Help With Student Loans - HERE!

folkestonelisa

Im starting uni in september and was wondering what i could claim for.

Can i still claim wftc, housing benefit as hubby is self-employed or will it be stopped as i will receive the maintance grant. Hubby earns roughly £9000 a year.

Thanks

alexoharared

Someone mentioned there is a grant available if your child is the first member of you family to go to uni.... is this true and if so where do i look for it? thankds

sheashea1

Hi, my partner was a student at a London Uni a few years ago. He interupted and said he'd be back in sept '06

He went back as a returning student but was advised to start course from scratch even though he a couple of passes, modules had since changed.

He enrolled and the £1200 tuition fee was charged and the LEA paid - no problem.

All came about as he applied for the uni bursary which they gave him last year but say he is not entitled to now.

Partner has now done 2/3 years of course charged at old fee level. Uni are now saying that the fee was incorrect.

Can they charge him the new higher fee? Advice please.
Thanks.

hippychick1

I am considering applying to study the nursing diploma. I understand I can get a bursary with this? Also my credit rating is shot to pieces as I am on a DMP with Payplan. Will this stop me from being able to get a student loan?
I know taking out more credit is not the best way forward, but I want to have a decent career once my three children are all at school. Can childcare be part paid for also?
Thank you, I do not know much about this.

roxalana

Student finance depends on whether your bursary will be income assessed or non income assessed (depends on the course not your circumstances).

One you can apply for student finance from the LEA/SLC and the other you can't. The NHS bursary people should be able to advise you.

If you aren't eligible for LEA help then ask the NHS what sort of things they offer (e.g. whether they offer childcare help).

If you are eligible for LEA help I can't remember if the childcare help is through them - you could call your LEA to find out.

The LEA/SLC loan wouldn't be affected by bad credit history unless you had previously had a student loan.

lovelyjay

When can I apply for my student loan as I will be coming off income support to go onto my degree, I'm currently an access student, and I'm terrifed of the short fall.

I've heard of foundation students still waiting for their loans months l8r?

Thank you x

Helix

Online applications open 12th March.

mayb_2

I was talking to my son earlier and he has received a statement from the student loans company and he was shocked to find that having paid them more than £1000 he has knocked less than £150 off the amount owed - that is a wopping ratio of his payment to the SLC. So this means the amount to be paid next year wont change very much and so on.

This just cannot be right - why should the SLC make so much money out of the students in this way. That was not the purpose of the loan as we both understood it. The way this was 'sold' at the time did not come with a warning about the interest to be paid and how. To be fair they should take more of the money paid off of the loan itself surely.

Can anyone tell me how to work out just how much will be paid in total to the SLC if the loan continues to be paid off in this way. I can't help thinking it may be cheaper to borrow the money from someone else and just give it back to them.

robnye

my daughter is due to start uni in sept 08,

we are currently investigating the finance aspect,
at the moment it looks like she will get the following
student fees loan £3145
maintenance loan £4490 (approx) means tested,
and nothing else. (bursaries are only available to students from immediate vacinity)

having just read the updated finance pdf book that martin co-wrote
there is a statement that implies along the lines of 'students living costs are covered by maintenance loans/bursaries'
as it doesnt look like my daughter isnt entitled to any bursary help, and the maintenance loan will only just about cover the accommodation costs - is this right, whilst my daughter is aware that she will have to work part time to fund the social/luxury items, sureley the student finance package should cover basic costs accomodation/food/travel...!
where else can she go to get financial help........?

whilst i do earn a reasonable/good wage, with wife and 2 other daughters to support, we dont have much left for luxuries let alone the additional cost of financial support for the eldest daughter whilst at uni.

any ideas....?

or does this all 'come out in the wash' so to speak, once she applies for finance?

roxalana

Hi Robnye,

Largely you won't know exactly what she will get until the assessment is done.

If she qualifies for full means tested support (not sure of the ball park figures for that this year but the student finance direct website should have some more info) then she will get a bursary from the Uni as well - if she gets less than the full means tested amount I think the rules will vary from uni to uni.

Most students need to supplement their student finance, as you have suggested. i think the most common sources for this are: student (interest free) overdraft on a student bank account; working during every hol as near to full time as poss and/or working part time during term time; parental help and credit cards.

A certain amount will be disregarded from your income if you have dependant children (It will be around £1100ish - should say in the info from SLC/SFD)

I always recommend getting a part time job straight away when you start Uni, as then if it is too much and you think you can survive without it you can leave, but if you are used to having that time and then have to start working it feels harder! (if that makes sense!)