Student financing

[mwasc]

My DD shall start uni in 2023. We are Scottish and so her fees shall be paid .In an ideal world we would like to pay directly for her accommodation and bills (including mobile phone ) We would then likely give her a weekly allowance .A friend suggested £60 a week .Does this seem reasonable ? All ideas welcome .

There have been a number of threads on this. Including this one www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4699015-realistic-cost-of-living-at-university

General theme is ‘it depends’ on whether they are in catered, need travel costs, hobbies, your finances, if they are likely to work in holidays etc.

Thanks , it’s a good thread .

I am in England. I paid the fees (you don't have them in Scotland as you know) direct to the university and I paid the Halls (and in years 2 and 3 private landlords) direct and then a weekly allowance on top of that. I started the allowance in July when school finished so they could build up a lump sum ready for the much more expensive first few weeks when you are paying for clubs and buying books etc and I continue it through the university holidays too and deliberately pay weekly so they can never run out of money or easily over spend. I had an agreement with them that I would fund like this as long as they did not take on any debts of any kind including over draft and that worked. The twins finished their studies in the summer this year.

As to what the cash amount should be on top of rent it depends on what you can afford and what others get but in England making the minimum maintenance loan which is supposed to cover rent and maintenance of about £4300 to the maximum of about £9500 is probably what the state expects so that the child of better off parents is in the same position as those whose parents earn under £23k.

In our case with the twins I paid £150 a week each whcih is more than many get but they were in Bristol not a cheaper area and it was less than their school fees had been. They had lots of friends with a lot less and a few with more including one with an unlimited credit card he could use ! (very rich o ne). One of their friends had £20 a week from parents and coped and had a holiday job etc.

Is this to include and food/travel as well as general day to day expenses? It's much lower then the loan DS gets.

@mwasc a starting point is probably catered or self-catered accommodation? Then as already highlighted other likely costs, remembering start of first term likely to be higher with fresher events etc.

there are many threads on this although I see no problem with people starting new ones specific to their DC. There is some divergence of views on what is realistic of course!

I’ve been in the fortunate position of being able to pay accommodation and leaving each of mine with the minimum maintenance loan to live on. £4500 ish spread over just term time weeks clearly works at rather more than £60/wk. However if, as most living away are, living in private rented after the first year rent is likely to be for the full calendar year. That said DS3’s house negotiated a 50% discount for the two summer months if the house was to be empty.

i appreciate the variety of replies and for pointing out that the first term will probably be more expensive with getting set up . It’s also good to be reminded of the need for budgeting for the rent over summer of private renting for perhaps second year . I don’t think she will work during term and tbh she’s not high maintenance but I also don’t want to leave her short as I didn’t have much as a student .It’s getting a realistic balance .

@mwasc
We made a budget starting from £0. Be ruthlessly honest! If she wants to socialise, factor it in. University isn’t home life/school. It’s often very much more social. Think about food, clothing, travel, books, printing, sport or society costs, phone, general costs such as haircuts, shower gels etc. Factor in everything she does at home and what you spend money on for her. Agree what you will continue to finance and what she’s responsible for.

Lastly: be flexible. If it’s too little, work out a plan as to how to get more money or how to trim what she spends. 2nd year usually requires house deposits and contributions to household expenses and rent may well be 52 weeks with no options for less.

Loads I’ve not thought of ! Thanks

@mwasc I know you have been signposted to the other thread but as a brief overview for my Dc who is now in second year.

They are self catered and pay around £35 per week for supermarket shopping plus maybe an extra pint of milk or more bread or fruit mid week top up. Any take aways or treat food, Dc love a tub of Ben and Jerrys.

Other things to consider laundry costs, Ds paid £3.60 for washing, drying was free, this year is £3.70 for washing and drying is £2.

Netflix/Prime/Music streaming.

We buy all basic clothing, hats, coats etc, they want anything more then they pay. They are with friends who have less money so that dictates drinks in a flat rather than a night out.

We all went into this with an open mind and a review half way through first term so 5 weeks in to see how DC felt and at regular intervals to make sure they were okay with what they had. They are in an expensive area accommodation wise but luckily cheap area to live for food etc.

We pay each of ours £1100 a month to cover rent and expenses
They don’t have loans and don’t work term time
We also pay phones and pay essential clothing eg winter jackets when required

Remember if you're Scottish the terms are different to RUK since they have two 15/16 week semesters and finish much earlier in the year than RUK, most of which have three ten week terms. It changes when the money is needed.

I didn’t realise about the terms in Scotland .I think DC shall be going to Glasgow or Edinburgh

there will always be a great many different opinions on this. My dc is a first year at Uni of Manchester. We paid his fees. His hall is paid termly and we give him that + £150 x the number of weeks of the term. I also paid his annual bus pass. He’s by no means the worst off but there are some better off then him.

Yes I only realised when DC decided to apply to St Andrews and we noticed they finish in May!