Urgent advice needed please

[ellenjames]

Hi, looking for advice please. I am about to start my first undergraduate degree this year and was wondering what I could be entitled too. I am married and my dh earns 21,500 a year. We have 3 children primary age together and 2 stepchildren who he is financially responsible for but who don't live with us, they stay every week but he is classed as non resident parent.
We will need to pay childcare of roughly 130 pound a week for wraparound care. I have done a calculator on student parent and it says we wont be eligible for anything other than maintenance loan and grant totaling just over 7000 pound.
I struggle to see how we wont qualify for childcare, parents learning allowance etc!! Also just found out we will lose our 200 pound per month housing benefit when I become a student. Am struggling to see how we will manage

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Speak to the Student Union at the university - they'll have an advisor who will be able to help you work out what you are entitled to.

I've just sent my application in but the advisor said I should get parents allowance & tax credits. We have a mortgage but she said housing benefit is usually an option too,

Don't panic. Make an appointment to see your student funding/student finance advisor at the university - they will have all the info you need. Make sure you take all of your details with you, bank statements, incomings, outgoings etc. They will tell you what you are entitled to. You will discover that student finance are a nightmare, and frequently mess things up. The University can check that your award notice is right. Your child benefit, and tax credits you should still get, just make sure you declare any student finance info to the tax credits as some may count as income. The Universities sometimes have bursaries, or scholarships you may be entitled to, so make sure you ask, and if not, the Uni should have a hardship fund to help students facing difficulties,so they should be able to advise you further on this too. They can advise on housing benefit too, so just check x