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Higher education

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

Original poster

Surviving financially

50 replies

DaveTuckerforPM · 23/03/2021 11:56

DD2 is just at the age where she is starting to think about university, so I’m trying to find out some info for her.

She would be entitled to maximum student loan, which would just about cover accommodation. As I am unable to work due to disability I won’t be in a position to help her much, if at all. I have seen on a couple of uni websites mentions of bursaries, scholarships etc - ranging between £2-4000 per annum if you are from a low income family.

Would that be enough to sustain someone living away at uni? We’re lucky here in that we do have 5 unis all within reasonable travelling time, but I don’t want DD to have to choose a local one so she can live at home and save money. Although obviously she’s welcome to!

I know there’s the probability of needing a part time job for her, but what if she can’t fond one for a little while?

OP posts:
VanCleefArpels · 23/03/2021 12:08

Don’t assume the loan will cover accomodation costs - these vary wildly

In your circs yes bursaries etc are the way to go plus starting to save now - if not you then the student themselves by way of Saturday/holiday jobs which is a bit more tricky at the moment with hospitality and shops closed

DahliaMacNamara · 23/03/2021 12:11

Surely the maximum loan will cover more than accommodation? I doubt I'll be able to fund DD up to that level, as our household income is only one salary rather than two, meaning only one tax allowance. We've already had one child at university in an expensive city, who had to choose from cheaper accommodation and was fine, even without a job.
Plenty of places have bursaries for students from lower income families. I think your DD will be okay.

Kettledodger · 25/03/2021 15:18

We are also a household with disabilities and on benefits. We have been looking recently for DS who is in year 12 and the full student loan is more than enough for most accommodation. The max is loan is £9250 at the moment. Accommodation we have looked at ranges from £3500 through to £5500ish. Having said that we are usually looking at the lower end of things. DS doesn't feel he needs an ensuite or two kitchens on his floor etc he would rather have the money for food or going out etc. But yes it doesn't leave much. DS is trying to get a part time job but well Covid has done one there. We will apply for any grants and bursaries we are allowed and I guess food parcels etc at the time. I am determined that he should not feel that he can't go just because of money.

titchy · 25/03/2021 15:45

If she is entitled to the maximum loan of £9,500 ish she absolutely will be able to cover all her costs with that. There is no uni in the UK that has no accommodation significantly lower than that. She won't need to stay at home and I'd advise she goes to the best uni she can, not be limited by the small number she can commute to.

minniemoocher · 25/03/2021 15:50

Some universities have additional bursaries for low income students but to be honest mine have survived fine on £9k (not London) as we couldn't afford to top up any more.

minniemoocher · 25/03/2021 15:52

Ps one dd pays £5400 for halls, the other £4675 both are en-suite

InDubiousBattle · 25/03/2021 15:56

Both my niece and nephew managed on their full loans, they topped them up working during the holidays but not during term time.

StellaKowalski · 25/03/2021 15:58

I had the maximum loan (not that long ago) and it definitely covered my rent with a fair bit left over (another to survive on anyway).

FeistySheep · 25/03/2021 16:12

If she's going into halls you might not be able to pick the fanciest ones. Can she cook cheaply? That will help. If not, time to learn!

I got through uni on the maximum grant and loan combo (low income family). I used an overdraft during term time and by the end of the year I'd be £500-£800 into it. I then worked in the summer, paid it off, and saved for the next year. I never had a part-time job during term-time. I was pretty frugal though; went out lots but cheap places, didn't buy loads of clothes, cooked cheap healthy food from scratch. If she wants to live more extravagantly she could get a couple of shifts a week to cover the extra.

caringcarer · 25/03/2021 16:36

She will pay about £5500 for halls in first year and use rest for food, books and general living costs. She will likely get a £1k from hardship fund. She might be able to find a part time job in supermarket or waitress.

Original poster
DaveTuckerforPM · 25/03/2021 16:44

Thats very reassuring thank you all. For some reason I had in my head that full loans were around £7500, not entirely sure why!

OP posts:
VanCleefArpels · 25/03/2021 19:06

Halls for my kids were over £7k each (different places). Of course off campus is considerably cheaper for subsequent years

titchy · 25/03/2021 19:09

@VanCleefArpels

Halls for my kids were over £7k each (different places). Of course off campus is considerably cheaper for subsequent years
I'm sure those unis will have had cheaper accommodation options!
VanCleefArpels · 25/03/2021 19:15

@titchy - they were allocated in ballots!

Kettledodger · 25/03/2021 20:16

@VanCleefArpels I am sure if you can prove hardship then you would be moved, I know some who were

Kettledodger · 25/03/2021 20:17

Then again if its any of the big names perhaps not, their record for diversity is not great

BackforGood · 25/03/2021 22:09

She would be entitled to maximum student loan, which would just about cover accommodation

I think you (she) needs to do some more investigating re income and outgoings.
You'd have to go some to find accommodation that costs £9K + a year.

The amount of the loan is designed so that a student can live independently on it. My dc have all found that there is definitely a correlation between the dc who are on a full loan, and the dc who seem to have most to spend on a day by day basis.
My dd currently in halls is paying £99 pw, for 40 weeks, so just under £4K. If she were on a full loan that would give her about £5.5K for everything else. My dd lives off about 1/3 of that.

As other say, there is usually the opportunity to work both during term time, but also in the long holidays too.

BackforGood · 25/03/2021 22:14

Have a play with push.co.uk - you can look at cost of accommodation or cost of living in different areas as well as putting in likely grades or UCAS points, or draw a geographical area, and all sorts of other things to narrow down courses.

Xenia · 25/03/2021 23:03

The ones with the full loan (which is a a gift really if you never earn over £26k you never pay a penny back) are the ones with the most money. Those whose parents income means they get a minimum loan of about half that are the ones without the money not vice versa in many cases. Same as the old days when I got an absolutely tiny minimum grant and it was a choice of parents whether to make it up to full grant or not whereas students on the full grant were fine.

StellaKowalski · 25/03/2021 23:44

@Xenia

The ones with the full loan (which is a a gift really if you never earn over £26k you never pay a penny back) are the ones with the most money. Those whose parents income means they get a minimum loan of about half that are the ones without the money not vice versa in many cases. Same as the old days when I got an absolutely tiny minimum grant and it was a choice of parents whether to make it up to full grant or not whereas students on the full grant were fine.
You sound very bitter towards students from low income backgrounds.
VanCleefArpels · 25/03/2021 23:46

@Xenia I entirely agree - the notion of making up the difference between what the student gets and the amount of the full loan advocated by Martin Lewis et al is fanciful when most middle income families don’t have a penny spare in the budget and/or have more than one student child.

BackforGood · 26/03/2021 00:04

I agree with Xenia too.

EileenGC · 26/03/2021 01:06

It wasn't that long ago I graduated from university, I was in London for context. Full maintenance loan came close to £10k - it's somewhat lower outside of London, but it should still cover accommodation nicely. Mine was £8k a year. We also had a £1.5k low income grant available, which I got every year and was a massive help. 3 part-time jobs on top.

It's very tight, but doable. I had absolutely no parental support, but with very strict budgeting and a few jobs on top, it's fine. Some weeks you don't have much more than £40 for essentials, but you manage.

I have to disagree with Xenia and those saying the kids with more money are those with a full maintenance loan. I didn't get one (EU student therefore not entitled to it), but had a similar amount of money in grants, and all my housemates were from very low-income families (think £15k between both parents) so they got full loan. We were definitely not comfortable. After rent we had £2k left a year for food, London travel costs, clothes, toiletries, books, phone and any travel back home. This is before you try and fit in birthdays and Christmas, meals out, parties. I think we ate out 10 times in a 4 year period. That's less than £50 a week and that's nowhere near enough. Add to this the pressure and worry of knowing your parents will not be able to help at all if something happens. They couldn't even afford to pay for a £30 train fare at Christmas. We worked 30h weeks on top of uni, whilst others with half loans and parental support went clubbing most weekends. That's not having more money.

Handsnotwands · 26/03/2021 01:13

I do find it weird that students don’t seem to work these days. We all worked when I was at uni. I appreciate covid had affected this right now, but I normal times everyone had a weekend and a few evenings a week job.

jessstan2 · 26/03/2021 03:39

Stella in response to Xenia: You sound very bitter towards students from low income backgrounds.
.......
I didn't get that from her post, I think she was just stating a fact. I have heard the same.