Student loans for very mature students

davestretty

Yes I resurrected the earlier (2011) post as I had received no definitive information. Things have moved on since then and both my wife and I are in the same position and may both decide to study. As I said earlier all I want is what I am entitled to under the system that our playboy prime minister created - no more, no less.
Mara69 / marybelle01 - I will not judge you on the little I know of you. Mara69 - I would hope your father gives you as much as I give my daughters (material, spiritual, and moral).

JimmyTheWig

heartbreak_star wrote: »

why take funding away from a future doctor/nurse/etc?

It's the government who are taking the funding away. You can't blame one poster for that, however mis-guided his intentions appear at times.

dizzyrascal

heartbreak_star wrote: »

As for using medical school as an example, they end up in far more debt than all other students (except law students) and have at least double the length course. Read Confessions of a GP for more info.

Currently it takes 5 years to qualify as a doctor. The final year of this is supported by a bursary and on qualification they start as a foundation level 1 doctor at £28k per year in a virtually guaranteed job.
The cost of training a medical student is anything from 100k upwards for the five years of which they pay a fraction of the real cost. We pay the rest.
Law students have their degree years to pay for and then their LPC if they don't get a training contract so only do 4 years at university in total. If they get a training contract then they do 2 further years training on the job but get a reasonable salary for this. (London firms pay about 40k+ )
The number of medical students is regulated by the amount of doctors we will need in the future.
There is no limit to the number of law or LPC students the nation produces and no guaranteed job at the end of their study. However, for those that do get a training contract, the rewards are potentially very lucrative.
For both of these careers, their potential earnings are vast compared to Arts or Social Science students so I'm sorry I can't be more sympathetic.

Wobblydeb

dizzyrascal wrote: »

By the way as a life long tax payer I think that you are more than entitled to get something back.
For those people who think you will be taking funding away from the people who need it - that's not how it works.

Is this the case going forward? Total places are capped in 2011-12 http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/circlets/2011/cl02_11/ and universities have been hit with fines of £3,750 per person for each full time student exceeding their limit. The savvy institutions are sticking to their numbers targets, so (on current rules) it is definitely the case that if davestretty goes to university, someone else will not.

Perhaps he could apply to London Metropolitan though.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17067132

Anyway, I just wanted to correct an error in thinking.

As it happens I totally agree with education at any age, and that if davestretty and mrsdavestretty can obtain a place, then they should go to university. Many students will not pay back their maintenance grants or student fee loans, but I would not deny them the opportunity to study at a higher level. My concern however seemed to be the assumption that they would automatically get a place on a course. What happens if their application is declined?

davestretty

The question of course acceptance is not relevant to the question of funding originally posed. You are quite right though acceptance is not guaranteed, but if I can't fund the course I can't even apply! Sadly the original question regarding regarding maintenance grant/loan after reaching 60 during a degree course has still not been answered. I should also say that if the govts had not stolen my wife's entitlement to pension at 60 (will now be 66) which is equivalent to ~£35k this would not be an issue for her.
BTW good news is that full time students are exempt from council tax which would save us up to £2k per year as well. Kerching!
Also my child at uni would receive a full maintenance grant! Kerrrrching!

Taiko

And my previous comments about being ineligible for the maintenance grant at 60 still stands.

FBaby

Have you double checked that pensions don't fall under the category of 'income' as stated under this scheme and/or not likely to become so in the next few years. I don't think you would be a happy bunny if they were to deduct your loan repayments out of your state pension...

Taiko

Also worth noting, you may want to be careful what you do post. Because as it stands, if I was to oversee your assessment for student finance, and had subsequently seen this thread, I'd have terminated all entitlement, as it could be deemed via your conduct that you are unfit to receive support. Pretty easy to identify you after all, and there's that part in the regulations that would allow that.

davestretty

Thanks again Taiko but where do you get your information? On directgov website the following quote:
Your age
To qualify for a student loan to help with accommodation and living costs (called the Maintenance Loan), you need to be aged under 60 when you start your course.
There’s no upper age limit to qualify for grants or the Tuition Fee Loan.

Taiko what are you up to? That almost sounds like a threat. From this and other posts you have made I get the impression that you are on the wrong forum as this is supposed to be a forum for people to help each other not put others down. All I am doing is trying to establish is whether I can afford to study for a degree as I have always wanted to but never been in a position to - is that so evil of me? Have you received free university education but resent others wishing for the same? I guess this may be the case.

Taiko

I get my information from The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011. I suggest you read them.