Financing two children at uni

[TMIteen]

We have twins who are due to start uni obviously at the same time.
We earn enough that according to the charts they will only get the minimum loan (but we certainly don’t earn loads!) - but do they take into consideration the fact that two children are at uni?
Worrying a bit about financing it all (I know we have known this was coming for a long time but we haven’t been in a position to save for it unfortunately).

This is from Money Sacving exoert.

In the case of twins or indeed siblings applying for student finance in the same year then yes this is taken into account.
The calculations use household income to determine an expected parental contribution. If there is then the maximum maintenance loan available according to their circumstances is reduced accordingly.
If there is more than one person applying from student finance from the same household then any expected parental contribution amount is effectively shared between them, resulting in an increased maintenance loan, subject to the maximum/minimum amounts.

We have 2 in uni at the moment (1st year and last. Going into 2nd year and a masters) and technically yes they do the above however with the smallest loan possible ds whom is in Essex can't even cover his rent. Dd whom is in Wales can cover her rent as rent is lower there.

Ds has a job that means he has done ok with food and rent.. Dd lost her job in June and we are now looking at sending her £200 a month. Stretches us as dh was made redundant however that is not taken into account only earnings the year before.

Unless rules have changed recently I'm afraid they don't take into account that you are going to be funding two at the same time.

My only advice is be honest with your DCs. Be clear on what you can and cannot afford. We made clear to ours that a London uni was out of our budget.

To make things more manageable we used student loan to pay the bulk of the rent up front. We then gave DCs a housekeeping amount each week. This way we didn't have to find large lumps of money in one go. We don't have twins so the crossover was only a year.

Some students are able to work around their studies. Others aren't. This will depend on the student and the course.

They were lean times for us as a family.

No doubt someone will be on soon to say you should have been saving from birth. Life doesn't always work out like that.

Xposted with @Enko so there was some consideration.

I just remember it as being a long slog of constant drain on the family exchequer.

Ours live at home and go to uni in London. But not everyone can do this

@Enko - If your financial circumstances have changed, you can ask SFE to recalculate the amount of the loan.

How is this helpful?

Due to ds1 doing an extra year of A'levels and changing Uni after the first year we have two at Uni at the same time. Yes they do take into consideration that you are supporting two. Like you we don't earn huge amounts. Fortunately ds is at a Uni in a cheaper area so his accomodation is less. We give them around £300 a month each. DD is starting a Nursing course this year so hopefully will get the NHS bursary which will help. DS has been unable to get any part time work so far this summer which is a blow.

OP's DC can live at home if possible

I’d have the conversation early there’s no point looking at more expensive options if there’s no chance. Live at home loan is only slightly less than minimum live away do look at all commutable.
See current thread running re affordable accommodation eg Leicester starts at £69 a week shared. Some will give a small scholarship for high grades.
Think outside the box - Queens Belfast is RG and very affordable for GB.
If they aren’t working encourage a pt job and saving in sixth form. It helps them get a holiday job and work at uni. If they are on the ball they can work 2.5 months before going to uni.

@Themelba thanks 🙂

We are aware if that but as dh is now self employed its been very complex and not helped at all. Unique situation for us. It's good for others to know though.
Our children this year are still only allowed minimum loan. Next year dd may be different and we are managing just cutting right down (on everything but the dog 😀)

I would talk to dc and possibly grandparents too? Have they got any spare money? Definitely look at weekend and holiday jobs for them. Look at cheaper unis. It doesn’t have to be London. Minimum loan rarely meets accommodation costs in many halls of residence. Many new blocks are expensive. Also make it clear en suite and flash halls are out. Many on MN complain about cost but dc won’t share even a bathroom! My DD shared a room and a bathroom! It keeps costs down and many unis have such accommodation.

I think a lot of unis are phasing out shared bathroom accommodation. It does cause a bit of a housekeeping nightmare. The shared bathroom accommodation tends to be older which doesn't help.

One DC had a shared bathroom in her first year. Shared with a number of students who apparently hadn't learned to clean up after themselves. The block she was in was 1960s built and has since been closed down.

be honest with them
suggest they get a job
mine had maximum loan but still worked, it wasnt two at a time though
do they have to leave home op?

We had two at a time, no help for us I'm afraid, cost us a fortune!

What courses are they applying for? it’s very limited by subject and horribly competitive but would either be interested in a degree apprenticeship?

They need to work, I worked ridiculous hours when I was studying as did a friend, though it was still free tuition we had zero support from home.

Plus look at the course and not just the University, a University may have a great rep but a specific course at even a great institution may not.

Remember you aren’t funding them at home too. Sixth form I paid her bus pass, food, gym, contacts and driving lessons.

Gap year to work and save is also a very popular option now.
If you aren’t on there’s a facebook group called wiwikau which is good for finance info.
Don’t feel bad lots are in same boat - don’t consider themselves very high earning but expected to top up big amounts a year.

We will have a cross over as only one school year between ours - younger wants a gap year but older will be doing a 4 year degree so will have 2 years to fund both. I’m shitting it! We also haven’t got much saved - just the way life has been. Jobs in holidays and probably term time, saving money from them not being at home much etc and hoping we can scrape by. I’m really pissed off as after years of struggling my dh has had a good payrise and my work (SE) Is going well and I’m gutted that we will be skint again.

Enko, the Student Loans people will assess on you on current income if you ask them.

Unless you are very close to the minimum loan cut off, having two going at the same time makes no difference. They both get minimum loan.
This is rarely enough to cover the rent, let alone living costs.
They will both get full fees loans.

I have twins at uni. It is taken into account but doesn’t make much difference I’m afraid. IIRC, SFE disregard about £1000 of your income when they assess the amount of maintenance loan.

When looking at accommodation dont just look at the weekly cost, check out how long the contract is for. Some unis will have a low headline price per week but if that is payable across 48 weeks it can work out as being more expensive than higher priced but shorter contract accommodation.

Pay attention to travel costs and time.

Make sure your DCs can cook if they are going into s/c accommodation.

One thing I told DC1 was to not get into a Costa habit. It is all too easy for 'grab a coffee' to turn into a daily outlay on a crapafrapacino with brownie on the side, panini, crisps and cake. The entire weekly budget blown on mostly frothy milk.

As DC2 was getting ready to go to uni I heard DC1 passing on the same advice!

@DelphiniumBlue thank you as I already stated above it is a unique situation for our family. We have no possibility of this getting anywhere besides getting them the lowest maintenance loan. I have looked into this very heavily. we have requested a reassessment and it is STILL the lowest maintenance loan—nothing we can do there. I do not want to discourage others on this thread whom very likely can get support and help so please do not focus on our situation.

We will get through like I said we are cutting back to cope with this. (none of us are missing food - especially not the dog 🙂)- but it will be some years before we have luxury again unless Dh's new adventure takes off - its harder once you hit 60 though.

I stood at my son's graduation earlier this month he got a 1st and like with his older 2 sisters when they graduated. I could not be prouder.
It will be worth us cutting back to get our 4 children (3 now undergrads) through uni. Only 1 Masters's degree for ds and 1 undergraduate for dd3 to go......

(Whom am I kidding dd2 wants to do a Masters next year. dh is doing his Masters at the moment and as dd3 is studying astrophysics there will be a Masters and likely a PHD to get through too....... but one day we will be out of this 🙂)

Twins here too.

In answer to your question, unless you're on the border of a particular banding as far as SFE is concerned it makes no difference if you have 2 (or more). Even if you are on a border, SFE will lower your income by around £1000 for Child 2 (on the basis of having Child 1 also applying for SFE) which will have very little impact on what level of loan your twins will be entitled to.

In terms of accommodation costs, check out what the policy is and how accommodation is allocated. Some is on a first come first served basis (i.e. as soon as you accept an offer, well before results day), some is allocated after results day e.g. by timed slot. Look on here (and at the Student Room) for likelihood of getting the accommodation you want - obviously if you want say cheap self catered halls but there is a possibility you might end up with expensive catered halls due to the way accommodation is allocated, thats something to bear in mind. Also look at how accommodation is offered for insurance choices in case your DC don't get their firm choices. Accommodation will be the biggest factor / expense in managing 2 DC there at the same time. I agree with @GnomeDePlume - look carefully at contract lengths for 1st year halls. Even at the same uni (Notts for example) some halls are 44 weeks, one is only 31 weeks - makes a massive difference to the overall cost.

Look at cost for 2nd/3rd/4th year. Some unis (e.g. Bath / Edinburgh) are more expensive than say Sheffield.

In conjunction with DC, consider courses with a 3rd year placement - often paid - which can assist with 4th year costs.

Not sure how far you are away from applying but start saving as soon as you possibly can (you and DC). Even a very small amount per week can help. If DC have jobs throughout sixth form, they can potentially save in advance of uni and can maybe return to those jobs in the uni holidays. Agree with others about having a conversation about how this is going to work, what expectations you have for them working / contributing.

Also, get DC involved in meal planning / cooking budgeting. We did a couple of weeks in the holidays where they each had £30 and they had to shop & cook for a week.

Depending on course / location, potentially look at incentives - e.g. Queens Belfast will offer non NI students discounted accommodation, students on some healthcare courses (not medicine though) are eligible for an NHS grant (not loan) of £5k per year.

We've put three through uni on minimum loan. No twins (or triplets), but they're close in age and when we supported them, we had two at uni at the same time for three out of seven years. There were just lots of tightened belts, on our part and theirs. We were paying out around £500 for one or £1,000 for two per month, so most of my salary, but we were expecting it. We've never been big spenders, haven't maxed out on a mortgage or credit cards, but I know of enough parents who find themselves in that position, plus new partners who are surprised that their salaries are included in the household income. It takes enough people by surprise, but the country can't afford to provide maximum loans to everyone who wants them - an increased number of people now go to uni and a lot of the "loans" are written off anyway.