Help With Student Loans - HERE!

silvercar

Reytons123 said:

Hi...my daughter is starting this September. I cannot afford to fund her fully, but could find £9k in Sept to initially pay the tuition fee, thereby not incurring the extortionate rate of 12% on this loan from Sept 22. She would then apply late for her loan, and receive the £9k in March 2023, thereby reimbursing me and also avoiding that initial interest rate spike until the interest rate cap is introduced in Mar23 and interest rates are lowered.
Does this make sense...is this possible do you know?
Thanks...

Tuition fee loans are paid direct from the student loan company to the university, if you apply and are given the loan. You can’t pay yourself and then have a refund from the student loan company.

silvercar

themilnes said:

I'm wondering something similar. I've saved up some money over the years to help my son out as he gets started with 'adulting' and I'm wondering if it would be sensible to finance the first year of his studies to avoid the high interest rates. I understand that this doesn't always make sense and you might never have to pay off the loan but my son is expecting to get a good salary when he leaves uni (don't they all?!) and expecting that he will pay it off in the 30 years. I presume you can apply for a student loan in your 2nd year if you didn't take it out in the first? It's so hard to find this info!

You can apply for the second year if you didn’t apply for the first.

As to whether it works for you and your son, without a crystal ball it is impossible to tell. If you have money to spare, maybe helping out with a deposit on a property may work out better value?  

Roseybug

I am thinking along same lines as Reytons123 and themilnes.

Is it possible to apply for the tuition fee loan now in time for start of term Autumn 2022, then amend to add an application for maintenance loan later in the academic year? This would partially avoid the extortionate interest rate on the maintenance component at least. If my student child applied for the maintenance loan later in the academic year (say in Term 2), would they receive the whole year's maintenance loan entitlement, or just a pro-rata amount for Terms 2 and 3?

heston2014

My daughter’s best friend got kicked out of uni due to unpaid fees as he was waiting for student Finance to sort out his tuition.
This all started because in his first year at uni a couple of years ago, he decided to change courses but instead of switching programmes, he withdraw from the programme at the time and applied at another university on a different course. Consequently, Student Finance asked him to repay the loan from his first year and when he reapplied for the new course, Student Finance said he would not receive funding for the entire programme. He tried to appeal against repaying the initial loan on the basis that he wasn’t earning much from his part time job but Student Finance has not provided any guidance and continues to mess him about. Unfortunately today, he was told due to unpaid tuition, he is no longer enrolled on the course.
He lives at home with his mum who is a single parent and has no other financial support. I suggested contacting citizens advice bureau, are there any other options he could get some guidance or support from?

Savvy_Sue

The Student Union would probably be a good place to start, even though he is no longer registered as a student. 

I don't think that low earnings is grounds for appeal against repaying the loan after withdrawing. The best he could have hoped for was arranging repayment terms. 

heston2014

Savvy_Sue said:

The Student Union would probably be a good place to start, even though he is no longer registered as a student. 

I don't think that low earnings is grounds for appeal against repaying the loan after withdrawing. The best he could have hoped for was arranging repayment terms. 

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately he may not have been explained of his options instead of withdrawing, as he should’ve asked about switching programmes.

RJLSP

Hi there, do you know if there are any plans to raise the £25,000 parental income ceiling before you need to make parental contributions towards the  SMG? thanks In advance for any guidance

SIRENS

Hi just wondering if someone could advise me, my daughter will be starting uni this coming year and I am thinking of taking an OU course myself part time. I am a bit confused with regard to the student/maintenance loan as regards to income. I work pastime and will continue to do so, my daughter currently works part time although her hours will reduce further when she starts uni. I have one son about to take his gcse this year. When she applies for the maintenance loan do I need to include my salary and the child benefit I receive for my son? I earn under 20k myself and am a lone parent after losing my husband 18 months ago. I don't receive any other income apart from child benefit and my salary plus a bit of interest from saving. Am I able to apply for myself also or will I not be eligible for any type of help? Sorry for the confusing I have not been in school since 1991 so it's all a bit new to me! Thanks so much 

u416648

Hi after advise. In 2022/23 my daughter completed a one year foundation course in Musical theatre at a drama school (ArtsEd) London. She received reduced grant support as it is in the Arts (😞) and took on a student loan. She was successful in gaining a place this Sept to the 3 year degree accredited with City, Uni of London. In relation to which plan she is on, does she fall into the new loan rules changed from 2023 onwards or not not as was already in the system? Thanks for your help anyone!

silvercar

u416648 said:

Hi after advise. In 2022/23 my daughter completed a one year foundation course in Musical theatre at a drama school (ArtsEd) London. She received reduced grant support as it is in the Arts (😞) and took on a student loan. She was successful in gaining a place this Sept to the 3 year degree accredited with City, Uni of London. In relation to which plan she is on, does she fall into the new loan rules changed from 2023 onwards or not not as was already in the system? Thanks for your help anyone!

New course at a new university would be on the new system. Her current loan remains on its current plan and the new loan will be on plan 5. Her repayments would be 9% over whichever has the lower threshold. She will be able to defer payments on the current loan until she finishes the new course.