Universal Credit and students please help!!

[DaniJade1990]

I'm in my second year of an English degree, last year I recieved help with paying my rent and also child tax credits while I was at uni. After this summer they moved me onto universal credit and today (the day my rent is due and they are due to pay me) I have been informed that all of my grants have been taken into account and I'm entitled to ZERO. Not even the child tax credit element, and I was also told I can't apply in summer! So that means that I have a grand total of £10,000 to live on next year, which will be about £4,000 after the years rent is paid! Can someone please advise me? Surely this is not right? I can by all means work through summer but whilst I am at uni 5 days a week it's impossible. I get a special support grant and parents learning grant aswell in place of a maintenance grant and according to their website the parents learning allowance should at least be disregarded. I'm so confused with it all and considering dropping out of uni. Someone please help.

First of all, student income doesn't count over the summer. You can claim from the 1st of July to the 1st of September without loans and grants counting.

"Student income won't be taken into account in the assessment period in which:
the summer vacation starts, or
your course finishes, or
any assessment period that falls wholly within the summer vacation" from the official UC page UC

Secondly, the student loan calculations are quite complicated. However, the UC rates are very similar to the IS/HB rates you were getting before and, as long as your circumstances haven't changed, you should be getting a very similar amount of what you were getting before.
My guess is that they've forgotten to deduct your Special Support grant. Do you have the calculations? They should help you figure out where they've gone wrong.

The Parent's learning allowance will always be disregarded, as will an amount for books and travel.
The calculation should be:
Student Loan and grant and bursary

• bursary
• grant
• book and travel money (£693 last time I checked)
• 10 pounds a week

/ 43 (number of weeks left after vacation)

and this amount should be compared to your applicable UC amount.

I would also suggest going to see the Money people at your uni. They know their way around this system and can be very helpful, even with hardship loans. Please don't drop out

All they said today was they have took my grants into account pound for pound! And then after a bit of research I realised that they should of at least deducted the parents learning allowance, not so sure about the special support grant. Thank you for all your replies

I second the suggestion to go and talk to your student finance people. In my experience, they really know the ins and outs of this stuff, and will help you understand it and get what you are entitled to.

That's sounds wrong UC should have very similar criteria to HB and CTC.