University application process

[Bluemountai]

DC is in year 12 and we will soon be embarking on the university whole university journey. I have been reading a few threads so I think I know more now than a few weeks ago but want to confirm my understanding is ok of the following process:

Check on courses and different universities online.

Book open days and go an see universities.

Apply through UCAs up to 5 choices. Does the school support with this? Do they need to provide reverences before this is submitted.

DC is considering Bath, Imperial College, Sheffield, Loughborough. Is it better they apply early in case of interviews, IC has an interview not sure snout the rest. This may change when they go and see them.

Once they start receiving offers how long do they have to firm them? Is it better to wait until all offers come through?

And in terms of loan; when do you apply for this?

How much does your child need for maintenance?

Thank you

Hey OP I may be able to help a bit.

Yes you have it right about courses and open days - I would add that it's worth going to open days sooner rather than later as they tend to clash. If your local uni has an open day, even if it's not on your DD's list, it might be worth going - easy to get to and you can find out a lot of the general info there (eg finance talk). Our local uni is not super popular so it holds open days into the autumn (ie now!).

School will support with UCAS form and provide references. You can submit with fewer than 5 choices and then add further options up to the deadline if you like.

You don't need to firm until after the deadline for receiving offers. Some unis are notoriously late and I know of people who just said "ah sod it" when they hadn;t heard from some [looking at you Durham] by about March of year 13.

I think sometimes there is an advantage to firm earlier if it means you can apply for accommodation - but this varies per uni and some only open accomm ballot after results day (Lboro for example - I know this bc DS2 is there).

Apply for loan as soon as you can as there can be glitches in the process <speaks from weary experience> - IIRC you can apply from sometime in the spring. You have to say where you are going but if that changes it's fine to amend it.

Your DC's student loan depends on your household income - unfortunately this is lagging behind in terms of wages and cost of living, but atm a full loan outside London is a touch under £10k. Your child will get that or less as a loan - you are supposed to make up the difference. A lot of students also work.

So for example DS gets about £6k; I top up a certain amount each week (so I know he can eat! lol!) and also pay for large occasional items as needed to bring it up to the total amount (or probably more tbh).

What is DC thinking of studying? That's a punchy list of unis so it's a good idea to include somewhere where the offer will be lower.

hahaha apols for essay!

Thank you Claire, this is very helpful.

Reg loan: The household income is only for the Maintenance loan? They still get full loan for fees I hope.

DC is thinking of an engineering degree, will suggest to include an insurance university with lower requirements

Yeps full fees loan is standard and when approved, is paid directly to the uni.

Sorry don't know why I said DD earlier - I see you don't say that! Friend's DD did engineering at Sheffield and it was excellent; obvs Bath, Lboro and Imperial all have very good reps for engineering as well. Be aware of the differences in the kind of place - London, Sheffield and Lboro are very different cities (well Lboro is not even a city so).

Phew, I am glad full fees are covered by the loan. Sad kids have to get into so much debt though to get an education; was discussing this with DH yesterday as we both got free education up to university in our home countries.

Thanks for the tip re applying early for the loan.

Agree, all universities and places are very different, choices may change when we go to see them.

@clary has been so helpful here, OP.

I will just add that the Firming Game has become a bit nasty in some places. I have seen on this Board promises of a lower offer if you Firm early, and then there is the accommodation side of things. It seems to get more competitive every year. At the sane time, Bath - which I think an outstanding choice for STEM- is occasionally amongst the late responders, so balancing everything can be tricky.

It sounds like your DD has a great mix of choices. There is no sense adding a 5th if she isn’t interested in another place, but is she still considering it?

Only Oxbridge, medicine, vet school etc have an October ucas deadline , otherwise January. Schools often start the process after summer exams and open days will take place early summer- autumn. There may be additional tests for STEM applicants which require some preparation. The deadline for making Firm/Insurance choices is in May, unless you have yet to receive decisions from all 5. However it can be useful to make decisions earlier if those unis open accommodation applications earlier, although most are not first come first served,

@Bluemountai you shouldn't think of it as "getting into debt" because it's different to other types of loan. Lots of advice is to see it as a graduate tax. However much you borrow, the monthly repayments will be the same, although obviously you'll pay back more eventually as the payments will go on for longer for a higher amount. It may eventually be written off if you don't earn enough. It also isn't counted as a debt for mortgage and other lending purposes, but the repayments will be taken into account when lenders calculate affordability.

Thank you everyone for the advice. Very useful. And yes will try not to think it as debt but an investment in their education.