University costs

bestpud

tr3mor wrote:

If you're from a poorer family you'll get the full loan of £4500 plus a grant of £2800, plus your fees loan.

£140 a week?! Thats more than enough for anyone!

£4500 + £2800 = £7300

Then pay the uni fees of £3000 and you are left with £80.77 per week, not £140!

Although I do agree the system is anything but fair for students from middle earner families. Plus, all students have to pay off their loans etc, not their parents, so it does seem unfair to those students with better off parents who won't contribute at all.

I guess most parents do attempt to help out though and it seems wrong not to help those students whose parents are actually unable to help financially - because they can't afford it, not because they choose not too!

No financial help will ever be completely fair unfortunately. This is a subject which will always provoke debate!

Oldernotwiser

bestpud wrote:

£4500 + £2800 = £7300

Then pay the uni fees of £3000 and you are left with £80.77 per week, not £140!

!

You don't have to pay the £3,000 university fees out of this amount; there is a separate fee loan that you take out to cover them.

Not many people need to support themselves fully during the summer holiday as most students work then. I think that a more accurate picture is gained by dividing £7,300 by 40, giving a weekly amount of over £180.00 per week.

tr3mor

bestpud wrote:

£4500 + £2800 = £7300

Then pay the uni fees of £3000 and you are left with £80.77 per week, not £140!

Like he said, the fees are now covered by another loan.

EDIT: And why do I keep getting my useful posts deleted? :rolleyes:

bestpud

Oops, sorry - my mistake!

I didn't realise there was a seperate loan for the fees. I'm on the old system myself.

bestpud

janine22

I completely agree that the problem lies not with students from very poor families but with those whose family income is borderline but receive no support from parents (as was my situation). In that case, although the minimum loan is still received, there are many expenses to come out of that amount, eg. Uni fees, rent, bills, books, transport, food, etc.

Some of us worked very hard at our degrees and were disappointed with our results as we worked full time hours while completing a full time degree. I was devastated to miss out on a first class degree but simply could not afford to give up work.

janine22

Sorry, that reads like a real rant, it wasn't meant like that!

I loved my degree and it was worth the hard work. In fact I loved it so much I'm going back for a Masters/PhD (I'm able to do this with my 2:1) so don't think I was fishing for sympathy!