Finishing (not starting) Year 13 support thread (number 5!)

[Littleham]

Exam season starts....

WOW - makes the two piles on my kitchen table look minuscule.
Not checked DDs desk recently though.

Not an actual image of house I hasten to add (image off internet) but give it another week or two......

My spare room looks a bit like that but that is with my work not dd's. Must get it sorted!

We have 2 tables in our house that are both covered in revision material! Both DDs choose to revise downstairs - they don't like feeling isolated in their rooms and also get distracted on laptops etc. So the dining table and kitchen table are now their study areas and I have no dining table. It has been nice eating on the patio this past week but today may be too cold wink

Re: student loan, DD's will not even cover accommodation so we will have to help out. And this is for a university 'up North' so I pity anyone whose DC is going to a London one. At least the cost of the accommodation may be lower in year 2. She has been told that she will have little/no time to get a job during her course, and in the holidays should be looking for placements/work experience which will probably be unpaid. She has saved some money from a part-time job but I am hoping she could perhaps get 1 shift a week in the student union bar or similar.

Those who's DC on min loan and will be helping out.
Any thoughts on how best to do it ie. parents pay accommodation and DC lives off loan ?
Or use loan for accommodation, with top up and pay DC so much a week / month / term?

Though having said that, DD not even out of bed after being on-line half the night. Studies really being taken seriously here - not.

We're going to pay his accommodation and let him budget from his loan I think.

For the DDs they had the loan and we paid them a monthly amount then they paid for everything. We have paid for deposits and rent over the summer in later years when they have been on 12 month contracts as well. If DS goes to Durham the loan comes nowhere near the accommodation fees as colleges are fully catered so I suppose we'll just pay extra at the beginning of term and he won't need much each month.

We have the double whammy of DD2 doing a masters from September and London being the best place to do it. I dread to think how much living costs will be.

We are intending to pay accommodation cost which will be catered so cover most food costs and dd will use her loan for other costs.

Once accommodation is taken care of, how much a week do you think they need to live off?

At the moment we are thinking of paying for accommodation and dd can have the loan to live off. It works out to about £70 a week but would have to cover food, clothes, toiletries, transport, etc.

I'm wondering if she could live off a bit less and contribute more towards accommodation, especially if she gets a job?

Does the loan generally come through in time for the first accommodation instalment? Must get DD to complete student finance, seem to recall there's a deadline to guarantee it in time.

Fairenuff where are you getting £70 a week from?
Thought the loan was around £3800, for around 40 term time week that's £95.

Oh thanks for spotting that cicular, I've checked and dh worked it out based on 45 weeks, not 40 so she will get more like £93 a week (she qualifies for £3731).

She has applied for accommodation today. First choice is 38 weeks at £116 a week, second choice 40 weeks at £129.15, third choice 38 weeks at £129.15 so not too bad but still a lot to help fund.

She wants self catering and ensuite. She already has about £4,000 saved up and if she beats her offer she will get a £1,000 bursary. Southampton also throw in a free unilink bus pass for the first year so that will help keep costs down too.

Lots to think about isn't there.

Just to confirm that dd1 has just under £100 a week, but spends more like £70 (self catering, cheap small bedroom / non en-suite). She has very cheap hobbies, a free bus pass from the university hall, free railcard via student bank account, and she doesn't drink / club, so is saving any left over money for the year abroad as we have no idea how much that will cost. Some students have way more disposable income and others have less (depends on family circumstances).

The main pinch point seems to come when the landlord needs a deposit for the 2nd year accommodation (in dd1's case this is four instalments of £1400 each - first one spring /summer of year one, second one autumn of year 2 and so on ) so if you can plan ahead you won't such a panic. This is the item that has caused the biggest problem to financially stretched students in year one.

Obviously it will be different at other universities, but this might help as a guide.

No idea how much they should need to live on but somebody I know whose DD is doing medicine in London gets just £30 a week from her parents (their joint income is almost 100k, btw and she's an only child) her loan pays for her accommodation and she has the £30 for everything else. Food, transport, toiletries, clothes, entertainment etc

My advice would be to save some each week into a different account (even if they do get a higher amount each week) because it lessens the shock when they get a big bill eg. deposit for yr 2 house, university trip and so on.

No it is the first payment for rent (four instalments). They start renting over the summer holidays - unfortunately. It is one of the cheaper ones in an expensive city! Many of the other places were a lot more.

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Private_managed_accommodation_FAQ

Extract -
With most providers, you pay a deposit via credit or debit card. Options for paying rent vary provider-to-provider; some pay up-front all in one go, others in 3/4 termly instalments by direct debit or in 8/10 instalments across the year, or via direct debit. For more information look into specific providers

I gather the loan gets paid in 3 instalments, but unclear whether they are equal. Halls appear to be 3 instalments too, but 3rd less as generally shorter term. So if giving them amounts weekly or monthly, could present a cash flow problem paying first terms accommodation. Expect first term also has heavier costs - freshers stuff, equipment, books etc.

Beginning to think us paying the accommodation is the better option. Still leaves some independence to budget termly for everything else, and shouldn't need to ask for any extra.

Puts the first year rent into perspective doesn't it? Not telling you this to scare you, just so you can be prepared. And you might find your dc's cities or towns are cheaper.

Luckily we got cheap first year accommodation and managed to save as we knew it was an expensive city. It factors down to about £110 per week if that sounds better! Some of the rents go up to £10,000!!

That's right mumslife.

If you type the university city into the Rightmove website / rented / number of bedrooms, it will show current student properties. This should give you a good idea of the cost for second year.