Can you help me RE: Uni finance and benefits

[LucyFarinelli]

I'm a single mum, starting uni in september in Wolverhampton (WLV).
Fees are £8,500: will get tuition fee loan

But the rest of it, I'm a bit confused...
I was told by JCP that I would be better off NOT claiming the Maintenance Loan, and staying on IS, so I would get HB (there is no family accomodation at WLV). But not sure about this???

Also, do they count SSG, ALG and CG as Income??? So would I get benefits?

My DS will be 2.4 when I start and I will be studying full-time (approx. 16 contact hours per week plus study hours).

Any advice you ladies (or gents) can give would be really appreciated

TIA

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Have you played around with the Student Finance Calculator here?

It's been a while since I worked with student finance but if you contact the Students Union or the welfare team at the University (try the Gateway contact here), they should be able to help.

Look also for bursaries for lone parents, or see if there's anything available for your particular subject area. Again, the University should be able to help you with this.

I have to say that you're doing the right thing by getting your finances sorted now. One of the main reasons for mature students drop-out is finance, so get your figures sorted now.

I'm at uni although have a ft working DH, mortgage and 3 dc so my circs are different. My friend sounds similar to you though as as far as I am aware she gets the full maintenance grant of roughly 10k pa, she pays no council tax and HB covers her rent. Obviously she has the tuition fee loan as do I. Hth a bit.

Thanks Harriet. Do you work with WLV? I'm hoping to study BSL/English Interpreting. Planning to move to Wolverhampton in the Spring to get me and DS settled, so needs everything sorted by then.
Thanks Pippi, i've been quoted £5,500 pa maintenance. I'll have a fiddle with the calculator I think.

Actually her 10k is prob made up of loan and maintenance like mine. We get just about half and half so if my friend does then that's about right. Its a fucking nightmare BTW, and student finance won't give you any definite info either.
One tip re student finance: only speak to the Scottish ones and not the Geordies. Before you jump on me it's just because the offices are based in Scotland and at busy times the extra temporary staff are drafted in from the call centre in newcastle but bizarrely they are unable to access your full account. I learned this the hard way after spending literally days crying on the phone to the cunts them.

Oh God, Thanks Pippi. I'm SO looking forward to the next few weeks, joy of joys

It should be a great time to do it now, nice and quiet. It's only problematic if anything goes wrong like mine did. My second year (this year) went through beautifully if that's any consolation.

Lucy - just popped back to check this, sorry for delay in replying. No, I don't work at Wolverhampton but I did used to work in student welfare for a different university. The overall advice is generally the same but there will also be scholarships and bursaries available which differ between institutions.

You can have a look on the Wolverhampton website for bursary info here, or you might be eligible for a Scholarship - see here.

If you are able to take on any part -time work, perhaps campus-based (Students Union or other campus shop) that might be useful too, although that would obviously affect any other means-tested benefits you have.

You could have a look at volunteering too, as sometimes you can get "rewards", eg Tesco vouchers, in return for specific activities. My own institution offers supermarket vouchers to students who act as amabassadors/guides on open days. It rather negates the term "volunteering" but it's still very useful, and your signing skills would probably be of use (it doesn't do your CV any harm either .

That's fantastic Harriet Thanks so much. I have heard back from the gateway and have been told that I CANNOT claim IS. Am still confused but have more info to hand before I call and speak to someone directly.

I am a student ambassador for my uni- they pay £7 odd an hour. I work 15 hours a week in my own job too.

That's an idea Pippi. I'd happily volunteer, and am not really fussed about getting paid, but I'll need to support myself and my DS, run a car, then household bills etc. So just want to make sure I know where I stand.

I was a single mum for the start of my uni course this year and my DS was just over 2.
I was on IS before.
This stopped when I started.

I got the full maintainence loan, the full special support grant, the full Parents Learning allowance grant and I also get a childcare grant which pays 85% of my childcare.
I didn;t have to pay council tax and was getting roughly 2/3rds of my rent paid by HB.

I also work 5.5 hours a week.

I have just had 1/3rd of my first years money in from SLC and it comes to around £1900 in loan and £1800 in grants.

Hope this may help.

MetalSian Thank you, my DS will be exactly the same age as yours when you started. Do you manage for money or is it still tight? At least with not being on IS there is no limit other than free time on how many hours you can work.

I don't have any problems with money.
But I am pretty good at saving and not spending money when I don't need to.
Plus I was worse off for money beforehand.
It makes my life easier! And I intend to save some too.

My DP is now living back with me and that is worse ;P.
I still use it to pay for pretty much everything but I am lucky my rent is good.

If you are using childcare when you are at uni I would recommend trying to get it sorted asap.
I didn't find out what day my course was until September. Then filling out the form seemed to take forever. I didn't get my childcare grant through until November. It is backdated but if you are struggling for money it won't help.
Oh and it doesn't matter if you use childcare when you aren't at uni. If you put down all your childcare providers you can get the 85% off even if you are working.

I still had £1300 of my first instalment of money left, would have been 2k but I just brought a new laptop to make my uni work at home easier.

Good luck by the way.
Its hard work with a little one but I love it.

My friend who is a single parent struggles really badly with her money and she does receive IS I think, she certainly receives some kind of payment every Thursday. She is not careful though and spends all her money when it comes in and then lives hand to mouth with no gas etc, so please budget your money effectively and make it last the quarter.

It is hard with kids but I have three and got a first last year and am averaging the same for this year so its certainly not insurmountable. I use a childminder from 9-4 every day even if I am not in uni and that is how I get my essays done because I work every evening. My DC are 9, 5 and 2.

I agree with pippi about having extra childcare.
I have odne my first semester with my son around all the time and the work has really backed up.
I am looking into him goin into a childminder for around 2 mornings a week so I can keep on top of the work.

Thats good advice. I've got DS on the waiting list for the Uni nursery, 9-5pm x 5 days a week. I have no idea what my uni hours will be so I guessed it was better to apply for full time then cancel the ones I didn't need.
It sounds great if I can use the childcare and work. Looks like I will be better off not claiming IS.

Just one point. If you use the nursery at uni you will have to travel in with your ds even if you aren't in that day. I chose a childminder near home so I can just drop off in my scruffs and go home to revise/write essays etc. Ds2 was only just one when I started and I wanted more of a home environment and she picks the bigger two up from school which will also be a consideration for you next year/year after. So maybe think about a cm too. They are also much cheaper which is a consideration when you only get 85% paid.

Thanks Pippi, I will have to look into it. I think with the 85% paid, i'll be paying about £19 pw. I'm only looking for housing within a 30 walk of uni, so don't mind too much if I have to go in with DS.

I have DS at the uni nursery on the one day I am in.
And will be getting a childminder near home for the rest.

My fees for uni are £37.00 per day. Which is from 8.30am-6pm.
And the childminder is 3.85 per hour and much more flexible!
That is without the 85% off.

But I am 30 miles from my Uni xD.

I'm only a 15m drive away from uni but that is an hour round trip with parking and walking from the car park etc. My cm is £3 ph.

I definatly will look into Cm's. I know i'll end up messing up the forms for 2 differnt childcare providers :D

Yep I did! I didn't qualify for child care grant but we get 85% paid via tax credits cos we both work.

Ok. Well, I've appliedfor everything that SFE will give me. So just HB to sort out when I actually move. eek!!