???????????

[prettyfly1]

right my lovelies. i am looking at uni in september but before i decide i need to no what financial help is out there - i am a single mum, so this is pretty vital??? can any of you help??

oohhhhhhhhhhh, i just read that back, should clarify, help specifically with info on funding available, benefits, childcare????? sounded a bit funny before sorry

I looked into this myself (not for long, I decided I couldn't face all that debt!), but as far as I remember, you would be entitled to housing benefit and some sort of maintenance grant. Best bet is to get in touch with the uni you want to go to and ask for advice from them direct - they should be clued up on all the latest rules and regs.

You would still have to take out a student loan to cover fees (£3000 p.a. in most places), so it does entail a substantial debt ... but you don't have to start paying it back until you are earning a certain amount, and even then the interest rate is fairly low.

Sorry, that wasn't much helpw as it?!

Would you be full or part time? It's important as the funding is different, and it's changing again in September. Best place to look is the DfES website - Part Time or Full Time student support.

Should add that tuition fees for full time from September 2006 will be around £3k per year, but not repayable until after you graduate. At the moment it's around £1k per payable upfront.
This is covered by a fee grant available from your Local Education Authority, plus a means tested maintenance grant. If you are studying full time you'll also be eligible for the childcare grant, which isn't currently available for part timers, although this might change from September.
Universities also have the Access to Learning Fund, which is a means tested grant available to students who have used up all other means of funding and are suffering hardship. Good to cover childcare costs if you have to pay upfront before your payments arrive.
Part time students don't get as much in the way of support, but, like I say, it's changing in September. I've not quite got my head round the changes yet, which is pretty poor of me considering I'm advisor for part time students, but best place to look is DfES website.

wow badhair, I didn't see any of this stuff when I was looking - thanks!

aha, this is exactly the package of financial support I've got with the OU as a P/T student

Think the difference is that OU do their own funding - their courses aren't funded by LEAs. Support package is similar, and often better, but standard fees are usually much higher than other institutions.

Hiya,

I completed my degree when my son was 3 months old last year. I fought extensively to get as much as I can. This is what you could be eligible for depending on your circumstances etc (some of which has been covered in previous posts but going on my own experience as a FULL time U/G student)
*Housing benefit, I had all of mine paid for whilst in halls.
*Parents Learning Allowance- upto around £1000 mark per year apply through you local LEA

• Fees paid for and thus, eligible for the full amount of Student Loan *Access to Learning Fund- I received £2500 in my final year, as I couldnt work and was a single mum. *Sure start maternity grant-£500 if you are pregnant and in receipt of IS or CTC *Child Tax Credit if you arent employed whilst you're at Uni *Obviously Child Benefit
• Help with childcare costs if you're enrolled on a fulltime course, I couldnt use this element as my son was too young to go into creche at campus.
• A lot of unis have family flats, so if yu're looking to cut your costs even more perhaps worth considering moving into this? *Also creche on campus is generally a bit cheaper than looking for somewhere privately, but bear in mind places fill up quickly so best to enrol as soon as you get your offer just to be on the safe side. HTH in some way x

[whispers] If you do the OU and you are on benefits.. it all gets paid.. books and everything! (Probably get 'books' is pretty much all there but for tutorials etc...)

[whispers quieter still] And you get a nice little grant each year...

ok thanks guys this is helpful. my son is 9months, i will b going fuill time in sept, but i work at mo so i guess the genereal rule is apply for everything!

Not sure about OU course fees being more expensive than bricks and mortar unis badhair ... I am aiming for a degree in 4 years with the OU (wish I'd aimed for 3, but I wanted to start off gently!) - you need 360 points for an honours degree. Each of my 60 point courses are around the £500 mark (paid for by a non-repayable grant). That is going to work out a lot cheaper than the £3000 per year I'd have to pay a bricks and mortar uni (with a repayable loan at that). The whole degree will cost £3000!

Just thought I'd check back here. I really don't want to harp on about this, but SD, non-OU fees are currently around £1k (max) per year, ie £3k for a 3 year degree.
From NEXT year fees are £3k per year, and the OU will probably go up too (though obviously not for existing students).
Sorry, off soapbox now. Ooo and nearly home time too.

True, I was using 2006 fees (£3K), but the OU fees are not tripling ... they're going up by about £40. So it's a bargain imo!

yes i agree, however i have to say that part of the appeal of university for me is to interact with like minded people. you dont get that with ou

There is a lack of interaction, yes, although for my OU course I have at least two tutorials a month, and interact with other students a lot online via the OU's Firstclass conferencing software and on MSN. But I agree with you in that I would prefer daily interaction with other students ... it can feel quite isolated at times with distance learning. I simply wasn't able or willing to get into the level of debt I'd have to get into if I went to a bricks and mortar uni

I get my childcare paid for (not a single Mum though, a loand of almost £5k, fees pais nd about £2.5 in grants.

A lot of what else you get depends on where you are basing yourself (Welsh Assembly gives extra low income grants), and how much you blag. I got turned down for childcare, wrote them a letter about what exactly was I supposed to cut back on- I ws willing to starve but I couldn't do that to the kids- it was reviewed and I was awarded the fulla mount. I suggest that the original refusal was the admin error, bt you have to stand your ground.

MY OU course I did way back had weekly study groups but it was hard with kids there and no-one to mark you absent. it's worth a look though.

Personally, I'm finding Uni pretty amazing. I DO miss my family / home county a lot, and sometimes I crave a monthly income (which is silly as social services said I'd never get a childminder for my ds1, who has AS). But overall- worth every single second!

If you book up to a visit day (look on the websites of the universities), there is usually talks on finance / advisors available there. And don't be put off too much by the £3k fee, my Access tutor advised us to reagrd it as a tax on getting a step ahead.

does anyone know about finances for access courses. if u look at my other thread, i am arguiening between two courses, one means i go to uni straight away one means a year at college first??

You don't get the standard loans, but they do have access funds (administered by the University), so there is extra help available, and often childcare grants too. The Admission desk at college should be either able to help or put you through to a student finance officer who will tell you haow it affects your benefits.

I don't know how it works in reality, but I know the aim is that you won't be worse off while you study.

thanls peachy - glad to hear your doing well by the way. we spoke last year when the council were giving me greif about my house and you were a little stressed! nice to hear your getting on ok!!!

• permannently stressed me, nothing unusual!

ha ha, i know that feeling!