Will student finance tell me (parent) how much I’m expected to contribute?

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DS starts uni in September, I’m new to the process and it’s definitely not designed for first timers… student finance website tells me I have done everything needed. DS updated his application yesterday as he has changed from his original uni. So now his account says wait for it to be processed, might be 48 hours or six weeks or anything in between.

But at what point does anyone inform me how much I’m expected to top up?

I’m finding the whole process very stressful!

Another question… accommodation contract is for 42 weeks and the trimesters (terms right?) are only for 33 weeks - and I think he only has to attend for 2 of them - do students generally stay for the extra trimester (I’m thinking good chance for him to do some paid work)?

He is CRAP at organising himself so it would help if we even knew how it usually all works… tia

Do you know how much he'll get? You won't get told how much to top up as that's personal choice.

I'd encourage him to stay and work if accommodation is paid for! DD did for some, she was catered too so it made sense financially to be there for at least some of it.

No that’s my question really - I will top up to the standard maximum loan amount- but neither of us know how much he will get yet

Thanks- I’m hoping that is what he does and that it isn’t like a ghost town. I guess other flatmates might be on longer courses anyway.

You are meant to top ip to the standard maximum loan, MSE website has lots on this so worth a look there

Thanks- I’ve tried there but went round in circles. Just want to be able to make some financial plans and it’s so difficult. Especially as this is child one of two 😂

DS stayed in his uni city in the holidays and got loads of extra shifts in the supermarket he worked in as others had gone home.

The student fine website should be pretty clear on how much he will get based on your income though?

We still haven’t heard how much DD will get! SFE still says it’s processing. We know it will not cover her rent which is higher than maximum loan(shouldn’t be allowed) so we will be paying the shortfall.

There’s a calculator on the SF website you can fill in with all your details and it will tell you what your son will be able to borrow for a maintenance loan.

Once you have that figure, fill out the calculator exactly the same but give a very low income E.g £10,000. That will give you the maximum maintenance loan figure. From this maximum figure subtract the first figure you got (what your son will actually be able to borrow) and you’ve got what you need to top him up by.

If you’re not able to top him up you need to chat to him asap about getting a job and work out a budget with him.

Your question about topping up, depends on how much you earn really. Tuition fees they will get the whole amount as a loan. Maintenance (living costs) loan, depends on how much you earn. Maximum is 9250ish, my son could only get 4800 because I earnt 60k last year

This calculator might be a good guide to what they will get
https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

We didn't top up to what the full student loan would be, but instead the loan covered rent, and we calculated an amount for food/ travel / books/ washing. DD was expected to save/ get a job for fun money as she's not on a demanding course.

They won’t tell you, you’ll just have to work it out by yourselves - as others have said you’re expected to top it up to at least the minimum. We’re a low income family so dd gets the full whack of maintenance grants and loans etc and bursaries so we haven’t had to provide much else - we can’t afford to, we pay for her phone and contact lenses and travel home. She is about to go into her third year and has managed quite comfortably without having to work (I think she should have got a job but that hasn’t happened…)!

You might find it’s actually quite miserable and lonely during the times other students go home as most of them do shoot off as soon as they can so he may not want to stay and work. Depends on the city. Dd is at Nottingham and hardly anyone stays during the holidays etc and they seem to have a lot of holidays (!) so she always just comes home. They spend a lot of time at home really, it’s one of the reasons she’s struggled to get a job either here or there as their time really seems split between the two places.

The maintenance loan is for rent in our case or as I said towards the rent. DD will be catered and has worked full time on a gap year so has saved for her spends. I’m assuming you are referring to paying your Dc rent and using the maintenance loan as spends if talking about topping up.

Depending on the university there may be exams outside the teaching times so might not be as many extra weeks as you're thinking.

There's a budgeting tool on the UCAS site which can help you estimate how much DS might need. The difference between that and his finance amount will given an idea of how much top up is required as a starting point.
If you can't afford that then have another look at the budget and think about when / where DS can work to help support himself.

Commonly parents who can afford it top up to the maximum loan amount if their DC get less. Others pay accommodation in full and students live off the minimum loan amount.

For our three DC at non London universities the minimum loan has been more than enough for all non accommodation expenses. They don't work during term time but work full-time over the summer for extra money and to keep busy.

Rent wise for halls, we found students generally arrive the second week of September, the place was deserted for January, again for April, and exams finish in June so the contract for here's ended about then- she left in may. But for year 2, house contracts are often for 50/52 weeks, so the price went up for us. DD has chosen a bit more of an expensive place, so she is having to work over the summer to fund the difference.

SFE will email the student with the amount when they decide. DD1 was at a uni where nobody stayed out of term time and the holidays were looong! I know of other students that stay in their uni town for as long as possible, depends what their mates do I guess.

Thanks all. I have predicted what I think it will be, just want to see it confirmed really. I feel very ‘other’ - single parent surrounded by couples who will of course pay the the rent - hopefully my son’s not the only one there in his situation.

Most people who are contributing top up to the max or a bit over. They then give that to their child who pays their rent and has whatever is left to live on. The longer the contract and the more expensive the accommodation, the less there is week to week for living on.

Parents paying the full rent (esp if in halls and covering bills and possibly catering too) and leaving all of the minimum loan for spending, are leaving their kids with about £5k for spending which is almost £100 per week….that’s a lot if all your bills and also food (if catered halls) are already covered, and especially for the weeks when at home. Therefore, most are not doing this.

A reason I think some people do this is that it feels easier. They separate the expenditure into 2 parts. Parents cover rent and loan covers rest. This method though does give the kids significantly more than the full loan in places where rent is higher. It is a luxury and the fact that some on MN report doing it doesn’t mean everyone is doing it by any means.

One other thing to plan ahead for, is the fact students often have to look for and sign co tracts for private accommodation for the 2nd year, during the autumn term if 1st year. Deposits will be due and can be hefty. As a parent, you might need to help out or fund this, as well as be asked to be guarantor. So that’s an extra lump sum if money you might need and catches many people unawares in that first term.

Where is your DC going? Is it an expensive city and uni or not so bad?

My DS gets minimum maintenance loan and his halls are £120 pw (self-catering and not London).
His loan will cover most of his rent and we will have to cover living expenses.
Seems to be a general school of thought that £50 pw from us would be reasonable? We will still pay his phone contract.
The expectation being that he picks up part time work asap.

Does this sound about right?

I think £100 a week to just live on seems alot to me, we are thinking about £70 would be enough.

@Passe it depends on what he has to pay out. Does he have to buy books or materials for his course? Ds has none for his so no on going expenses. Things to consider Amazon Prime account (we paid for a year at around £48, think they need a university email address), Netflix especially now the password crackdown has happened, Spotify. Laundry around £3.50 a wash, Ds had free tumble drying in 1st year now £1.80 a load now. Ds does 2 loads a week on different days, one for clothes, one for bedding and towels but he is a very hygienic boy. Food, around £37 ish a week, meat eater and cooks from scratch, likes fruit. We put the phone account into Ds's name and we pay it on his behalf so he can start to build his credit.

MN is a weird place where a lot of parents say they top up to full loan or pay all accommodation costs and the child lives off the loan. At least half of all students work. Ds gets minimum loan, we did top up to full loan which saw him with just over £100 per week term time only after accommodation costs. He saved money from that to cover holidays at home socialising etc and has savings from it too. Lots of his friends are money savvy so it is cheaper to meet up at a flat or sit on some benches/grass than to go to a pub and have brunch.

As banks offer overdrafts then most students must use them, whether that is want or need I don't know. Ds chose a bank to get the young person's railcard which has paid for itself. He has Monzo for his every day money spends and it is how I transfer his money to him weekly.

Re term time being 33 weeks, yes Ds's was just under that but he was home for 4 weeks over Christmas and 5 weeks over Easter both times doing uni work but the rent covers those weeks too as he didn't have to move out thank goodness. And yes once exams finished in both 1st and 2nd year Ds was finished before the end of May. Lots of students went home as they had summer jobs lined up.

Dds loan covers her accommodation but nothing is else. As she’s doing a healthcare related course she will get the nhs grant which along with her savings should be enough to live on. If not we will top her up as and when needed.

before we knew she was getting the grant we were planning to send her £200 a month to live on and anything else she would have to work for. They’re keeping her on as bank at her current job so will be able to work in the holidays. We’ve helped her out with this years car insurance so she can keep her car as it will be useful for placements, but as younger parents who still have a big mortgage we can’t be making up the full loan. We just can’t afford it.

Another question… accommodation contract is for 42 weeks and the trimesters (terms right?) are only for 33 weeks - and I think he only has to attend for 2 of them - do students generally stay for the extra trimester (I’m thinking good chance for him to do some paid work)?

The 42 weeks will be from the end of September until roughly the end of June. There will be around 3 weeks at both Christmas and Easter where they have holidays, then around 3 weeks in both January and May/June where they have exams or assessments which aren't counted as teaching weeks. If he's coming home for Christmas and Easter he might be able to pick up some paid work then, but he will also have revision or coursework to complete so it would be unrealistic to expect him to be able to work full time then.

The university website should give both the semester dates (usually September to January and February to June) and teaching term dates (usually September to December, February to March and April to May/June). I have 2 at different universities and their term dates are slightly different.

The third semester/trimester (July to September) generally only applies to masters students, taught masters have 2 taught semesters and then the third summer semester to write their dissertation. Undergraduate university accommodation won't include the third semester/trimester.

As for the student finance, we're under SF Wales not England so it may be slightly different, but we had the figures a few weeks after first applying. I know he's updated the application because he's changed university but unless other circumstances have changed (eg living at home vs not living at home, London university vs non-London) then the original figures should still be current.