Student finance grants loans etc. explain to me like I'm stupid

[AutisticLegoLover]

My dc wants to be a vet so 5 years at uni. I don't work because I'm a full time carer for my mum and receive the appropriate benefits. Her dad works full time and earns around £45k We aren't together and she lives with me. Are there still grants or would she need to get loans? How does it all work?

Only the income of the resident parent is taken into account. Based on the information you gave she will get a maximum loan which should cover most of her costs. If her father can give her a bit extra then she will be fine

Here you go:

https://www.ucas.com/finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans

She’ll get the full loan as I understand it (ie her dad’s income is not counted as he lives elsewhere) - your income will for sure fall below the threshold. It’s £9k pa for fees and about £9.9k for maintenance outside London.

Yes as Aixellency says look up the rules , they are fairly clearly - google and look on University loans sites - She will be able to get loans I am sure

I wish you well @AutisticLegoLover

How much are tuition fees now? Does the loan pay for those? What about housing and food costs etc?

@AutisticLegoLover You need to read the UCAS guidance I have linked. That is the official starting point for information on this.

UCAS will link you to the next steps. Then you’ll be able to ask more focussed questions.

Tuition fees covered by tuition fee loan

Maintenance loan for living costs worth around £9.5k

Some unis will offer bursaries worth £1-3k a year if parent from a low income family.

There’ll be a student finance calculator on SFE website.

The martin Lewis podcast this week is all about student finance. There is a lady called Tracey that has a similar personal situation to you.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fz54f9

Tuition fees are covered if the course is a standard course etc. maintenance loans cover everything else. As an example my DD's halls are £5,600 next year, she has £3000 for everything else

The first question would be where in the UK you are as the rules are different in Wales and Scotland (possibly also Northern Ireland) to England.

In Wales everyone gets the same amount of grant and loan, it's just the ratio of grant to loan which changes according to parental income.

Thank you. We are in England but she might go to wakes or Scotland to study depending on where she gets a place. Thank you for the current hall prices too as that's huge compared to when I was at uni. I don't think she's got much idea about things but she's a fair way off.

Just to say if she’s set on vets that’s one of the courses which tends to run extra costs, so she should look into thing. Where I work most of the vets have cars because of access to placements and they have less time to work due to their course so less opportunities to top up that way.

Which body she applies to for student finance depends on where she lives, not where the university is, so SFE for those resident in England.

Location of university only affects the amount of the maintenance loan which will be awarded, in that it's higher for London universities (so the RVC?) than it is for all others.

The two loans are separate so she will have one which is not means tested and this will cover fees of £9.5k per year.

A second loan which is for accommodation, living expenses etc is means tested and it sounds like your DD would be eligible for the full amount which should cover most things, depending on the city and the cost of accommodation as it varies a lot.

Getting a Saturday job early on can be good to build up some extra funds ready too.

If you also start to follow the Student Finance page on Facebook, it'll all become clear.
She may also be considered for extra bursaries which aren't means tested. These vary a lot and not every university gives them. Some you need to apply for, some not. Some are given on merit, some on income. Once you start to narrow down choices of uni, their own websites tend to give info about these.

Good luck to your DD!