Student finance help

[Lilyflame]

I have no income. Well, £500 widows allowance.
I have been living off savings since my husband died 10 years ago. Those savings are almost depleted so the plan is that I will access my pension and then downsize.
I have no tax return. Will I just have to show bank statements ?
Will my child qualify for the maintenance loan? His child trust fund will mature soon, approx £20k. Will that count. Should he use that before maintenance loan?

If you have no income, then your child will likely get the maximum loan if they want it.
Child’s income is not considered for the student loan evaluation

Most of the population do not have tax returns.

if you have no income - are living off savings - then it is likely your child will get full loan.

my DC was also eligible for extra grants etc from the university.

Yes agree with @Octavia64 chase up any grants available. Some unis have more than others on offer.

But yes it sounds as tho your income is low enough for your DC to qualify for the full loan. If you have less than £25k a year then he will. You don't need to do any more than supply your NINO now – no need to have a P60 like you used to.

I wanted to say tho (and see numerous threads on this) – the student loan, even the full amount, is not worth as much as it was. This year it is £10.5k. It sounds a lot – but if (as it sounds) you won’t have any ££ available to add to that, your DS may need to choose uni carefully.

As an example, a couple of friends of mine have had DC at uni in Bristol and have been paying £10k for a house share in 2nd or 3rd years. As you can see that would eat up basically the full loan. Obvs these parents are supporting (by paying the rent in both cases). Other uni towns and cities can be ££ – for example (anecdotally) Exeter, York, Edinburgh. OTOH there are places with halls that are cheaper and private house shares for a lot less. Examples from my personal observation would be Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, Warwick, Leicester, Loughborough, Birmingham. All of these have at least some cheaper options. So it’s worth you and your DS being aware. It’s easy enough to research the cost of student halls and possible for private houses as well.

You don’t have to verify the student loan application and savings are not included. Assuming you are in England every student is entitled to a maintenance loan. If you have a low income the uni may have additional funds available.

Whilst I agree Bristol is expensive, £200 a week for a house is not necessary. If students know parents will fund this level of expenditure, they go for it. If it’s not possible, much more effort is put into finding cheaper accommodation and students have to accept it will be a bus ride away. However I do agree there are cheaper places to go.

So far, it’s all northern uni’s!

They are mostly cheaper!

Please make sure you share your household income with the university via Student Finance England as your child should potential be eligible for a bursary as well. Many students also work to supplement income, either full time in holidays or part time at uni (8-16 hrs per week).

He works now, so a job would be fine