Funding for mature student .....is there any?

chudies

hi
gone back to uni at 32, and working partime
looking for any advice ref getting a grant, fees paid, anything for money to come my way
saved £1500 on council tax per year
got the NUS card, so xmas pressies a little cheaper
need more!!!!!

anything please.........

thanks

Barcode

I think if your earnings are below 17k you receive the full loan and your fees paid.

Then there is the Stapley Trust (google it) which does scholarships for mature students.

I'm afraid there isn't very much (at least that I know of, and I'm a mature student). As I said, if you're under the 17k threshold then your costs should be covered by your LEA.

chudies

cheers mate
will look into

p.pete

The 17k threshold, does this relate to what you are going to be earning during college or what you are earning when applying?

I'm above 17k now but if I start college in September my income will plummit to whatever part time work will provide me with.

greyster

the student loan is only for undergraduate courses too. Just to be clear.

Contact the university's student support office. They tend to have government funding which they manage, so you apply to them. They also have information on local grants that are awarded by charities.

Yorkielass

Chuddies - are you doing an undergraduate or postgraduate course, and have you started already? got a few ideas but knowing these things will help know which things are relevant.


p.pete? if you're a mature student it will be your income the LEA will assess. The best way to find out exactly what you need to know is to call your LEA (local education authority) and ask to speak to people about student finances and find out exactly what the criteria for you is. Also if you've already applied to universities I'd call/email them too - and see if they're offering any bursaries etc for mature students - with increased fees lots are I believe.

chudies

Yorkielass wrote:

Chuddies - are you doing an undergraduate or postgraduate course, and have you started already? got a few ideas but knowing these things will help know which things are relevant.
.

hello mate, i am doing a post grad degree, started in sept until june

Yorkielass

chudies wrote:

hello mate, i am doing a post grad degree, started in sept until june

Most of the things I know about are for undergraduates but it's worth a few things.

Most universities have a graduate students association - or at least a rep on the main students union and an email to them might help you as they will know of any money offered to them - grants available to be applied for etc, they may not advertise these - or may just put a poster on a noticeboard.

Another way of getting grants etc is that sometimes local businesses in the area you live or certain companies (depending on what subject you're doing) will give grants - but again these are often for undergraduates however it might be worth investigating. At the university where I now work there's a student support unit and they can tell people about bursaries etc.

The last thing I was thinking off is to see if there is any casual work you can do to increase your income a bit - I used to do psychology experiments whilst I was a student - on a casual basis - just signed up to a mailing list and got sent all the adverts and then if I fitted the criteria and had the time I used to do them. often got approx equivelent of £6 an hour and was interesting. Also most universities like students to do tours for prospective students and as a mature student you'll probably be in extra demand - if your careers service has a 'unijobs' - a part time jobs service - they might be advertised there, by posters etc - it's only occasional things and little bits of money but they often help to get you noticed and can get you talking to people who know all about ways to find extra pots of money.

Hope some of these help someone

chudies

thanks for the above, will look into the bursaries from local firms. cheers

pabby-ellis

My husband is 36 and frightened the living daylights out of me 3 years ago when he announced he was going to go back to college. he did, we got married, we had a baby, he went part time, i went part time, we put our second car on the road, we had another baby.

he successfully did his 2 year course, and has now gone on to Drama School to do degree level. to add to what i didnt' believe would be possible, he now lives away from home so we have rent of £300pcm to pay on top of our mortgage and we are saving more cash monthly now than ever before.

in fact our savings have never been higher. we've just bought ourselves a 2003 Xsara picasso and are having a new bathroom. we recently had a new kitchen too.

we only owe £900 on a credit card for our old computer!!

HE WAS TOLD BEFORE HE STARTED ALL THIS, IF YOU EVER ASK "HOW" IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN. GO WTIH THE FLOW AND IF THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE THEN YOU'LL MANAGER

WE ARE. go for it!! :rotfl: :beer: