Uni money

[Mumtooneboy]

DS is leaving for uni in a few weeks. I am of course excited for him, sad for me etc etc ... 😬
He has catered accommodation and a student loan, which we think will cover tuition and accommodation.
We do want to give him something to help with his living expenses - but how much do you give your uni students?
Travelling will be a big expense, being 150 miles away - I don't particularly want him to drink his way through my bank account though 🤣
Difficult question - sorry!

My ds will have £100/ week. Half is from us and half is from his summer job earnings.

Just seen he's catered, my ds isn't so his includes food!

I'm giving mine £400/month but he is not catered so will include food. I also have to cover the shortfall in his loan for his accommodation.

Is his loan reduced from the maximum because of parental income?
If so you should make it up to the maximum. If not then it must be that you are on a low income and gove only if you can afford it.

If he has a full loan he shouldn't need anything.

We give our daughters £70 a week which covers 30 for food and 40 for whatever they want. We cover the difference in the loan to rent and the extra bills (they both get the minimum so doesn't even cover the rent.) - they both have summer jobs and one has a term-time job to supplement that - so they can run cars, holidays etc

The second one will have to get a job as she seems to be able to spend money faster than she earns it.

This.

Dd was in catered halls and had the full loans / grants. We paid for her phone contact and contact lenses but that was it. She managed fine and didn’t need to get a job despite thinking she’d need to. We sent up the odd just eat voucher as the catered hall food was awful though!

DD is starting in a couple
of weeks. We are paying the rent and DD will get the minimum loan which works at about £120 PW when divided by 40 weeks.

My DD student loan doesnt even cover her accomodation. So we will have to support her and will be giving 400 a month but we have advised her to look for a job when there.

We are same as @Skiphopbump

Agree with whizzfiz - the expectation is that parents contribute towards students living expenses as for most of them the loan isn't enough to cover everything so if he gets less based on the slc assessment of your earnings it is expected you make it up to the full amount. If he is getting the full amount there isn't the expectation so only give what you can afford.

Ideally he could also get a job although would depend on his course and free time.

If you think travelling will be a big cost just tell him you'll buy his train ticket/bus directly for him (you can buy it online and he can pick it up at the station), or if he's driving go with him and fill up his tank once he gets it home if you don't want him spending it all on beer!

Just be aware that in most unis catered accommodation doesn't cover all meals so it will be worth seeing exactly what meals are covered before working out how much he will need.