Student finance question for older Dd.

[DanielaDressen]

So Dd is planning to go to university next Sept. She’ll be 24yo when she goes but currently lives at home. Does she get any extra money for the fact she’s older? Or will her loan still be based on parental income?

if it’s based on parental income she’ll get the minimum of £4700. Planning to go to either UCL or Oxford (brooks) and both options the accommodation costs look bad…..£300 a week??? That’s if she gets university halls. I’m worried she won’t get in halls and it’ll be even more.

She’s doing architecture and will be going back to university to do her Part 2 which is technically a Masters but for a student finance pov is considered an undergraduate course and gets normal undergraduate finance. But if the university consider her a postgrad student she might not get into halls. However she has some long term health conditions and meets disability definition so not sure if that would help her be more likely to get into halls.

Shes also applying for Cambridge which I’m keeping my fingers crossed for as i think accommodation will be cheaper and shorter terms.

If she only gets £4700 a year I’m assuming somehow me and dh need to come up with potentially £1200-£1500 a month for her…..ie pay her rent and a bit more? We’re only just hitting the max household income bracket and obviously have our own bills, finding that sort of money will be tough but if we have to do it then we’ll have to do it.

I believe once she's 25 she can claim on her own, without disclosure of your incomes. Not much help for 1st year.

Has she not been working between her undergrad to now? And therefore saving.

I presume she’s never been married or has any kids of her own? The rules for independent status are here https://www.ucas.com/money-and-student-life/money/student-finance/student-finance-england/finance-independent-students#:~:text=You'll%20be%20classed%20as,re%20applying%20for%20student%20finance

Other than that, when you say “disability status” what do you mean? If she gets PIP she’ll qualify for extra money and be able to claim UC while she studies.

Working yes, but on minimum wage. And saving sweet FA apparently as she’s too busy gadding off on round the world trips. Canada in December, Sri lanka in Feb and apparently will be packing work in in about June to go back packing round Asia for a few months and then quick trip back to .canada before starting uni 🤷‍♀️

Never had kids or married. Long term health conditions such as fibromyalgia, EDS, POTs and a clotting disorder but doesn’t claim PIP. But I’m hoping she could argue (truthfully) that due to excessive tiredness, etc getting a place in halls/on campus would help her health ?

Thanks, was struggling to find the age cut off. Sounds like that might help for her second year.

If she’s looking at Cambridge get her to check if any colleges have scholarships available. I think also it’s when they turn 25 that they are considered separate from you financially so I think it can help partway through the year rather than waiting until the next sept if that makes sense . Cambridge accommodation do some termly licences which are cheaper than paying for the whole year.

Yes if she has a long term health condition that makes her vulnerable then she may be able to get priority for a room in halls. She should speak to the Disability team for the university she wants to go to.

Thank you for replying. So her commitment, at age 24, to her Masters financially seems to be dependent on you (and her dad)'s ability to pay for their course and lifestyle. And this disability you describe doesn't seem to stop her out of studying activities. Wow. I have a child who has a learning disability so uni not for them but post-16 study is. They have now started Y3 and all is going well. They are financially supported in that their dad (my ex) and I (live separately) pay all bills and ask minimal (me housekeeping, dad a contribution for car ins). But they pay that out of their part-time job. Your DD is coasting. Minimum wage job - could they not find a job in their field? I would be really questioning their commitment to this field of study and why. And not be prepared to fund it.

This could apply to achieve independent status:

• you’ve supported yourself for at least three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course

Thanks, that won’t apply.

In fairness to her her minimum wage job is in her field. In order to do your Architecture Part 2 at uni you have to have done a year of Part 1 training in a practice. Which is what she’s doing now. The Part 1 jobs are as rare as hen’s teeth. When she was looking for one we saw 4 advertisements in the whole of the U.K. three being in London and one in her home town. She got the home town one. The part 1 jobs pay very badly as the firms now how desperate people are to get one.

she had a part time barista job for the first two years of uni for her undergrad degree but then had to stop work due to getting pulmonary embolisms and nearly dying. Architecture degrees are notoriously full on as well, she was in uni 8-10 5 days a week and then doing barista work on a Saturday. Which was tough. I imagine the Masters part will be just as intense.

But I’m hoping she could argue (truthfully) that due to excessive tiredness, etc getting a place in halls/on campus would help her health ?

But she's managing lots of backpacking trips to Asia, Sri Lanka, Canada with this excessive tiredness?

Has she worked for three years full time, even on minimum wage?
Because if she has, the ‘you’ve supported yourself for at least three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course’ will count. Unless it’s changed in the last 3 years, they didn’t ask for any bills/rental agreements etc to prove you’d been supporting yourself. They just asked for payslips for the last three years and they had to be for full time employment, even if it was just a job in a shop etc.
Good luck with everything OP it can all be super stressful I know!

And alternatively, given it’s not based on your income once she’s 25, I’d be saying she’ll just have to wait another year as disheartening as that may be. You and DH finding over £1000 a month is wild when the year after she’d get way more funding, across the academic year you’ll be shelling out over £10,000 when she could’ve just waited another 12 months.

Canada is visiting her boyfriend. She hasn’t managed the trips to Sri Lanka and Asia yet and I have to admit I am worried about her health and managing it. But it’s very up and down and unpredictable. But pacing definitely helps and if she’s done a long day in uni then not having to walk/catch buses across town may well make the difference between her being able to go back the next day or not.

To be fair to the DD these conditions are the sort of ones where one day you can be OK and the next day you might be in bed all day. Achievable if you are on holiday and not moving around a lot, with options to rest on quieter days and if you crash for a few days afterwards. Not as achievable when you need to be in lectures at 9am every morning. Sometimes it is a balance between living your life and having enough energy to sustain your commitments. She is doing well to maintain a full time job but possibly outside of that job and travel she has a very narrow social life with her peers in comparison to other people of her age.

She’s only worked for two years not three sadly.

Shes already deferred the Oxford place for a year as wanted to give Cambridge one more shot. She had a Cambridge interview last year and they said she was really promising but hadn’t done enough research. So she’s been doing research alongside a lecturer at her old uni as well as working this last 12 months. So not sure she could defer again. She’s also keen to get her degree /training wrapped up asap as the long term plan is to move to Canada and work there.

Thank you and that’s absolutely true at the minute. She rarely goes out at weekends or evenings. Comes home and reads and sleep.

in an ideal world she’d save some of her money rather than go to Asia but I also get that she feels this may be her last chance to have a period of a couple of months without work commitments and be able to do it. She also worries about her health deteriorating and not being able to do it when she’s a bit older. And i think nearly dying a couple of years ago made her have a bit of determination to try and do stuff/see stuff while you can.

Hi how was your daughter in her year out? Did she cope okay with long hours and tiredness?

once you have done your part 3 it’s almost a given that you will work long hours

I think the thing I would check is whether or not she would be classed as independent for the second and third year if she's been under 25 for the first year. Some of those caveats only apply if they apply on the first day of your course if you see what I mean?

In which case, unfortunately, she might have to wait a year to go - because you clearly can't magic £10k a year out of nowhere.

Has good weeks and bad weeks. Wfh 2 days a week which helps i think. Loves the job which also helps. Is knackered in the evenings. Has an understanding boss so when she’s not been feeling great and has had to wfh all week as she’s too unwell to go in they’ve been ok with that.

shes worked for two years. Did she claim benefits at all, such as UC? As that would also count.

No she finished her degree, worked part time as a barista for a few months while job hunting. Got her part one architecture job last Nov and will be leaving that job next July.