Running out of money

MrsManda

Speak to your university's finance office. Not only will they be able to ensure you have received all the money you are entitled to in the form of the SLC and university maintanence grants, they will be able to tell you if you're eligible for a university hardship grant (don't have to pay it back), or hardship loan (have to pay it back but has low interest and they'll be lenient when it comes to paying it back).

They should also go through all your income and outgoings with you in order to help you work out a budget which will allow you to continue with your studies.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

DCFC79

Is there not a bar or shop who require staff

MrsManda

DCFC79 wrote: »

Is there not a bar or shop who require staff

I realise that these days many students need a job to top up their loans/grants. However getting a job as a student isn't as easy as many people believe. As lectures, labs and tutorials may be rearranged at short notice, and may be spread in such a way throughout the week that there is no long periods of time during the day in which to do a job, a student needs a job which is sympathetic to timetable clashes and which can be fitted around not only the set timetable of studies but also around the number of hours the student needs for further study/travelling/sleep. On top of that, you have huge competition from all the other 1000s of students who also want a job with the same conditions.
I had what I'd suggest was a perfect job for a student when I went to university the first time - I was an event steward. There was no guanteed work and no fixed hours. Not ideal if you need to have a fixed income but I'd look at what uni work I had to do and work out what time I needed in order to get it done then called the office. They listed all the jobs available for that week and I said which ones I'd like to do. It was brilliant, and getting paid to watch concerts was a great perk as well I'd love to be still doing it but I no longer live in Manchester and where I am now, there isn't the population to make having a permanent events team worth it.

No_Future

squirrelchops wrote: »

Firefox you did say GRANT not loan so actually it was nofuture who misread!!!! Just thought I would support you on that one as I too have committed the terrible offence in the past of trying to help after a few beers and it has goen horribly wrong!!!

um, pretty sure it said ''loan'' originally..

anyway, not all students get a grant and if they do it may be a v small amount. this is paid with the maintenance loan anyway so op would have received it by now

Fire_Fox

No_Future wrote: »

um, pretty sure it said ''loan'' originally..

anyway, not all students get a grant and if they do it may be a v small amount. this is paid with the maintenance loan anyway so op would have received it by now

It did, I changed the error - says so at the bottom of the post (below my signature).

If a student is not entitled to a grant, then their parents have been assessed to have sufficient income to help support the student.

No_Future

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If a student is not entitled to a grant, then their parents have been assessed to have sufficient income to help support the student.

The point being the parents may not contribute despite being deemed of sufficient income

JoolzS

I think that https://www.open.ac.uk may be your friend, along with moving back home.

You don't have to leave home to get a degree.

Julie

rb10

JoolzS wrote: »

I think that www.open.ac.uk may be your friend, along with moving back home.

You don't have to leave home to get a degree.

Julie

So the OP has left home, made new friends, and settled in to their new life at university ... and now are they supposed to write off this year and start again? I think it would be far better to try to find a way around this without having to quit.

As others have said, go to the money advice place at your uni / Students Union. Make sure you are getting all the money you are entitled to, and see if they can help with budgeting.

Oldernotwiser

JoolzS wrote: »

I think that www.open.ac.uk may be your friend, along with moving back home.

You don't have to leave home to get a degree.

Julie

Not everyone lives within reach of a decent university and not everyone is suited to studying by distance learning.

As well as doing what's been suggested above, the OP needs to also discuss this with her parents. Although they may not be able to give her a regular allowance they presumably won't want her to drop out of university and would have costs if she were to move back home without a job. At 18, your parents should be the first port of call in an emergency.

blue_ashleigh

You should be able to get the access to learning fund if you really are strapped for cash. It's a non-repayable loan (grant?) thingy. Go to your student union and see a finance person and they should be able to take you through the forms. Basically it's money from your university to allow you to stay at university even though you're currently short of cash. It's not a long term solution to the lack of money though.

I did it when I had no money at all, and I think it took about 1-2 weeks and I got a cheque for just over £100. I know it doesn't seem like much but when you have no money to eat it's a lot! I think the maximum you can get is £400.

If you're REALLY broke, if you have a chapel or uni church they may lend you some money. The chapel at my uni lets you borrow £10 for food if you need it.

With the parents thing, my parents earn just over the cut off point so I only got 75% of the loan but they didn't have any money to support me. Also some parents don't support their children even though they can and perhaps the government thinks they should.

Long term solutions: As you're in your first year and so your marks don't count towards your final degree you only need 40% in every module. So I'd advise getting any job going - paper round, avon, morning/ evening cleaner. I'm not suggesting nice jobs with great hours, but any job with rubbish hours. Yes it'll not be nice and you may only scrape through your first year, but if it's a choice between that or leaving uni then...

Also, for your second year (I'm presuming you live in ridiculously overpriced halls) you can get cheaper student accomodation which should help with bills for next year. 1st year prettt much all my money went on halls (like £70 a week!), my second year I lived in accomodation in the town and paid £35 a week. So at least stick it out until the end of term!

Good luck! Let us know how you get on