Mature student with debts, can I get a student loan?

sammarie

Hi there,

I've finally decided to bite the bullet and apply for uni courses starting this year. I'm almost 25 and have now figured out what it is I want to do with my life!

However, I'm worried that the debt I've accumulated in my working life will prevent me from getting a student loan... approx £6,000 on two credit cards (both on 0% rates).

I'm currently switching between unemployment and temping work so there is no way I could pay this off in the next 6 months, or even make a small dent. I would work while studying to keep up small monthly payments but I know it's not going to help much... a lesson learnt far too late now :-(

Has anyone else been in or is in a similar situation? Did you get a loan?
I'm very careful with my cash now and, except in this situation (is there any other way to get through uni?!), plan to avoid all forms of loans or debts for a long, long, LONG, time!

Got2change

You will be eligible to apply for and receive the usual Student Loan entitlement; you credit card/overdraft debts should have no bearing. What will matter though is that you can make regular payments on them and hopefully not increase the balances if you can help it.
Careful planning and budgetting will be the way forward.

sammarie

Thank you - I really do hope so... otherwise I don't know how to fund my studies.

Yep, very careful budgeting is needed... something I'm pretty good at now!

Astrild

I had been fearing the same thing my self. I'm in £14k debt from a variety of different creditors, and have been threating about what to do when I get to uni - if I'll receive the same amount of support etc.

I have a terrible credit history - will this mean I'll be unable to get a student bank account?

Oldernotwiser

Astrild wrote: »

I had been fearing the same thing my self. I'm in £14k debt from a variety of different creditors, and have been threating about what to do when I get to uni - if I'll receive the same amount of support etc.

I have a terrible credit history - will this mean I'll be unable to get a student bank account?

You won't have any problems with getting student funding as this has no relation to your current financial position. You may have difficulty in getting a student account (are you in debt with your current account at the present?) and repaying your existing debts whilst at university.

salesadmin

Whatever you do...try to pay as much as you can before you go! I decided in June to go to uni which left me only a couple of months to pay back some debts...long story short I ended up using my student loans and had to work a lot, which left me very little time to do uni work...

It's done, but it was a struggle, sit down and work out a budget now!! It will make it easier in the long run!

justruth

Hey folks,

I am a mature student and I started out with £18,600 debt! I am on an intensive course (medicine) and I do have to work part time at the weekends to make ends meet. Fact is I am doing alright! Yes I got into a lot of debt before now, but student loan etc generally pays enough to survive on so all you have to do is find the extra for the debt.

As soon as you get your letter of confirmation of a place, you can go to the bank and they will give you the account, take in your letter from student finance direct and they will give you the overdraft then you can stick some of the debt in there to make life easier.

I dont go out much, my wardrobe is shabby and I have to compromise on a lot of the things I like, but as a student you tend to get away with that anyway! Don't let something as fickle as money stop you going to uni!!!!

pennylessstudent

As long as the course you're planning to do doesn't require buying loads of materials like loads of books or expensive computer equipment or whatever and you're careful with your loan you should be fine. I don't work and I pretty much live in my overdraft but I don't exceed the limits. As a mature student the student loans company will see you as independent so you should be entitled to the maximum loan available. I'm a mature student and thats what I got. I didn't start with any debts and I do have some savings to fall back on if I need to but I'm trying hard and managing to live on just my student loan (and any available bursarys) and my overdraft.

Good luck!

princess1984

I am about your age and I am studying at university. Although I have a rented house with my fiance and my 2 children, I travel to uni once a week. I work part time and pay childcare, and the money I get from student finance is equal to that of what I bring home from my pt job - so effectively I am bringing home a full time wage. I have found they are very generous, but I guess for you it depends on whether you will live at uni. They base your loan eligibility on your income - but the reverse of banks - the less you have coming in the more finance they offer you as a student.
I have a bad credit history and was rejected for a student account, but I only wanted it for the free rail card, which I really didnt need anyway tbh. Just thought it *might* come in handy.
Good luck with your course!

Fire_Fox

Another mature student here!

I find I am better off as a student than working full time in a low paid job. I get the full maintenance grant (you must be independent - if you live with family or partner it is complicated) of £2800 a year plus I work part-time and earn another £5000 for 16 hours per week. I am not taxed on either! I don't take out a student loan as I have no rent or mortgage, but you could cover that if you were sensible. I have a two bed flat and intended to live in the small one and let out the bigger, for example.

But what really makes the difference is all the other allowances - no council tax (saves me £500 a year), student bus pass and student rail card, 0% student overdraft (year two £1700). You can also get NUS discounts at places like Amazon, or Amazon vouchers from cashback sites (I have £120 pending from last month alone) to buy your books. If you plan ahead and do your research you can be ready to take advantage of these discounts from day one of your course.

If you have been onto the Debt Free Wannabe board you will see that entire families are living on £4000 a year (not inc. council tax and mortgage). You may like to complete a Statement of Affairs and post it for comments - it really helped me see where I was wasting money.

Will you be studying locally? If so you could get a job now that you would be able to carry on part time later - most students will not have an income the first few weeks, and spend a lot of their grant/ loan very early on. If you will be moving away to study get a job now with a well known organisation (supermarket, pub chain, clothes store) so that you will have more chance of transferring to the new area. Or get a job that has the kind of benefits that you would really appreciate - be that cheaper food, toiletries, gym membership, books and stationery ... then you are effectively earning more than just the basic wage.

David333

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You can also get NUS discounts at places like Amazon, or Amazon vouchers from cashback sites (I have £120 pending from last month alone) to buy your books.

Hey there

I don't want to hijack the thread but I was just wondering what you mean by having £120 pending from Amazon vouches at cashback sites... . Thanks!