Student Loan 2015 Discussion

MrsAverage

Our MP's caseworker is trying to find out from Dept for BIS what the situation is.

DS is supposed to sign up for loan by 31st May so let's hope they've done whatever's necessary by then, cos' they can't surely be expecting a whole year group of students to sign something so unfinalised?

gadgetmind

MrsAverage wrote: »

they can't surely be expecting a whole year group of students to sign something so unfinalised?

Loan shark rates, undisclosed terms and conditions, and marketed at the young and naive.

And to add insult to injury, we keep being told that we don't like the student loan system simply because we don't understand it. :mad:

Dear HMG and MSE: we *do* understand it and we think it stinks. Stop explaining something we already understand and instead get fighting to fix it!

setmefree2

gadgetmind wrote: »

Dear HMG and MSE: we *do* understand it and we think it stinks. Stop explaining something we already understand and instead get fighting to fix it!

The coalition is now well behind in the polls, so there is a fair chance their will be a change of government in 2015. Makes you wonder if a new government might do something retrospective???

On the plus side, if you have younger kids, the government is going to lift the quotas on ABB student from September which will make it easier for students to get into their first choice Unis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17871852

On the negative side, I have read that a lot of students have been given offers (in this academic year) that they have no hope of achieving because of the lifting of the AAB quotas.

gadgetmind

setmefree2 wrote: »

The coalition is now well behind in the polls, so there is a fair chance their will be a change of government in 2015. Makes you wonder if a new government might do something retrospective???

IMO we need a thorough rethink regards what skills profile we need our future workforce as our current "degrees for all!" approach is flawed and expensive.

On the negative side, I have read that a lot of students have been given offers (in this academic year) that they have no hope of achieving because of the lifting of the AAB quotas.

My daughter needs AAA to get onto her chosen course but has a fall-back ABB option.

MumofTwins_4

HELP - going round in circles!!!
My daughters are both hopefully starting university this Autumn. So far they have completed their application for tuition fees and maintenance loans (household income over £42.5k) so £9k + £3575 each per year.

We could afford to fund their living costs but not sure whether to advise them to cancel the maintenance loan part of the application to reduce their final debt - or take it and hope that their debt will be written off dependant on future earnings???

I've seen all the pros and cons but still can't decide! - HELP!

gadgetmind

MumofTwins wrote: »

So far they have completed their application for tuition fees and maintenance loans (household income over £42.5k) so £9k + £3575 each per year.

They might get more maintenance loan than that is it doesn't seem to tail off to just £3575 until around £60k.

We could afford to fund their living costs but not sure whether to advise them to cancel the maintenance loan part of the application to reduce their final debt - or take it and hope that their debt will be written off dependant on future earnings???

As they are unlikely to penalise early repayments, my view is that taking the loan de-risks things if uni/job/health/whatever don't go as planned.

tyllwyd

MumofTwins wrote: »

...I've seen all the pros and cons but still can't decide! - HELP!

Are your twins headed towards high-earning careers? If not, my instinct would be that if they are taking out £9K loans, with interest etc they are not likely to be able to pay them back in full within the 30 years before they are written off anyway. In which case, since the monthly payment is based on your salary not the total amount borrowed, they may as well borrow as much as possible through the student loan and try to keep any additional borrowing (on credit cards etc) to a minimum.

Just my opinion, of course!

MrsAverage

Just to say that our MP is still trying to find out if these new loans have actually been passed through Parliament or not. Final deadline for application is 31st May so they are cutting it very fine.
Also spotted on the dircectgov website that 2013/14 loan system has yet to be decided - I thought it was same as 2012/13 so are we hopeful there's a u turn in the offing?

Will those studnets starting this Sept be on one scheme for this year and a different for next year?

Does any know if there's a legal challenge of any sort if we can't get terms and conditions sorted in time?

MARTIN - can you get the task force on this?

amiehall

Well for a start there is no final deadline. I could apply for a student loan now for year 11/12 if I so wished. They just want people to apply nice and early to give them time to process applications. There's also nothing to stop you applying now and cancelling later if you don't like the terms later. What kind of legal challenge did you have in mind?

gadgetmind

MumofTwins wrote: »

So far they have completed their application for tuition fees and maintenance loans (household income over £42.5k) so £9k + £3575 each per year.

Just a quick clarification for the benefit of others, as I'm sure you know this:
while you don't get a maintenance grant after £42.5k of income, your maintenance loan amount doesn't drop to the base 65% of £3575 until around £60k.