Help with uni process

[worriedatthemoment]

Hi so ds has applied to couple of unis and we are awaiting outcome, he finished his btech june 2021 so has grades, he is currently working so that he has some money
Regarding halls of residence do we look and apply once he knows which uni he gets into or should we be looking before
Neither myself or dh have gone to uni so have no idea what to do next
Can you view halls of potential unis?
Do they charge all 52 weeks ?
Any help or advice , gladly appreciated appreciated

Student finance applications for 2022/23 are now open, so your DS could make a start (he doesn't have to have firmed a university offer to do this; derails can be changed later and only the university at which he enrols will get the tuition fee for him).

The expectation is that the parent tops up the maintenance loan to the maximum amount of maintenance loan if they don't get the full amount as the amount awarded is based on the household income. It isn't always feasible for many though.

So far turned down by one , other said will let him know in a couple weeks and third choice has an interview but not really the best course of the three , so not looking positive

He has an unconditional offer so now time to work out accommodation and finances, looks like he will be £1500 short for accommodation then has to live as well, it will be tight
Think he will prob have about £4000 saved by time he is due to start so can cover the shortfall in accommodation but will need a job so he can eat etc, we will continue to pay for his mobile and clothes and help out with some food , but we aren't flush either

That’s good news!

His circumstances sound pretty standard. At all but a very few universities it’s completely normal for students to have term time jobs. And all students need to be doing some sort of work during vacations - otherwise they’d leave with empty CVs and zero prospects!

I’m guessing if he’s not getting the full maintenance loan he isn’t likely to be offered a bursary by his institution?

In any case, you should try not to spend too much time worrying about his finances. Most do manage to get by - and they probably don’t spend whatever money they have in exactly the ways their parents would recommend. Discovering your own priorities (and learning from getting that bit wrong) are a large part of the fun of going away to university. You’ll be hearing countless stories of daft freshers who spent their entire first term’s loan on … a car / drum kit / Gucci / entertaining someone pretty / flying to Timbuktu for a music festival … and consequently lived off stale crusts and out of date baked beans until Christmas …

There's a useful calculator here -

www.savethestudent.org/parentcontribution/

• that tells you how much you'll be expected to contribute to 'top up' his loan to the figure he would have got if you were on a low income- ie what he should expect from you and the Government as a maintenance loan.

If that figure still isn't enough then yes he'll have to work/use savings/use student balance account overdraft.

@worriedatthemoment

He has an unconditional offer so now time to work out accommodation and finances, looks like he will be £1500 short for accommodation then has to live as well, it will be tight Think he will prob have about £4000 saved by time he is due to start so can cover the shortfall in accommodation but will need a job so he can eat etc, we will continue to pay for his mobile and clothes and help out with some food , but we aren't flush either

There is a student finance calculator on the government website that we have used to work out how much DD would get. We then took that amount, then minus the accommodation and worked out how much was left/not left and then how much to spend on food/clothes/mobile. Depends on where this uni is as well as London is more expensive, and some other unis are highly priced in accommodation too.