback or advice from the college at all.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 22:25

@Colycola every university course will state its entry requirements on the website - so some for instance will require AAB at A levels, others BCC - whatever. She needs to make sure that the courses she's applied to more or less match her CCC predictions. If her college aren't helping her to do her UCAS then is she perhaps applying independently? In any case, she needs to get someone to write an academic reference for her application. And NB all this has to be done by Jan 15th, so still a month away but with Christmas break in the middle.

Original poster
Colycola · 15/12/2020 22:46

Phew just checked and they will take CCC on the courses she wants to do

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 23:18

That's good then - she must have done her research. Just make sure that she has got someone to write an academic reference for her- usually the school or college they're currently at.

PresentingPercy · 16/12/2020 14:58

CCC at A level is quite a stretch from 4/5 grade GCSEs. Where I am, 6th forms expect a 6 or 7 at gcse in each subject for A level study because of the step up. So CCC predictions are good but are they realistic? That’s being honest I’m afraid. However lots of CCC entry courses won’t be very competitive or choosy.

What University application advice has the college put on line? Have you looked? They must have some guidance for students surely? Does DD not have a head of studies or someone overseeing applications? Who is doing her reference and stating her grades? That must be done by the college. Has your DD been given nothing about applications at all? Surely she has! Ring up and ask. Who is giving the reference? Ask them. Or one of her teachers. Does she have a personal tutor in college? Ask them. This isn’t about parents knowing what to do. It’s about the college and your DD. She needs to understand this process. I’m surprised the college hasn’t asked for her PS at least a month ago. Just before Christmas is late to be doing this. If colleges delay going back in January it is a big problem. So get her to find this info out now.

titchy · 16/12/2020 15:10

Presenting - OP has already said that her dd's college have now submitted the application Confused It's all done.

While C grades from 4/5s at GCSE might be a stretch, where there are mitigating circumstances,
as OP has outlined, the stretch might not be so great. Plus realistically most C offer institutions will take one or two grades lower.

PresentingPercy · 16/12/2020 15:38

Oops! I completely missed that info! I’ll go back to writing my last few Christmas cards. Yes. I think CCC entry tariffs might well be flexible. Around here though I don’t think a 4/5 gcse student would get into a school 6th form.

Hellohah · 19/12/2020 10:15

Which universities is she applying for? I know where I work we offer bursaries for students with a household income of less than £35k. Just Google the university and bursary and it should tell you.
At our place it's £2000/year for a household income of less than £25k and £1000 under £35k.

Original poster
Colycola · 20/12/2020 13:38

Oh that’s good! Brighton is her aim.

OP posts:
PresentingPercy · 20/12/2020 15:32

Media at Brighton is BBC. Contextual is CCC. She can aim for Brighton but needs CCC courses as an insurance. You did say she wasn’t likely to get a contextual offer I think.

Flowers2020bloom · 20/12/2020 15:40

Just to add that if she doesn't get any offers, or changes her mind and declines her offers for whatever reason there is a process called UCAS Extra that will allow her to add an extra choice to her application. If that's unsuccessful she can choose another and so on. Hopefully it won't be necessary but don't let her be put off by the convoluted application processes!

bibliomania · 22/12/2020 09:10

She should also have a look at the university website for information about "first in family" support. It's something my university offers and I'm sure many others too.

Malbecfan · 22/12/2020 20:15

@PresentingPercy you are being a bit negative. If the OP's DD has suffered periods of ill health, this may well be included by her college on the UCAs reference section of her application.

OP, good luck to your DD. My older DD is in receipt of a healthy bursary from her uni due to our fairly poor household income in her first 3 years there. She has managed fine on the full loan plus bursary so please don't worry about that. It was a bit of a rollercoaster for us waiting for A level results but definitely worth it.

PresentingPercy · 23/12/2020 07:02

Well not as negative as saying what to do if she gets no offers! However insurance choices are always worthwhile and I think with 5 choices, that’s good advice.

charlotteawhitehouse · 18/01/2021 09:57

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McCorona · 19/01/2021 09:23

Look at the areas of the universities she's applying to, as rents/hall fees will vary in different parts of the country. They also vary hugely depending on whether they want an en suite or are happy to share a bathroom

This is really good advice but Brighton, unfortunately, is not one of cheap cities.

DD ended up at a cheap city for other reasons (loved the atmosphere and the course) and until she started looking at second year houses, I didn't realise quite the difference it would make to her finances. Her rent next year is going to be only c.65% of what friends in some other more expensive English cities are paying. It's made everything more doable on a standard student loan and means the pressure for her to find part-time work is much reduced.

calliealbert · 29/01/2021 08:04

Informative

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