How much money for maintenance Bristol ?

[Unilife]

DD will be starting at Bristol University in September. How much money will she need for maintenance, decent lifestyle.

When do we pay uni fees? One payment or Instalments.

And how is the rent paid?

She has saved quite as took a gap year; said she will look for a job; but she will be doing Engineering and not sure how realistic is this.

Is she taking a loan for the fees? If so it is paid directly to the uni.

Bristol is expensive now (I was there when dinosaurs roamed and it wasn't cheap then tbh). A friend's DC was paying £10k pa (or rather the friend was!) for their house share last year.

Hall fees can be expensive but there are cheaper options. Anecdotally it's a bit of a lottery what you get but you can state prefs I think. Has she done that already?

Is she taking a maintenance loan? The usual benchmark is to top that up the the full loan equiv (about £10.8k now) but as you can see from my accommodation figure, that might not be enough in Bristol. See what accomm she gets and work from there. Lots of parents if their DC are on min loan pay the accomm cost and DC lives off the min loan. Some accom in Br is catered which means it costs more but obvs living costs are hopefully a bit less.

What amount of loan does she get? The minimum was around £4K plus annual fees.

DD has just graduated from Bristol, she had full maintenance loan plus a bursary from the law school, savings first year and a part time job with the uni for years 2 & 3.

Between all those income streams I'd estimate she was running on £16 - 18k per year living costs, and she lived well on that. Ate well, went to gym, good social life and had an overseas holiday each year. She worked hard and is good at budgeting though.

I paid for all her initial costs of stuff for her room and extras in Year 2 when she moved into a private rental, car insurance, contact lenses, joint Spotify and streaming services and a big storecupboard shop at the start of each term.

She thinks she has saved enough for maintenance first year; around 6k. Her grandparents are paying her fees this first year and we will pay the rent

What do we need to buy for her when she goes to uni? She is the first one to go

If you search threads on the HE board there are lots of suggestions. Also the uni will give you a list when you know what hall she is in. Is she going for catered or self-catered?

But basically, if she is SC then less than you think – two plates, two glasses (etc); maybe liaise with the others in her flat as to who brings what. No need for six woks!

Things my DC found particularly useful:

• Mattress topper and cover
• Command strips so as not to leave marks on the wall
• Air fryer (but check it is permitted)
• Drying rack, heated if possible
• Pictures of family and friends

Thank you. I will look for other threads

She will be self catered

What about bedding, pots, pans, cutlery, cooking utensils

Do you know SC for definite? Some halls in Br are catered tho not loads now tbf.

Mine took a few basic pans – frying pan, bigger and smaller saucepan – you may have some she can take or need to buy from Ikea or similar. Set of cutlery that is distinctive eg with coloured handles. Wooden spoon, serving spoon, sharp knife, chopping board, can opener, corkscrew. Two plates, two bowls, two glasses.

Bedding – duvet, bedlinen, pillow, mattress cover and mattress topper.

Nice things to brighten up her room – photos, battery fairy lights, a throw.

I mean she and you need to decide what she would like. It's a basic small room so no need to go over the top. Storage boxes that go under the bed are a good idea.

Are you in the WIWIKAU facebook group? There is a semi-legendary list on there that gets linked and re-linked at this time of year with everything a student needs to take for their first year. Dd graduates from Bristol today 😀 and it was expensive, I can't lie. I paid her hall fees and rent in year2/3, everything else came out of loan and squirrelling away wages from her vacation job. Rent (in a grotty flatshare) was 10k a year, so I'm looking forward to not having to fork that out any more...

And I concur that the hall you are allocated id a total lottery, dd didn't get any of her listed choices.

Is there a possibility to get catered when you asked for self catered? I hope not

If her rent is being paid , 6 k should last two years .

Oh yes indeed. Ds2 has been at uni for YEARS (long story) and lately his rent has been coming out of my account on 21st fgs. Thank goodness I am done with that.

Yes @Unilife i believe at Bristol some don’t get their choices. So it’s possible it might be catered. That’s not always a terrible thing tho.

Dc was in self catered in Stokes Croft as the cheapest option, I think.

Kit taken:
2 plates, 2 small plates, bowls, mugs, glasses
Saucepan, non-stick wok, roasting tin
Cutlery, chopping knife, spatula, board
Storage boxes for fridge
Tea towels, washing up sponge and brush
All from IKEA

Padded Mattress protector,
pillows, duvet
2 sets of bedding

Towels
Hairdryer

I’m pretty sure they are not allowed to put things like Air Fryers in the communal kitchen. The communal kitchen / dining spaces were big and well equipped with ovens, microwaves, hobs etc. Get pans that work on induction.

It will be for DD I think; she likes cooking; not that she may have too much time but I know she would rather choose what she wants to eat and when.

Thanks. We will have to do a trip to IKEA.

Seems like next few years will be expensive,

I would say look online first and don't necessarily default to Ikea - it's great for some things but you can get absolutely rinsed for others.

We chucked in a collapsible colander which we thought would be cheap - £12! We later saw a pack to two in TK Maxx for half the price.

TK Maxx/HomeSense also good for finding quirky bits that are easily identifiable from other people's when house sharing (charity shops also an option but may not be your bag). We found The Range was also good.

Don't forget vacuum storage bags for transporting clothes, bedding etc!

I've sent two off to uni, both self catering. If I was doing it again, I would take them to uni, have a look at what they needed and only then go and buy it! Would have been much cheaper. Bristol has an ikea and home sense/range/home bargains type shops everywhere.

I agree with others, a big trip to Ikea is not necessarily the cheapest way.

I believe halls often have loads of stuff previous students can't be bothered to take home as well. Or see what you have at home. Many of us have spares of knives, chopping boards, plates, corkscrew, glasses.

The way the parental contribution is calculated meant that most of the people I know paid the rent and the student lived off the grant and their savings or work.
Don’t buy too much stuff. They end up with multiples of everything and don’t have much space. Plus it makes it hard to shift it around or bring it home for the summer every year.

@WyrdHag I’m mystified. Full
maintenance means you have a low income but you pay for her car insurance ? You must be better off than the low earnings to get the full loan and bursary for dd. £16,000 is a lot, even for Bristol. A lot.

The issue is year 2 onwards rents are for 50 weeks. So that’s a big expense but year 1 has a variety of price points.

Yes.

Not that I need to explain myself, but as I stated I was a full time carer when DD started uni, and have been for three years after my dad was put on end of life care during Covid and I subsequently had to pick up the pieces for my mum and I afterwards.

Since then I've been working term time only in a non-teaching role - lots of responsibility, rubbish pay. I'm fortunate to have a relatively small mortgage and I prioritise supporting my daughter, as I was not supported to go to uni myself.

@WyrdHag You have more spare money than anyone else I know whose dc get all the loan and a bursary. Car insurance is so much money!

@MeetMeOnTheCorner I'm not sure what you're trying to insinuate but it's entirely possible to be on a low income and prioritise different things or shop around for a bargain.

The 16-18k I referred to includes the fact my daughter worked her backside off over the summer prior to starting uni and worked 12 - 16 hours a week for the uni in years two and three.

DD was always going to need her car when she came home from uni in the holidays - it was cheaper to keep the insurance going on a monthly basis than insure it piecemeal as and when needed.

If it makes you feel any happier about my supposed 'spare money' I've actually suspended my pension payments in order to be able to DD out.

I’m just amazed that £2000 a month household income is sufficient to pay for car insurance for an 18 year old who owns her own car! Who maintains it? I do know how much such things cost so she must be earning a lot or you have very low other living costs. Cars are a huge luxury for any student.