Hello! This isn't a question as much as it is information and it's something I've wanted to share for a while.
I'm a single parent to a ten year old and have always been a single parent. Two years ago I decided to go to university and I want to let people know how this really is a viable option for people, financially and otherwise.
First off, I had my son when I was 18 and I had only my GCSEs. After a million failures to get employed (plus a lack of desire to spend all my wages on childcare that I only needed because I was working - you know how it is) I was on income support and I was BORED, it got harder and harder to get a job the longer I was out of employment and I was essentially starting six years later and competing for minimum wage jobs with 18 year olds. It wasn't a great position to be in. I'd tried OU in the past but a combination of not being in the right place and having a young child made it difficult for me. Anyway, two years ago I decided to try my hand at university, I live in Manchester so we have a great university - Manchester - and two others, Man Met and Salford. I applied for all three starting on a foundation year - the year before a 3 year degree that catches you up to degree level. Applying was easy -my personal statement was nothing special, just that I liked the subject I was applying for and I'd not been in education because I was a parent - and I was rejected from Manchester (I expected that) and Man Met. Salford gave me an offer conditional on me writing a pretty simple trial essay and I was accepted. The university itself is an hour 2-bus ride from my house.
I have a couple of distinct advantages that I want to address first of all 1) I live 5 minutes from my kid's school and my kid was old enough that he could walk to/from school if i had an early/late class (he sits and watches TV in my parent's house with my little brother) and 2) if I didn't have that, there's a SureStart that picks up and drops off at his school too.
Obviously those things are dependent on your situation and for me and DS, it's not ideal but we manage it, we see each other a little less but it's still more than if I had a job.
The main thing I want to address is finance about it, really specifically, because I spent a lot of time researching each and every aspect of it to make sure it was viable, it took me a really long time to do and I never really found a great easy resource so I'm going to tell you specifically what financial help I receive. The position I was in was that I had never attempted a degree before, so I was entitled to full assistance with student loans and I was not (and am not) doing paid work.
My first year I was still entitled to income support because of the rules at the time (I believe it's now if your child is under 5?). Income support takes into account your student loan, less essential university expenses. I don't know how this is worked out but the upshot of it is that, in times when I getting my loan (Sept-Jun) I got around £1.50 a week IS which isn't a lot BUT during times your loan doesn't cover you are entitled to full IS, mine was approx £120 a week. Now I can no longer get IS, I'm entitled to apply for Jobseekers during summer (most students aren't) which would give me around the same amount.
My student loans and grants (excluding tuition fees which for me are £3000 a year):
In total over a single academic year (Sept-Jun): £9442
of that loans (to be repaid when working): £5000
of that grants (not to be repaid): £4500
plus, because you qualify for the grant, you get a special bursary of £400 each year which also doesn't have to be paid back.
For benefit purposes, as I mentioned before, only your loan (less required expenses - they work this out it's not much, around £200 of it), is taken into account. As far as the government is concerned your income is £5000.
This mean that you qualify for Child Tax Credit, mine is £62/week, child benefit, £20/week and housing benefit which doesn't quite hit the cap and so you contribute - my rent is £63/week of which I pay a total of £1.82. You also qualify for Council Tax Benefit, but students are exempt from that anyway (if you live with other adults there is a slight difference but you get partial exemption). I also get maintainence but I'm going to leave that out.
Childcare is included with Child Tax Credit - you get 75% of your childcare paid, I don't use this so I don't know much about it.
Basically, if you're in a situation like mine and you have 1 child (the benefit rates will obviously change based on amount of children but your Student Finance won't), over the course of a year (a whole year, not an academic year) and excluding getting jobseekers because I don't do that and so I'm not sure of the monies involved you get:
Annually - £13,920
Monthly - £1,160
Weekly - £267
Tax-free. £4500 of that is a loan (to be repaid when you're working). That's more than a minimum wage job, hell, it's more than an above minimum wage job. On top of that, two major expenses -rent and council tax - aren't there.
I know this will seem ridiculous to a lot of people - why should single parents get all this extra help? but this is an investment in your future. It's three/four years where you can have your own life and learn something that you love, or build your future career or hey, even if you just don't want to work and this seems better - why not? You shouldn't be excluded from an education just because you're in a situation where it's a little more difficult and you need a little more help.
I really wanted to talk about the financial thing mostly because I'm sure that's what puts a lot of people off and it's impossible to find a benefits calculator that will help you but if anyone has any questions about this or about my experience so far I'll be happy to answer it! I hope this wasn't too self indulgent :) I'm just kind of invested in making sure people know that university is a potential option for them - and it's one that no-one ever brought up during my trips to the jobcentre.