Student advice for a Newbie

maggiesoop

Son is going to Uni for the first time, so all quite excited however the finance side of things are a bit confusing for his old mum (never a University goer)

He's not 18 until the middle of September and the loan offer/bursary he's been awarded says that money must go into an account in his name and give them the info at least two weeks before he starts Uni on17th September.

That's not a problem but he's just on a Junior Account with Bank of Scotland (no fringe benefits) and I was hoping to get a decent "Student Banking Account" (we like the sound of Santander with free insurance cover for laptop & mobile) but can't open it until he's 18.

I could start with BofS and then change it all to Santander at the end of September but was a palaver. Do you know if the loan company charge for making changes to your bank details once it starts?

Thanks

atypical

maggiesoop wrote: »

Do you know if the loan company charge for making changes to your bank details once it starts?

They don't and it is very easy to do online.

Ettenna

Is he going to uni a year early then? Or is it different in Scotland?

The_One_Who

You don't need to be 18 to get a student account, only to access the credit facilities of overdrafts and credit cards. All they will need is proof of student status, most accept a UCAS letter of acceptance.

atypical

When you get to the application stage with NatWest you can see that they don't accept DOBs that make you under 16 years old. He should be fine applying at 17. They'll then activate his overdraft when he is 18.

Interestingly, the application section talks about their £125 debit card cashback offer whereas the main student page doesn't. Perhaps this is the replacement to the 16-25 railcard?

maggiesoop

Ettenna wrote: »

Is he going to uni a year early then? Or is it different in Scotland?

Most of his friends start Uni this year, the majority of them just turned 18 in the last couple of months.

maggiesoop

The_One_Who wrote: »

You don't need to be 18 to get a student account, only to access the credit facilities of overdrafts and credit cards. All they will need is proof of student status, most accept a UCAS letter of acceptance.

Need to be 18 to open a Santander student account. Website states that to open the account you have to be 18, plus my friend works for them and told me this

The_One_Who

In that case, if he really, really wants a Santander account (is there a branch near where he will be living? Big swing factor in which bank to go with) he'll need to get in contact with SAAS/SLC when he changes his account. Be warned that Scots get their money on a monthly basis, so he'll need to keep the other account open just in case it doesn't get processed in time.

Helix

Don't change the bank details just before a payment is due, either do it at least a week before or wait until after the first payment has gone through as the SLC have the tendency to screw payments up when the details get changed close to a payment date.

maggiesoop

Thanks for all your help on this subject.

One more query, as I can't get through to SAAS to ask them, am I right in thinking that the Bursary part of his payments doesn't get paid back at the end of his time at Uni because I'm on a low income?

The_One_Who

Bursaries don't get paid back, no. Loans do.