What if we can't afford to support DC?

[pinkpip100]

Oldest DC is in year 12 and plans to go to university in Sept 2023. I've been looking into student finance and according to the calculator they will get a loan to pay fees in full, but only the minimum maintenance loan, due to our household income. We have 3 other dc, and it is likely that DC1 & DC2 will overlap at uni for at least a year (and subsequently DC2 & DC3 too). I understand that we are expected to support them financially, and assume this will mean topping up from the minimum maintenance loan to the maximum amount.
My worry is that we will massively struggle to pay this for 1 DC, let alone for 2 at a time. We have no money left at the end of each month, no savings. Youngest DC is disabled so I have always ended up in low paid part-time jobs which offer flexibility to look after them when needed. As a result we have built up a lot of debt over the years - and just making minimum payments for this wipes out a huge chunk of our combined income. I am just about to start a better paid job which will increase our income, but paying off the debt will obviously take a long time. Our household income for 21-22 will therefore appear pretty high on paper - hence DC1 only getting minimum loan amount - but definitely isn't reflective of how much expendable income we have.
I suppose my question is - does any of this (number of dependents, sibling with a disability, level of debt repayments vs household income) get taken into account when applying for a maintenance loan? Are there any other student finance options? Has anyone else been in a similar position? I realise we've been totally naive but I assumed DC would be able to get full loan amounts for fees and maintenance, so had envisaged just topping up what we could afford.

We're in the same position. DS will only get the minimum maintenance loan and I'm a bit worried about how we're going to support him. DH is a high earner, but I've had to be a SAHM for the last 14 years as our DD gets DLA and it just wasn't feasible for me to work. I'm looking around for part time now but I still don't think it will be enough nor will anyone want to employ me after being out of work for so long.

I'm don't know how this is going to work and I'm annoyed that he can't claim the full grant seeing as they have to pay it back anyway.

You can ask your dc to take a gap year and work during this time to build up savings.
See the Facebook page WIWIKAU as this topic is covered a lot.

Dd got a job and worked and saved the summer before uni. Is that an option?

Unfortunately, either your DC funds some of it themselves, or they don't go, in this situation.

They will have to get a part time job and top themselves up. Lots of students do this.

There is an option on the form to say you will not support your Dc.

In that case I think they can then apply for full maintenance loan.

@CarmenThePanda

There is an option on the form to say you will not support your Dc.

In that case I think they can then apply for full maintenance loan.

It takes far more than ticking a box to bypass the parental contribution requirement! Think social worker saying you've been taken into care type thing.

You can have a different year assessed if your income has dropped, but than obviously won't apply here, though they do disregard some if you still have dependents at home.

Otherwise the expectation is that you support your dcs.

He will have to work. Students do tend to have quite a lot of free time, obv dependent on the course.

My DD managed well on £50 a week.

Kind of similar position, my son will get full maintenance for the first year, but not for the other two. I am also a parent of 3, one with a disability and all the life limits that that comes with.
Student finance is like a huge mallet to crack a nut. It should absolutely be taking in to consideration number of dependants and disabilities, but it does not infuriatingly.
My son has been made aware of the situation and knows he needs to fund years 2 and 3. He has a good paying PT job and is saving this year before he starts. He will keep the job on reduced hours and work 2 days a week through the course. If he wants to go to uni, he will have to make that sacrifice because I have not got any money to give to him.

Unfortunately they don't take your disposable income into account, so your options are going to a local uni and living at home, or getting a part time job at uni/having a gap year to save.

Do you have any idea what they want to study? Lots of courses only require a couple of days contact time/lectures so it gives more flexibility for them to get a job. Science/lab/medical have a lot more contact time so it's harder to fit one in.

They need to work the whole summer before they go, and save. They then need a job at their Uni, and to work all holidays.
They also need to learn to shop cheap.

It really annoys me that their loan is linked to their parents, when they are adults. They should all get the same, and then not take what they don’t need.

As others say working and saving is an option. Possibly take a GAP year to do this. PT job during studying.

Consider alternative routes to a degree such as an apprenticeship.

Consider do they really need a degree for their career choice, not all do.

Can they go to a local uni and commute?

Can they go to local college and go through HND route then uni later after working/saving?

Some uni's have hardship/bursaries/scholarships type funds so your dc could ask the uni's about these but I they would expect them to also contribute by working/looking all their other potential options.

You cannot, as pp suggests, simply tick the box to say parents wont contribute. You need to be estranged.

We will have to tighten out belts to send our one ds to uni, he is going to the local uni, commuting and hopefully working PT. There is no way we would have been able to send 2 or 3!

You will need to explain to your dc that this is reality and support them whether they decide to work and save, or go on one of the many alternative routes.

No, disposable income is not considered at all.

As PP said, DC working and saving to top up their minimum maintenance loan is the answer, but look out for bursaries. You have to go on to each Uni’s website to find them but worth looking for and prioritising those applications. Strathclyde is an example that offers a lot of bursaries, attached is just some.

Not sure pic attached

Also I would advise working out exactly how much it is going to cost based on your DC individual circumstances, the university and the course - rents vary a lot between different university towns (not just London) and also so does the ability of the student to work part time while studying.

Can your DC go to the local uni and live at home? That will save a lot of money on accommodation. Many students have a job to top up their income.

Plus look carefully at the cost of living at the places they choose, some cities it is quite feasible to live on much less than £9.5k pa, some it is a bit of a struggle. Halls start from around £4000.

This also definitely depends which uni you go to - Cambridge makes you sign a form saying you can afford to go but my college would have given you a hardship grant under those circumstances potentially to the tune of £1k a term.

Regarding your debt, if you've not decided me so already I would strongly recommend speaking to StepChange, Christians Against Poverty or National Debtline.

If you're only making minimum payments it won't be going anywhere for a very long time. You may be able to get on a debt management plan which usually means interest would be frozen (so you'd be making better inroads on the capital owed) or they may suggest a different debt solution depending on your individual circumstances.

@CarmenThePanda

There is an option on the form to say you will not support your Dc.

In that case I think they can then apply for full maintenance loan.

It unfortunately isn’t that simple, I was estranged from my parents but as this wasn’t for a period of at least five years I could only recieve the lowest maintenance loan.

Choose universities very carefully. Cost of living/ halls and housing vary hugely. If they want to go away then not too far so travel costs are minimised.

Avoid Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Durham. St Andrews, Edinburgh (not exhaustive). Red bricks tend to be good value, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and also part find jobs are easy to find in big cities.

Some unis offer hall jobs to returning students (DD pays a quarter of the usual rent in return for duties - full time during arrivals weeks in September and January but not too onerous (about 5 hours per week) at other times. No choice who you live with though and restrictions on being away from accommodation during term time.

Financially I am in the same boat and had 3 kids within 4years.

My eldest has saved and knows that they have to get a job whilst at uni to contribute - even if it's just the holidays.

We have also been working on budgeting and getting them used to the idea of cheaper brands and batch cooking.

They're also looking at uni's closer to home so commutable.

I would second looking at WIWIKAU on FB.

@woodencheeks

Choose universities very carefully. Cost of living/ halls and housing vary hugely. If they want to go away then not too far so travel costs are minimised.

Avoid Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Durham. St Andrews, Edinburgh (not exhaustive). Red bricks tend to be good value, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and also part find jobs are easy to find in big cities.

Yes this.

Dd is at Nottingham and thought she’d save money by opting for catered halls but the food is so awful she ends up almost paying twice as she eats out so much to make up for it!

And encourage them to stay reasonably close to home - the travelling back and forwards costs a fortune even with a 16-25 railcard etc.