Help while i study???

joanna1986

Hi,

I dont know if anyone can give me some advice or solutions to help.

I am a young parent, living with my partner and daughter. For the past two years I have been studying at college on an access course. Ive now been accepted to university to study a nursing diploma.woo hoo.

While I study I am entitled to a NHS bursary which works out at 6700 pounds a year which is a non-means tested allowance which every student on the course recieves. Along with this bursary, you can apply for help with childcare costs, parental learning help etc etc.

I have just been refused any other sort of financial help due to being marginly over the cut off threshold.

I am now facing the idea of not being able to afford to go to university.

To attend uni, I will need to give up my job, which means we will be losing money, we are not recieving any tax credits due to an overpayment, and i cannot see how i can afford to survive/pay for childcare whilst i study. My daughter is nearly 4 and i am getting the gov funded hours but even with this my weekly nursery bills are close to 250.

does anyone know of any other financial help offered to parents going to university??

Ive worked so hard for two years to get to this stage and really dont want to have to give up my dream and not be able to give
my family a better future.

Young families are given such a stigma, we have already beaten this by buying our house, and working our socks off. I dont want to continue to struggle!!!

Any suggestions would be great!!??

Thank you xx

DaisyFlower

Could you defer for a year until your child starts school, that way you can work for another year and get some savings behind you. After school clubs are not that expensive compared to preschool childcare.

Or you could work around your uni hours - most work part time whilst at uni.

karenx

If you can still work 16hours per week you could get help with childcare costs through tax credits. Unless the uni offers anymore help you wont get any other help from tax credits etc

Jowo_2

Are you entitled to student loans? If so, you should factor them into your budget, too, rather just focus on the loss of your employment income. If not, look at a career development loan.

Will you be undertaking part time work during your course or full time work during the holidays?

Your University is bound to have a hardship fund. Have you looked into the entry criteria and application process for it in case you encounter significant hardship during your course?

Do they offer scholarships or bursaries that you can apply for. There are usually various charities, institutes and so forth that offer grants, bursaries and loans to students on low incomes. You should be able to find the providers online or at your local library as there is a big directory that contains this information.

Does your University offer free or cheap childcare places? Can you cut any child care costs, for example, switching from a nursury to a child minder?

Download the budget planning spreadsheet on the tools section. The advice on this website will help you identify where and how you can make savings to your budget.

When you add the loans to your bursary, plus any potential part time earnings, plus any savings that your household can make in its household expenses, what are the figures like compared to the salary you are losing?

How much does your partner earn and is there any scope for overtime, a pay rise or better paying job?

AfterDark

Hi, unfortunately tax credits will not pay for childcare while your studying or at Uni. You may be best to look for another nursery as £250 per week for 1 child seems very high, My childs nursery is £140per week for a 4 year old, which is a full time space 7-6 mon-fri.

bestpud

Have you considered doing the degree instead?

There may be more funding and nursing diplomas are on the way out so it may be a better career option too...

Indie_Kid

There is a certain amount that isn't means-tested of the student loan. Are you doing the degree or diploma? The fudning is slightly different for the diploma.

Or you could work around your uni hours - most work part time whilst at uni.

With nursing degrees and diplomas, there is a work placement which is around 40 hours per week. I'm not sure how intense the course is.

OP - you may get a better answer on the student board.

icklejulez

Hi

The diploma course will probably pay you more money, if you phone and speak to the NHS student grants unit you will find out they will pay you your £6700 plus up to 85% of your childcare costs plus dependants allowance. My OH works on the team. I have 3 kids with childcare costs of £800pm and a mortgage of 470pm, I am entitled to £1178pm. I hope this helps...

icklejulez

icklejulez wrote: »

Hi

The diploma course will probably pay you more money, if you phone and speak to the NHS student grants unit you will find out they will pay you your £6700 plus up to 85% of your childcare costs plus dependants allowance. My OH works on the team. I have 3 kids with childcare costs of £800pm and a mortgage of 470pm, I am entitled to £1178pm. I hope this helps...

Oh and on top of this my OH can still claim for tax credits based on his income of £16700 we will get approx £600pm.

Morgan_Ree

icklejulez wrote: »

Hi

The diploma course will probably pay you more money, if you phone and speak to the NHS student grants unit you will find out they will pay you your £6700 plus up to 85% of your childcare costs plus dependants allowance. My OH works on the team. I have 3 kids with childcare costs of £800pm and a mortgage of 470pm, I am entitled to £1178pm. I hope this helps...

OP is already doing the diploma.
85% of childcare costs are only covered if you're a single parent/and or your parter does not work. After that your entitlement to childcare costs is dept on your partners income

OP how much does your partner earn?

icklejulez

Morgan_Ree wrote: »

OP is already doing the diploma.
85% of childcare costs are only covered if you're a single parent/and or your parter does not work. After that your entitlement to childcare costs is dept on your partners income

OP how much does your partner earn?

If that is the case how come my OH is the one that did my quote for me and he is one of the 50 staff that work on the student grants unit and has done for 5 years???