Can't afford Child Support Payments and Uni Fees

kegg_2

she might not get a maintance grant but all students can get the student loans.

Sounds like she just wants 4 years dosing around uni with her mates being paid for by daddy rather than wanting to get a degree so she can persue a career.

spamalot

Mojisola,

TBH you are right we do not know exactly what the mother's household income is but given that she earns around £18K and her partner works full time as well they are over the £25K threshold for maintenance grants; therefore she will only get potentially a partial grant or perhaps nothing if it is higher. I was trying to be tactful in my last statement, what I should have said is mum will not offer any assistance. Don't want to get into a Us Vs the Ex debate as this doesn't help anything.

RAS

spamalot wrote: »

Ras - From hubby. Whilst he will reluctantly admit she isn't always forthcoming, the thought of 'checking up on her' by going to the school is something he isn't comfortable with and therefore doesn't support. We've been down this route before years ago with the Key Stage test results.

Just to give a little more background, hubby is working two jobs at the moment to make ends meet. I also work full time. So we are pulling out the stops just to stand still!

You could approach this more tactfully. Suggest that he attends her school/college open days with DSD to discuss her future plans. No need to suggest that this is to check up on her.

And frankly, given your current finance and work situation, maybe he really needs to go back to court to ask for a re-assessment of the child support, rocking the boat or not.

sueeve

To be honest this is a bit hypothetical until she gets the required grades for GCSE's. Many schools require 'B's to study at A level, especially for the standard trad subjects, and some of the more 'hands on' aren't accepted by all universities. Getting all the grades for uni is raising the bar significantly.
If she is wanting child orientated there is an NVQ in childcare in which i believe a credit is equal to 2 A levels for the purpose of university entrance. Some schools offer it, others not. Although it is a while since I worked in this area, so might have changed.
I think it is time to talk with the school, simply to find out what goals might be achievable for her. Tutor, head of year, subject teachers and careers advisors all have a role to play. That is the standard process for all students these days, not checking up, just supporting and trying to sort out realistic hopes. What do they usually say at parent/t3eacher evenings?
But if she has to put herself through, that's life.
It certainly saves money if she can study from home for HE, but that depends a bit on where you live.

Mojisola

spamalot wrote: »

TBH you are right we do not know exactly what the mother's household income is but given that she earns around £18K and her partner works full time as well they are over the £25K threshold for maintenance grants; therefore she will only get potentially a partial grant or perhaps nothing if it is higher. I was trying to be tactful in my last statement, what I should have said is mum will not offer any assistance. Don't want to get into a Us Vs the Ex debate as this doesn't help anything.

Perhaps your OH needs to learn something from his ex. The daughter has two parents - why should only one pay out?

Plans_all_plans

I don't see an issue here. Your SD will just have to take out a student loan and get a part time job to finance herself like I did. Unless your parents were upper middle class at my uni, you took a part time job as well as concentrating on your studies! She needs to get a job NOW and save like mad herself for the next 2 years.

I think her dad/your husband is being a bit mad beating himself up over this. He is not being a bad dad, he's just teaching her a good life lesson that things don't come for free.

Also, this may not be a popular opinion, but I would advise her against going to uni if she has no set career path in mind for afterwards and just wants to do an arts based degree. I would also be very reluctant for a child of mine to go to anything other than a red brick uni these days. I am certainly not slagging off arts degrees (as I have one myself) but I do not feel the money that you will have to pay out now is worth it unless you know exactly what you want to do with it afterwards. And in my opinion, if you've not attended a top 20 uni there's no point going in the first place the way fees etc are heading.

Indie_Kid

spamalot wrote: »

Mojisola,

TBH you are right we do not know exactly what the mother's household income is but given that she earns around £18K and her partner works full time as well they are over the £25K threshold for maintenance grants; therefore she will only get potentially a partial grant or perhaps nothing if it is higher. I was trying to be tactful in my last statement, what I should have said is mum will not offer any assistance. Don't want to get into a Us Vs the Ex debate as this doesn't help anything.

If she gets a partial grant, she may get a bursary and more than loan.

Jalapee

could she qualify for any kind of grant? this isn't my kinda of area.. but just a suggestion

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I should really read the next page before i post! doh! sorry!

spamalot

You are all right of course. If we can't afford it and mum won't contribute then she is going to have to fund herself. It might help to clarify her career choices. In the meantime, we will have to weather the tearful episodes and dramatic silences on the phone to tug at dad's heart strings. All part of the teenage years I suppose!

RAS

spamalot wrote: »

Mojisola,

TBH you are right we do not know exactly what the mother's household income is but given that she earns around £18K and her partner works full time as well they are over the £25K threshold for maintenance grants; therefore she will only get potentially a partial grant or perhaps nothing if it is higher. I was trying to be tactful in my last statement, what I should have said is mum will not offer any assistance. Don't want to get into a Us Vs the Ex debate as this doesn't help anything.

Well as long as their residual income does not exceed £40K, she will get the full maintenance loan with no contribution required from her mother and her partner.