Mature Students entering course with debt or financial commitments?

lifestyle_2

What a wonderful wonderful thread. I am so pleased I found it. I am thinking of doing a three year undergraduate degree in 2009 and am £12000 in debt. I am aware I should get my loans and grants no problem, but am wondering whther natwest will offer me full overdraft???? Thats my main issue because I NEED to know I have got something to fall back on, because I am giving up a £19000 a year job as a senior steward.

SuperPinkTed

Dont know if the following info is useful to anyone but here goes! I am a mature student (Degree in Social Work)of 37 with 2 school-age kids and a house-husband. This is what we get per year:

1) £4400 Student maintenance LOAN
2) £2835 Special Support GRANT
3) £2575 Adult Dependants GRANT
4) £1470 Parents Learning Allowance
5) £89 Child tax credit per week
6) £31 child benefit
7) £4500 Bursary from General Social Care Council
8) £1500 University bursary

+ other bits 'n pieces from the Access to Learning Fund. So its not all that bad, and before I went into this I owed roughly about £17k. I managed to get both a Barclays student account with max. overdraft AND a credit card.
Bear in mind though, it depends on the sort of course you do if you will get a bursary or not.

Oldernotwiser

SuperPinkTed wrote: »

Dont know if the following info is useful to anyone but here goes! I am a mature student (Degree in Social Work)of 37 with 2 school-age kids and a house-husband. This is what we get per year:

1) £4400 Student maintenance LOAN
2) £2835 Special Support GRANT
3) £2575 Adult Dependants GRANT
4) £1470 Parents Learning Allowance
5) £89 Child tax credit per week
6) £31 child benefit
7) £4500 Bursary from General Social Care Council
8) £1500 University bursary

+ other bits 'n pieces from the Access to Learning Fund. So its not all that bad, and before I went into this I owed roughly about £17k. I managed to get both a Barclays student account with max. overdraft AND a credit card.
Bear in mind though, it depends on the sort of course you do if you will get a bursary or not.

Worth noting that all of the above are tax free and received nett.

Girlzmum

I'm in final year of my degree and we're up to our eyes in debt, we've got 2 kids, mortgage etc, dh has a fairly good job and I work on top of my studying but it's all getting on top of us tbh.

**purpleprincess**

Hullo hullo!!

I am 24, in my first year of a 4 year teaching degree and I'm also in debt!

I have been independent since the age of 17 so started uni with prior commitments. I have got a part time job and am working on paying off my debts!!

Nice to see there are others in the same boat.

Damita

I'm a mature student with dedt plus a mortgage without the government help, I wouldn't able to do it...

sillylittlejill

hi
I'm going to be classed as a mature student but actually i'm pretty immature! I'm 19 and hopefully starting newcastle college in January. Hoping to god that I'll be able to get the adult learning grant or something different, as I have to get the train from Carlisle to Newcastle and with my young persons railcard, that will be about £10 a day. Will be getting a part time job after xmas as I'm starting a temp job on monday not looking forward to it lol.

Its good to know that there are others out there. Im scared that I won't have time for anything, am supposed to be getting a part time job at tescos so will be working a couple of evenings and probably all of saturday and sunday. On top of that comes housework and everything and its all a bit AAAHH!! but it's going to be worth it in the end.

xxx

Catbag

Hello! I'm bumping this thread as it appears that all the mature students with bad credit have dropped off the radar! I'm due to start an LLB Law degree full time in September. I have three children and a partner who will also be a full time student and we are quite concerned about budgeting and making the money work for us. I have a terrible credit history, although it is slowly improving, and as such do not have access to the High Street banks' student accounts. Anyone else in the same position? I'd love to get some advice and perhaps set up a little group of us that can support each other during the next few years.

:j

costaerer

hi, i am going to college in sept part time to do an access course. am doing it over two yrs so i can still recieve jsa and hb and ctb. husband is going to uni to do radiography as a mature student.

we have about 10k debts between us both. doing a dmp at the moment.

Catbag

Well done to you costaerer, sounds like you've got it all well in hand. My partner and i both came to the conclusion that in this economic mess that is the UK, being a student was the best way to sort our selves out for the future and to ride out the storm. Hopefully, by the time we graduate, the jobs market will have picked up and everything won't be quite so gloomy.