Student Loan 2015 Discussion

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  • nemo183
    nemo183 Posts: 637 Forumite
    edited 28 April 2016 at 4:33PM
    Government figures say that 25% of jobs in the UK require a degree, yet 50% of people leaving the education system have a degree. Go figure.....
  • Hi Martin
    My son has started Uni this week (Sept 2016). His accommodation fell through, and he will continue to live at home if a suitable alternative cannot be found. If he lives at home, I see we are supposed to top up his maintenance loan to the maximum amount. If we do, is he then expected to make a contribution back to us for living expenses such as rental, food etc.

    I feel that if this is not expected, it is a lot of money that would probably be wasted on entertainment and non-essentials and would not be teaching him any life skills or how to budget.

    I would be grateful for some guidance. Thanks
  • Interest is charged from the day you first get your loan so even if you were able to get a billion pound job as soon as you left uni you would still have to pay some interest.
    Also the HMRC hangs on to your payments until the end of the tax year before paying it to Student Loans so more interest is accumulated.
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481
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    Sunny1966 wrote: »
    Hi Martin
    My son has started Uni this week (Sept 2016). His accommodation fell through, and he will continue to live at home if a suitable alternative cannot be found. If he lives at home, I see we are supposed to top up his maintenance loan to the maximum amount. If we do, is he then expected to make a contribution back to us for living expenses such as rental, food etc.

    I feel that if this is not expected, it is a lot of money that would probably be wasted on entertainment and non-essentials and would not be teaching him any life skills or how to budget.

    I would be grateful for some guidance. Thanks

    The living at home rate is considerably less than the rate for living away.
  • Ed-1
    Ed-1 Posts: 3,867
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    Mamofsix wrote: »
    Also the HMRC hangs on to your payments until the end of the tax year before paying it to Student Loans so more interest is accumulated.

    Wrong. Interest is frozen on your account at the start of every tax year until your income and repayment amount is known after the end of the tax year. Any repayment is then applied as if it was received on the last day of each calendar month in the tax year and for plan 2 loans, the income figure determines what rate of interest is applied.
  • As I understand it parents residual income is calculated before tax. This penalises families with one high earner rather than two lower earners. One person earning £57k has the same income after tax as two on £25 k each. The single high earner has already lost child benefit given to the two earner family. This calculation should be made using income after tax.
  • It looks to me that students living at home actually get a very good deal- they receive only £1296 a year less than those living away from home. There is no way a student living away from home could pay rent, utility bills and eat breakfast for that! Travel costs may need to be met- but students living away from home also need to pay for some travel.
    This amount must include a contribution to living costs at home.
  • Mrs_Arcanum
    Mrs_Arcanum Posts: 23,976
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    kzap wrote: »
    As I understand it parents residual income is calculated before tax. This penalises families with one high earner rather than two lower earners. One person earning £57k has the same income after tax as two on £25 k each. The single high earner has already lost child benefit given to the two earner family. This calculation should be made using income after tax.
    The other difficulty is cost of living. No allowance is made for higher housing costs when calculating what student loans are given.
    Truth always poses doubts & questions. Only lies are 100% believable, because they don't need to justify reality. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Labyrinth of the Spirits
  • klint
    klint Posts: 265
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    Can someone explain what the Student Finance Government website means in the section titled "What income is assessed" concerning the tax year for which the household income is assessed.

    Up to now, my son has been entitled to a full student loan because I've been living away from home, so my income wasn't taken into account when assessing household income.

    For the academic year 2017-18, the household income assessed is for tax year 2015-16. I am going back to living as part of the household this April. Now when my son goes back to university in September, will the household income include my income? I wasn't at home in 2015-16, so does that mean my income is not included?
  • I live in Hungary, and am vexed by the overseas thresholds.

    The threshold for Hungary was decreased to just over 7,000 pounds a year before tax last year.

    This amount is a crazy low sum. I currently earn around 18,000-19,000/year before tax, and I earn a pretty good wage for Hungary.

    I am demanded to make repayments of 95 pounds a month towards my student loan. Previously, the threshold was around 9,500 a year. According to the cost of living, that's a fair amount, and would result in me paying back around 60 pound per month. That 50% increase is huge, when I'm no better off tha before.

    Is there anything I can do? Or any way to make a real complaint?
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