Uni in 4 years time - what sort of costs are we looking at?

beth.stephenson2009

Also forgot to put- accomodation is paid per tearm, not per week or month, so he/you will need to find a significant lump of money per tearm to pay for hall fees in the first year.

An alternative would be for him to go straight out into a house share, which would be cheaper, but he might miss out on the opportunity of making friends etc.

When I am on placements, i will probably spend about £40/50 per month of public transport too.

PinkPeonies

Firstly, I think it's really nice of you to think about saving for him to go to Uni. It would be a lot cheaper for him to live at home, although that depends whereabouts you live etc.

All assessed money comes from the household income: so you and your OH's combined income. If your OH's ex is a single parent on benefits then yes her children will get full grants and loans. I think (I could be wrong, things could have changed) if the combined income of the house is over £60,000 then the child is not entitled to any grants. Although they have changed a lot, I'm sure there are guides. There used to be a booklet just for the parent's application. You could ask for one now just so you have the right information.

Lastly, you don't *need* to give him money at Uni. I think it's lovely if you can (and that you are planning for his future now) but I know a lot of people at Uni who had no help from their parents and an equal number who worked their whole way through. It's the norm now.

V_Chic_Chick

CharlotteK wrote: »

Lastly, you don't *need* to give him money at Uni. I think it's lovely if you can (and that you are planning for his future now) but I know a lot of people at Uni who had no help from their parents and an equal number who worked their whole way through. It's the norm now.

So do I - and invariably speaking, they are spending so much time working that their studies are suffering, and they are nearing their overdraft limit.

V_Chic_Chick

There's a student finance calculator here, so you can play around with different scenarios http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=153,4680136&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Whatever your income, he will always be entitled to a full tuition fee loan and a £3575 a year maintenance loan.

You're right that your son's support will be based on his household income (i.e. where he spends the most time), which means your and your partner's income. For your partner's children, it will be based on the income of their mother (and her partner, if relevant) because they spend >50% of their time there.

With regards to the cost of living, you need to budget for
- Halls - I'm currently paying £92pw self catered with a sink in my room, all bills included; I think the cheapest my uni does is £82. Whilst shared houses may initially look cheaper, you've got to factor in a) the fact that contracts are usually 52 weeks in the private sector, as opposed to 40 weeks or so in uni halls and b) bills aren't included. This can often mean that halls are actually cheaper.
- Food - I currently spend about £25pw
- Going out - £10-15pw (that's far from extravagant)
- Bus pass - £185 per year (obviously this is something that varies greatly by the town he lives in, and it may not even be necessary)
- Textbooks - probably best to budget around £100 a year, and he should be selling them on Amazon / similar as soon as he knows he's passed the exams and won't be resitting.
- Laundry - alarmingly expensive in halls - we pay £2.50 for a wash and £1 for a dry, although I think this is at the upper end of the scale.
- Any societies he wants to join - he might like to continue a current sport, start a new one, or take up tiddlywinks. However, the costs can mount up fairly rapidly, if he gets involved in a sport that requires travelling across the country to compete (like me!)
And then there's all the standard stuff - clothes, shoes, stationery, shower gel . . .

Essentially, I'd bargain on needing to make up his support to what he would be receiving if you were on a low income - it's calculated so that such students receive enough money to live on (without being extravagant!) without having to rely on money from family members. If you're feeling kind, then you may also wish to make up what he might be getting on a bursary (this varies by university, with better universities usually giving out more money. For instance, Oxford gives £3225 per year, Manchester gives £1250 and LJMU gives £500). He'll also need to get some holiday work - xmas temping should be fairly easy to come by, and summer work will be a necessity too.