Do many parents in the UK save early for university fees?

[AddledPeacock]

Have many people here started saving specifically for their children’s university fees from a young age? College funds seems common in the US but not in the UK. I guess you could do it under a jisa although there is the risk they could blow it on anything they choose at 18. I think they have specific education focussed savings products in the US. Just wondering with all the talk about how to fund university fees.

We try to save but even though we have a frugal lifestyle we still have minimal savings. We both have decent inheritances but could be many years off (rather have our parents around) and no guarantees.

I have a S&S ISA, the main aim of it is to help us cover some costs if dcs want to go to uni but there will only be about £15k in there when eldest is uni age. If they don't go then it is extra money for retirement.

That's really not true. It's been a hot political topic for decades, and you'd really have to have worked hard to not be aware of it. Certainly we were well aware before our children (now in their 20s) were born. There's always been a parental contribution required if you were not on a low income.

The situation has got worse due to freezing of thresholds and increasing rents, but the expectation has been for decades that parents on anthing other than the lowest of incomes would need to find a substantial wodge of cash to top up student loans if their children want to go to Uni.

As per pp we are saving in general, split between a general S&S ISA and a specific junior savings account. The idea is that it gives DC choices at 18 whether that is university or needing to set up in a new place, first car etc.
I’ve also got a small private pension pot which will hopefully become DCs

Dh and I save separately for dd and atm she has around 20k. I’d rather she used that towards a house deposit though. We’ve only 1 dc and earn well enough so will be able to afford to top up what she needs for uni. She will also be expected to have a part time job (she had one now).

I think that for many parents it comes as a bit of a shock to find that whilst the student loan covers tuition fees it often doesn't even nearly cover rent and maintenance and they don't have the c£10k per year shortfall saved up.

Then they say "oh DC will have to get a job" and then realise with a shock that nobody wants to give jobs to students who are only in their university locations during 25(ish) weeks of term time. Zero hours working means non-students take any hospitality/retail jobs.

Not saving from birth, but I’ve had a plan since they were a young age as I knew they’d only get the minimum loans and that wouldn’t be enough. I’ve had a plan that from X year I’d be able to save Y amount so we had at least the first year upfront by the time eldest was 18 and then basically keep the savings topped up with that monthly amount so we are always ahead.

As it stands I’m not sure either will be going to be honest.

I would say this has been on my mind for about 8 years (I can use when we moved as a marker!) it came to attention when Martin Lewis raised the parental contribution on his show, so I’ve known for years we needed £6000 per child per year (and have obviously realised the need to increase that with every year that passes!)

No.

historically there’s been a lot of government support (grants then loans) and it’s usual to get a part time job as well for the student, or at least work in the holidays.

it’s harder to get part time jobs and the government funding doesn’t cover what it used to but there is a growing awareness of this.

I dont think many do to be honest.

Apparently a 30% of students now live at home to save costs.

Abd whilst student jobs are hard to get, students taking a gap year to save up is also increasing and some do manage to work during A levels

I was aware I would need to ccontribute and had saved a little, but I was also surprised by how much accommodation has gone up by over the last decade and how little the maintenance loan had changed.

I’m amazed that this has not become the norm - paying for uni is not a new thing. Even putting away the equivalent of £1 per day into a high interest savings account will mount up over 18 years.

I havent even started saving. Kids are 4, 2 and nearly 1

Our children are still very little (6, 3 and 1) and we don't have any savings for them as of yet. We do plan to set something up but it isn't specifically for uni as obviously they might not even choose to attend. We're also in Scotland so don't have tuition fees but I'm not sure what we would do about accommodation costs. I worked when I was at uni and stayed at home and wasn't offered any opportunity to have accommodation or living costs covered by my parents. I don't agree with "Well I had to struggle so you should too" but I doubt we would ever be able to afford it for 4 kids so we'll see!

Same here. I have 3 at uni at the moment. The eldest two are doing masters and will finish next year. Then the middle one starts alongside her older sister so a year of two and finally the youngest starts the following year so back to 3 for a year😬

I live in UK but wasn't educated here, so not familiar with the system..I thought all UK students on undergraduate courses qualify for tuition fee and maintenance loans? Parents financial situation does not affect that, does it? I have saved little for my DC over the years, but not specifically for uni...panicking slightly now as they are getting nearer to choosing universities. I always thought the loan would cover this, but maybe I'm wrong?

We had share saves through work and took some out of them when they matured for it

If your household income is over £80,000 you only get the minimum maintenance loan which generally speaking is at least a £6000 shortfall of what students need, although it’s widely accepted it’s likely more than £6000. It’s tapered but I’m not sure at what points it starts tapering.

Scottish here so no fees to pay. Daughter is off to uni in September (she’s 22). Just found out because of our postcode we are classed as living in a deprived area in our town. She is getting free accommodation in the halls for the 1st year including all bills. It’s saving us £4k .

In most cases it's more than a £6000 shortfall per year. The minimum maintenance loan is roughly what they need to live on and so parents need to find money for the rent which can be a lot more than £6000. In addition they get ac lower loan in their final year so need even more of a top up.

I hate these kind of smug bragging threads - I’m a lone parent of 3 …. No I’m not saving for uni fees!

Literally said it’s widely accepted that it’s more than £6000

So they not get loans to pay fees and part time jobs to fund their living?

No kids myself but my parents saved all my childhood for uni costs. They paid my rent and gave me a stipend (£270 per month) for food, travel, etc. This meant I didn’t have to get a loan and I’m extremely thankful for it. We’re in Scotland so there were no fees to pay. I did work part time too.

Conversely, my DH’s parents couldn’t afford to help him cause they had 5 kids, but cause he was the oldest and they had (on paper) a decent household income, he got the lowest loan. It paid his travel costs and he lived at home, so they did provide him free bed and board, which isn’t nothing.

9k x 3 = 27000 x 3dc = 81,000

no I don’t have £81k in savings. We anticipate subbing dd1 £850 a month from September and it’s going to be a tight few years, but we can do it. Definitely can’t cover more than living costs.

The maintenance loan doesn’t even cover rent anymore so while dd will have a job, we will need to pay £850 per month plus a £500 deposit in November for accommodation in year 2.